How to get things done by the kids

"My baby... How was your day at school today dear?  What did you do in school? Did you finish your tiffin? Oh wonderful...Hmm why don't you remove the shoes. Good. Now please change your dress. Wash your hands PLEASE and your face. Go to the toilet... You can do that later. Please wear the dress . PLEASE...PLEASE ."

Can you relate to this. Well this the usual scenario in my house when my elder son comes back from his school ,I mean playgroup. And the above statements ranges from the sweetest decibel level to the highest one with different modulations and frequencies depending on the day. They lasts from say from 5min(the luckiest day...which happens very rarely) to more than half an hour.

I don't like to start disciplining my child the moment he comes home from school. Mummy had missed him. But I can't turn a blind eye also. This whole process of changing, cleaning, dressing in the most subtle manner never used to happen. I kind of struggled a lot to make this as smooth as possible. After about a year I have got the hang of it. Well I found the magic words to make things happen. So no more drama, no more tears and no more fights.

The magic words are " Come let us play in water". Yes as simple as that. Kids simply love playing in water. So why not get things done in their way. The moment I say the magical words, the shoes get removed, the clothes are changed (Amma please help ), the hands , the legs, well the entire body is cleaned (well bathed actually) and when play is over, a fresh pair of clothes are worn. Phew...what a relief.

Those who have small kids know how difficult it is to get things done by the kids in the most pleasing manner. Each day my children are teaching me how to handle them better. Motherhood is all about learning. With these few simple words I have learned the power of words.

For the past three months I am using this quite frequently and I am happy ,so are my kids (my youngest one makes it a point to join his Big brother). You do get fresh nice smelling kids after 10 minutes without too much of a struggle.

I feed them and brace myself up for the long day ahead. O sleep, forget it. Its another struggle. More on that some other day. And as my friend said : you will ask your toddlers to get some sleep and when they are teenagers you  yourself will ask them to stop sleeping and study. Really what an irony.

Tips when letting  kids play in water

• Decide how long you want to let them play and state that clearly and stick to it. Kids never want to come out of the water so you better decide for them
• Ask the kids not to pour water on their head , they might fall sick.
• Give them some things to play like containers of different size, funnel, cups, spoons, spray or may be a beach set.
• If kids start fighting, stop their play immediately. Do this every time and they will be better off while playing in water because of the consequences.
• Do not let kids play in water if they have a tendency to catch cold or fall sick easily.

Have a nice time....

P.S.
You never know when an Archimedes is born and cry out Eureka.

Vandalur Zoo visit with the kids

A trip to the zoo is inevitable if you have kids around. We were planning a zoo trip ever since we shifted to Chennai. Finally the week after Pongal we managed to go. We had earlier thought of going during Pongal but thankfully we cancelled at the last moment. As it turned out more than 1.5 lakh visitors had come during the Pongal time.

Arignar Anna Zoological Park or the Vandalur Zoo, is credited to being the first public zoo in India. It is also one of the largest zoo in South Asia which houses close to 1500 wild species, including endangered ones. Arignar Anna Zoological Park is located in Vandalur about 32kms from Chennai city centre. It is well connected by both rail and road.

We started from home around 9am by car taking the NH45. It took us almost an hour to reach there. There is ample space for parking so no issues on that account .Having done that we headed straight to the ticket counter and as luck would have it there was no queue(well we managed to start early with the KIDS for once).

The zoo does not allow outside food but water can be taken in. Since I had two small kids they allowed the food that I had bought along with me (one of the perks travelling with kids which I take advantage of where ever possible). The zoo does not permit plastic bags also so avoid that. Once in we went for the lion safari. Thankfully there also was no queue though we had to wait for 10 min for our safari to start. The safari is indeed a must watch and you SURELY will see atleast one lion. We saw one lion and two lionesses. My elder one was thrilled but younger one just could not figure out why all the people around him were making such a fuss. He was infact barking at the lion thinking it to be a big puppy. This safari gave us a great opportunity to see lions very close and it was worth the money and the time.

 

 

Once the safari was over we took the zoo  round vehicle which took us around the zoo. They give you some 1 to 2 minutes to see the animals in each of their enclosures. We could see deers, bear, leopard, bisons, elephants, giraffes, hippopotamus, zebra, crocodiles, snakes of all kinds(there is a small snake park) Bengal tiger and even white tiger. We saw two tigers fighting with each other but had to rush back due to the constant horn of our waiting vehicle. If ever we go back again we will definitely take their battery operated golf cart style vehicle. From my experience children can better appreciate the animals when they move about and which they may not do in your allotted 2 minutes. We actually walked back to giraffe and zebra enclosures to have a better look. Though it was a struggle to keep the kids waiting but the giraffes finally decided to move and have some leaves from the tree. Indeed a beautiful sight. Well no luck with zebra though. Anyway I was happy as we could show the children the animals that we generally just see in pictures.

 

 

 

 

The zoo vehicle gives you the option of taking you back at the starting point or getting down near the aquarium from where you could walk back. So we got down  and walked back to see the animals which we wanted to see at leisure. We took a break to refuel the kids before proceeding further. Our next stop was at the shark model aquarium. No you will not see a shark but lots of coloured fishes. My youngest son was very happy to see the fishes in so many colours. Though the aquarium is small it is enough to entertain the kids. Fishes in different shapes and sizes, turtles swimming up and down well that's enough to  amuse any kid. Infact the shark model aquarium is itself made on top of a big pool with fishes swimming inside.

 

 

 

Just opposite to the aquarium is the nocturnal animal enclosure. They have managed to make a dark night environment so that the animals stay active and alert during day time. Here we saw owls, porcupine and  different kinds of cat species. But if you cannot stand strong smell better stay away. It kind of stinks very badly.

 

Up next was butterfly house and  the bird section but missed it completely because the kids wanted to play in the park in the hot sun. They do have a fairly good play area. So after about 15 min of play we wound up our zoo trip as crankiness , tiredness and hunger had slowly started creeping in. It is always better to end a trip on happy note than on a tearful and stressful one. So without further delay we headed out visiting enroute the forest museum which exhibits stuffed butterflies, different kinds of leaves, soil, rocks, fossils etc.

 

 

We could finish the trip by 1.30pm, a good 3.5 hours spent I should add. On the way I fed the kids and made them sleep and and  the best part is that they slept till 6pm(a record for my kids...they are poor sleepers).Ask any mother how peaceful it is to see the kids sleep and how peaceful the house will be. Ahh!!

Looking back I seriously wished we could squeeze in time to see the birds and butterfly. But never mind there is always a second time.



Some information about the zoo:

Zoo Timing : 9am to 5pm (Tuesday Holiday)

Entrance Fee
Adults (above 10 years) - Rs. 30/ -
Children (2 to 10 years) - Rs. 10/-
Below 2 years - Entry Free
Camera / Camera mobile / i-pad / tab - Rs. 25/-
Handy Cam - Rs. 150/-

Zoo Rounds Vehicle
Adults(above 10 years) - Rs. 30/-
Children (2 to 10 years) - Rs. 10/-

Lion Safari Vehicle
Adults(above 10 years) - Rs. 30/-
Children (2 to 10 years) - Rs. 10/-

Deer Safari Vehicle
Adults(above 10 years) - Rs. 30/-
Children (2 to 10 years) - Rs. 10/-

Battery operated vehicle
Per hour - Rs. 330/-

Parking Charges
Two Wheeler - Rs. 10/-
Four Wheeler - Rs. 20/-


Food and Snacks
Outside food is not permitted in the zoo. There is a Hotel Tamilnadu at the entrance of the zoo but by the reviews that I read it is bit on the unhygienic side. I am not sure on that as I did not go there. There are snack parlours from where you can buy packed food items.


Tips when travelling with Kids

• Start early .The sooner the better or else you will have queues everywhere and kids (also adults) hate waiting.
• If safari is included then start with that, followed by zoo rounds preferably in vehicle(it is almost sure the kids will not be able to cover the entire stretch walking) then aquarium, bird visit ,butterfly house and then the play area. Do not start with the play area otherwise the children will neither have the energy or the patience to see they what they really came for.
• Carry enough water and some fruits or snacks( outside food is not allowed but they might excuse just for the kids. But do not feed food to the animals, it is punishable)
• Caps will be very handy for both kids and adults
• I found that carrying a shoulder bag is much more convenient than handbags as both your hands will be free and you can be on the run.
• Try to wrap the zoo visit within 4 hours if you are travelling with small kids .

If in Chennai ,a must visit place especially with the kids.


 

My Little Paper Plane

This is my first post and I wanted it to be simple and special. It is special because my kids are teaching me the very basic lesson that you can find joy in the simplest of the simplest things...and today that simple thing is a paper plane.

The same thing that You in your childhood have made numerous times. To fly, to let others fly, to compete (yeah!! remember saying whose plane goes the fastest ,the longest..) and yes of course in college when you wanted to have some fun at the expense of the lecturer (I do remember where one of my lecturer took offense and the case reached the highest office....What a damage a simple paper plane can do ).

So when my boys (3.5yrs and 1.5yrs - my hands are absolutely full) wanted me to make them one ,I realized I had forgotten to make those cuties. It took me some time before I could make them again. When it was done another problem - I had only made one and I had two outstretched arm saying...me, me, me. Well no big deal I know it now.

So there all done. Time to go flying.

It brought back so many sweet memories.

Here is how to make one simple plane. All You need is a rectangular piece of paper.

First fold the paper in half lengthwise, and then unfold.

 

 

                         

 

 

Next fold the top two corners down so they meet the center crease that was just made.

 

 

                         

 

 

Now fold the corners in again to the center crease.

 

 

                         

 

 

Fold the entire plane in half over the crease itself.

 

 

                        

 

 

Fold the wings down so that you’re making a straight line.

 

 

                        

 

 

Repeat on the other side.

 

 

                         

 

 

 

That's it your plane is ready.

 

 

                               

What are you waiting for, go flying.

Tips

Take these planes and your kids to big open space (terrace or ground or beach) and have a great time flying.