Twenty- five Seven

7 ways to keep little ones busy after Christmas is over

December 28, 2016

7 ways to keep little ones busy after Christmas is over

#Christmas is over but the #holidays are not

The children have long eaten the chocolate advent calendar that kept them busy busy before Christmas is eaten.

Santa has come and gone. The Christmas crackers have popped but the holidays still are on.

This can be quite a tiring time for moms who have kids at home on holidays. Especially in a city like Mumbai which has very little for little ones to do.

Keeping children occupied and out of mischief is always a challenge . While older children can see a movie or visit an aunt or friend, it is the little ones who need more planned activities.

Here are a few ideas to keep them busy

Recycle or pass on.

With Christmas out of the way, this is a great time to take stock of all the toys, books and games that the child has. Santa must have come laden with gifts so it is time to pass on old books or toys to make way for the new. If there are some needy kids around, you can pass these on. Else, call up the “jaripuranawallah” or make a visit to the neighbourhood old paperwallah and get rid of the stuff. This activity will not only help keep clutter down but will help reinforce the concept of recycling

Memory collage

With all the wrapping paper generated, help make a memory collage. Cut out the paper into Christmas tree shapes , bell shapes and star shapes and help your little one make a Christmas collage to remind him/her of the wonderful Christmas just spent.

Go for a ride

With the weather being the best it can get in Mumbai, this is the perfect time to take a ride around the neighbourhood. In a bus! After all this is one way to get the child on top of “The Wheels of the Bus” ! Find a bus route close to your house, one that is interesting and fun and just hop on. Be prepared to spend an hour or two singing the song or just watching the different people getting on and off. If there is a park nearby, this would be one good place to get off.

In case it is easy for you to hop on to the local train, do that instead. I know my little grandson loved his train ride from Churchgate to Charni Road station in a train that was thankfully empty.

Discover the market

Another interesting activity is a visit to the local market. With the markets flooded with fresh fruit and vegetables choosing oranges and making them into marmalade is great fun.

An equally interesting is to select flowers. Else you can feed the cow some grass. ( most markets have a cow!)

Clean up

The best way to keep busy minds busy is to keep their hands busy. Channelise your toddler’s energy into helping round the house. While you are busy tidying up, your little one can help you make piles of what to keep and what to throw. Use his help in pushing cartons around, pegging the wash on the line, keeping things back in place and sorting out stuff.

Dance the blues away

Children love music and are always ready to dance. So put on some peppy music and have an aerobic workout with your little one. You’ll be surprised at the moves they can come up with.

Plant a carrot top

Feathery carrot leaves that sprout from a carrot top are simply fascinating. This is an activity that can be done any time of year but I think it’s a great activity during the Winter break.

All you need to do is fill a flat bowl with water and chop off a bit of the carrot top. Keep it in a sunny place for a few days and within days, the green feathery leaves will sprout. In Mumbai homes where space is hard to come by this is a great little garden for little ones to develop.

I may be a bit late but the holidays are still on aren’t they? So do try out these activities before the little ones go back to school!

Linking this up with #Mondaymommymoments
My #Favourite posts of 2016

December 26, 2016

Day is done ,Gone the Sun

From the sea, From the Hills

From the sky

All is well

Safely rest

God is nigh

I was reminded of this close of day Taps that we used to chant as Girl Guides way back in school. (Does this organisation even exist today)

The year is coming to a close and this is the last Monday in 2016! This is also the ideal time for #MondayMusings and recall my favourite posts for 2016.

My Most Popular Post

It is strange but one of my most popular posts remains the one on Mutton Street or Mumbai’s Chor Bazaar? Admittedly, old is gold and this is a great place for antique hunters. I have written several posts about this area which are equally popular. While I am flattered that these posts have staying power, I feel a bit disheartened that my recent posts have not met such success,

I have come a long way in my blogging journey and there are several posts that I feel ought to have had more footfalls. These are some of my favourite posts:

My favourite posts of 2016

The #AtoZChallenge was the first challenge I attempted this year. Unlike last year when I decided to wing it, I thought I’d make my life easier and chose a topic I thought would be a breeze – writing about the favourite objects in my house. That turned out harder than I thought especially when it came to the last letters in the alphabet. I definitely didn’t have a Yacht in my backyard because I don’t even have a YARD! Nor do I have a favourite X ray and as for Z ? That will always remain difficult unless you have a Zebra in your zoo. My best blog post in the month of April has to be T for teacup where I describe my special tea cup for my special Chinese tea.

My best posts were my video blogs written during my trip to the US. Travel blogs are always more interesting especially when you have great photographs. Sadly my limitations with my iPhone prevented me from churning out first class posts but definitely my favourites have to be the photo blog of my trip to Ellis Island and the video blog of my visit to the red wood forest outside of San Francisco. Apart from the photographs, what I really loved was discovering and playing with Ripl and Snapseed, two photo Apps that I discovered while I was away.

In fact I enjoyed posting all my blogs from the US and am disappointed that they didn’t get many visitors . Perhaps I hadn’t hash tagged them properly.

All in all, 2016 was a decent year where I blogged despite several challenges – including three months where I was locked out of my WordPress account!

What was your favourite post in 2016?

I’m linking this post up to Corinne’s #MondayMusings
These Circuses that Sweep the Landscape #Book Review

December 20, 2016

Life is a circus

Have you ever wondered what it is like to be lost in a giant shopping mall? Have you ever watched in amazement as blue flames danced over a banana pudding ? Or have you ever been consumed by an irrational love that affects your daily life? Life seems to be a series of circuses that sweep through the landscape of Tejaswini Apte-Rahm’s collection of short stories in the book of the same name.

“These Circuses That Sweep Through the Landscape”is delightful book recently launched by Aleph Book Company . Furthermore, Trilogy, the quaint bookshop and curated library tucked away in the labyrinthine mess of the Raghuvanshi Mills compound was a complementary host to this event.

Meet the Author of “These Circuses”

Despite the fact that it was late Saturday evening, the book launch was well attended. The audience enthusiastically participated in the Q & A session after each of the two book readings . An unexpected treat was the sonorous “Sway With Me” by Dean Martin , an inspiration for one of the stories.

Tejaswini Apte-Rahm is the author of the short story collection “These Circuses That Sweep Through the Landscape” published by Aleph Book Company in December 2016.

She is a full-time writer from Mumbai.

Her short stories have been published in Himal Southasian (Nepal), BLink (Hindu Business Line, India) The Big Chilli (Thailand), Six Seasons Review (Bangladesh) and The Daily Star (Bangladesh), as well as in Monsoon Midnights, an e-book anthology of stories about Bangkok.

Tejaswini worked as an environmental researcher for ten years, during which time she wrote two non-fiction books. She was also a journalist in Mumbai, and has written on cinema, photography and environmental issues for Screen, The Times of India, Hindustan Times and The Asian Age.

She studied at the JB Petit High School for Girls (Mumbai), the United World College of South-East Asia (Singapore), the University of Sussex and the University of Kent (England).

Tejaswini has lived in Serbia, Israel, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh, spending a year or two in each country with her husband and daughter.

Currently she is based in London.

The Book

In this collection of ten diverse stories, the common becomes uncommon. And the author’s rather unconventional approach, slowly peels back the layers of complex human emotions through ordinary characters with a dark and quirky side.

I found this book an interesting read and relaxing despite its somewhat twisted characters and unexpected endings. Where else would you find ten stories with different emotions? Through ordinary situations, the author reveals fear, greed, passion and love.

An excerpt from the book

“A loud crackling breaks through the dust and then melts into a deep voice, mellow like wood-smoked honey, gentle and heartbreaking as lips against skin… he sings a song of seduction, how playful, how tantalizing his invitation to fly to the clouds, to sing together and find a rainbow away from the crowds. He switches to Italian. I have no idea what the words mean.”

End word

Sadly, many people give the short story the go-by. But it is a form of prose that should resonate well with Millennials and a digitalized audience. It’s length and pace is just right for readers on the go. The beauty of the short story is the pithiness and distinct economy of words. And Apte-Rahm displays a distinct aptitude in conjuring characters and retelling stories with just the right words.

[Tweet “Definitely a must read this holiday season. Let the surreal world of these circuses sweep through your landscape as you sip a hot cup of tea”].

Order your copy today on Amazon or Flipkart.

E-book now available on Amazon.in as well as on international Amazon sites.