Me a recycle junkie!!

I am recycle junkie!!! I have realised. And I intend to pass on the tradition to my child as well. I am very happy to see streaks of it already present in her, from the seed that has been sown by doing art and craft with biscuit cartons, wrappers, unused side of a printed paper, straws, tissue roll....name it - we have tried it, used it and enjoyed it.

Got some lovely orange carrots the other day. My instant reaction was to make some yummy carrot milkshake. One of my favourite drinks growing up. It is one of the 'firsts' I learned to make all by myself. Now I make it for Sia. She enjoys it too. Thank god for that!

The recycle story begins as I start to make the carrot milkshake. As I peeled the carrots, I realised the peels went into a separate bin - where we collect our "daily wet waste" for our community organic compost. I kept aside the carrot heads to reuse and sow. Perhaps I can harvest some home-balcony-grown-carrots. I am sure Sia would love to recreate the Hundred Acre Wood in her own home. I recycled yogurt cups to sow the carrot heads and some spinach. It feels wonderful to be giving back an ounce to nature, which is just a speck in the magnitude of what she has always been giving us.

Going back to the carrot milkshake...I have always believed in the essentials of breaking the monotonous diet routine of my child. Imagine having plain milk or milk stirred with Bournvita, Complan, Boost or even sugar all the time. Why don't parents "have-a-go" with such mindless routines? Try simple variations. Here is what is cooking in our kitchen today.

For carrot milkshake you will need,
6 medium sized carrots
Sugar as per taste
1/2 litre milk
2 pods of cardamom
Some scoops of Vanilla ice-cream (do-able even if not available. I have some in the freezer. Ideal compliment for my recycling mood)

To make,
Peel carrots. Cut into thick round slices.
Pressure cook with 2 pods of cardamom and little water to slightly immerse the carrot slices. Cook to make the carrots soft.
Once cooled, put it in a blender. Add sugar, milk and give it a nice mix, till all the carrot pieces have blended with the milk.
Add Vanilla ice-cream and give it another mix to give it a thickness.
Serve chilled.

Try even other alternates with banana, papaya and mango of course!!

Some afternoons are more busy than the others...

You seem to assume of a child's energy levels.

Afternoon naps are 'a thing' of the past. A past that is not that distant.

Now afternoons are the most busiest among all the waking hours. With full tummies. Revitalised energies. Creative juices over flowing most of the time.

Here's a glimpse of what's been happening over the few afternoons gone by.


A quick make-shift tent. A space that was called "my home". Cooking toys. Cycle. Dogs. A complete set-up.

Some mind-filled and brain users: learning numbers and counting with jig-saw cards from Mickey Mouse Club House format.



How can art and craft be left out? Since Sia is so obssessed by the spelling of her name and knew to spell it out as S-I-A, even actually before she knew anything about alphabets or phonetics, we made this name dangler. Shapes were being instrumental at this phase in everything we did. So we incorporated it in the design. She was learning to string beads and I insisted on it to build a tad of patience in my child. The dangler had an out-and-out Sia feel.




We used: waste drawing paper, water colours, glitters, string of beads and the sun and air to dry up the paints.

Many more makings are in the way....and ideas seem to pour out. However the afternoon pace seems to have slowed down a bit, especially since Sia has discovered the joy of being with a friend and spending time with play and companionship.

Childhood :: Flashback

"Mama...tell me five children names in your school?" asked back my 3.4 year old, when asked the same question as part of her weekly home assignment. I promptly answered with five top of mind names from my childhood. These were names of my friends, with whom I am still closely connected and bonded. The question has been repeated several times over the weekend....and I have run short of names. Not just because she does not want to hear the same names. It is because...I sadly do not remember any more names.

I have always, always been the impatient, anxious "parent-in-wait", especially when it was with my daughter starting school. Because, here was my chance to relive my childhood and revisit my memories - all over again. But I guess, I wasn't all this prepared to take in the heart-break. While it is the names that I didn't remember, what troubled me most, unfortunately there were no faces either I could think of. So, I decided to re-sketch my last classroom seating. Realised, it was perhaps the worst crime I ever did to my memory.

Thankfully, social networking sites are coming to my rescue. I have been looking for my childhood friends and classmates. Trying to reconnect and recreate the magic of our childhood. To have a blast with the past. Like the other day, my friend from college mentioned, "it was wonderful chatting on Facebook - and, let's keep it alive!" Obviously we have rediscovered ourselves. I realised the medium has helped kill all inhibitions and even look at pain-filled memories, with a smile. More importantly I know I have grown-up.

So, while I still look forward to doing my daughter's assignments, I wonder what my revisits have in store for me?