Summer Stories, the Ira way

   This pic was taken when she was creating a space for her Videos. Her little nook. 

Summer has come and gone. It was another lockdown summer. 

The things on our mind were what could we do to keep our little human being busy, not fill her day with tasks but was there something new that she hadn't done before. 

Ira loves unstructured play and can play for hours by herself with her superhero figurines and blocks. She loves to draw and paint too and yes, day dream happily, lost in her own world. 

Mamma began her search and was bombarded with lots of summer camp information, some of them asked us to register and then bombarded with whatsapp messages, some had the usual art, craft, no fire cooking etc. Many camps on coding, programming etc. Theatre and drama camps seemed enticing too. This was a paradox of choices, honestly. 

In this myriad of searches, I came across a camp on Micromastery by Ryan Chadha of Jigyasa Academy. What was interesting was not just the fact that the camp had an information poster but he had written a blog talking about the concept and how it will help children. Micromastery was about learning microskills, small things that you practice and practice till you get really good at it. 

The camp that spanned over four weeks helped the children develop a variety of microskills like open mic poetry- writing your own song and rapping, public speaking and creating dialogues and role plays, doodling and zentangle, juggling and card tricks, making some snacks like truffle pudding, fruit mocktail and swizz rolls, and also being introduced to Japanese, along with making a brush robot! 

What she learnt beyond these microskills:

• Ira was homeschooled the previous year and this online mode of learning with a group of children was a whole new experience. 
• She was thrilled with how zoom worked and the breakout rooms. She had only used google meet to chat with friends before.
• Working in a team with other children and creating something new. 
• Listening to different ideas and appreciating them. 
• Understanding the importance of practicing what she learnt. For days, every evening she would want to juggle or just roll and tumble. Papa and Ir a learnt a lot of card tricks and evey little card had doodles and zentangles. 
• She also diligently would say, Excuse me and ask her questions. Thanks to Malu for teaching her this really really young. 

Amidst all the boisterousness, chaos, laughter and learning, the weeks flew by. 

During this time, Ira was also covid positive and the camp and interacting with the children really helped her get through those quarantined days. 

May turned out to open up a whole new world for Ira with Ryan introducing a camp where she learnt to do podcasts on Anchor and also Canva, where she designed posters and cards. She also learnt to make YouTube videos. Papa,who was her in-house teacher for this camp, in his enthusiasm got her a lapel mike and a gorilla tripod. Our girl was thrilled and made random videos for personal consumption. 

What we discovered about Ira from this camp:

• She likes to do anything that is creative and also, has a knack to do podcasts. 
• She has been writing her own songs and poems but this camp helped her hone her writing skills. Of course, Mamma or Papa helped her type out some of the scripts as she dictated the main ideas and then we worked to do the final edits together. 
• She has a strong idea of what she wants and will do it exactly that way. The element of Independence and autonomy just found another avenue of expression. 

As she turned 7 end of the month, she also described herself as an upcoming artist and podcaster! 

Apart from these two camps, we also learnt some chess and warli painting; and our biggest Summer discovery was Wendy Mac. Like WM says, " Whatever you draw is perfect!" 

What we learnt as parents:

• There is so much happening around and we don't have to do it all, and neither do our little human beings. 
• Do not fill the day with activities. They don't need a timetabled existence. Life is hard enough, given the pandemic. 
• Let them have time to do nothing. 
• It is absolutely fine to be bored. 
• Accept meltdown the way you accept an interested learner. 
• Accept the high activity moments and the slumber moments. 
• Choose activities that the child would like to engage in. 
• And finally, every engagement is not about 'what next', but also about enjoying the experience. 

A big shout out to Ryan and his team for a very well curated camp, to the numerous teachers online on various learning platforms who have their unique ways to engage kids and finally to Wendy Mac, for ensuring many moments of self affirmations with every little thing they draw, be it a guitar, a lighthouse or a cheese toast. 

So, to new learning, discovering self through all things creative, embracing new identities and having fun doing it all. To many more summer stories to come every year. 

#Summer #Happiness #Learnings #Activities #SummerCamps #Identities #SelfDiscovery #Autonomy #Independence #UnstructuredPlay #SummerStories #Ira #Iraisms #IraAtSeven #StoriesAtSeven #LittleHumanBeings #Parenting #Gratitude  #Pramadhs

Summer and Sunshine, the Ira way

When Summer is about finding 'sunshine' filled moments!

To me the word sunshine is synonymous with hope, happiness and positivity. For years, it was my signature for the IISc student newsletter team emails, where I was referred as 'M' ( my team was as kickass or even more than the Bond team). I still have some friends who refer to this in our conversations even now.

This year, summer has been filled with such sunshine filled moments. Bangalore is hot with intermittent rains and we have done some new fun things with Ira, which was also intermittently interspersed with some elements of learning.

We took Ira to a Cubbon Park Cleanup drive on 1st May, 2018. An initiative thoughtfully organised, where children put on gloves and clear the beautiful park of the unnecessary plastic , paper and more. P got to the ground with Ira while I was the garbage bag holder, guiding her to bits of plastic amidst the green. It was the first time she participated in a community activity and coincidentally the second summer camp she attended was about community helpers. She did the cleaning up for almost an hour taking a fruit break in between to reenergise herself. She proclaimed that people who make parks  dirty are bad people. I wish we could explain the complexity of pollution and its impact to her in such simple black and white terms.

The summer camps this year have explored newer things and she has also come home with a kitty of new songs that she has learned. The favorite one being a song about monkeys and crocodiles and a phrase, "you can't catch me...". The first camp was about cooking and they learnt to make lemon juice, buttermilk, chapati, bhelpuri, sandwich, vegetable salad, fruit salad, dosa and akki roti. In the second camp, they learnt about people who through their professions help the community like policeman, fireman, gardener etc. The third camp that is ongoing is about art and craft. What we have realised these two years is that she has lots of fun and she loves going to camp. Ofcourse we do have the tender coconut to thank that ensures guaranteed happiness post the camp. One fateful day when the camp had a holiday and mamma and she landed at the school door; she was sad and made sure the teacher and mamma acknowledged that. Of course, a visit to Nilgiris and she shopping for some of her fave things helped to elevate the misery.

While Mamma travelled on work, she and Papa also did the much awaited thing. Getting her a haircut and doing something different with the hairstyle. Ira wanted a star or sun or saturn, with the rings. Finally, the stylist did two arrow shapes, intersecting. While she excitedly narrated to me over phone about this, she also used every opportunity to go to the mirror and admire the design. Who knew two little arrow strokes could be such a source of happiness.


While Ira has her summer break, Mamma and Papa are juggling their work schedules and her holiday time. So, when we are busy Dadu picks her from camp and he is promptly reminded to get her a chocolate bun from nilgiris, through a call at 7am! Ira also has accompanied us to some meetings and kept herself busy with colouring and books.

This summer, P and I contemplated if we should put Ira into some activity classes. A class that would help her channelise her energy and also over time, she can figure out if she likes the activity enough to continue. So, we zeroed in on 'Karate'. We told her what it is, P showed her some videos and then we got her to the demo class. The teacher also wanted to see if she is ready for this. She began her classes and is enthusiastic about even waking up at 6 on a Sunday mrng to go to class. While she does her class, I sit on the bench outside the premises and write this blog post.


It is a beautiful sunshine filled morning, in every sense.

*Written on 6th May 2018

Keeping ‘Little Human Beings’ busy…the Ira way

March 24^th to June 7^th, 2017 will always be a historic summer for us. Ira’s first summer holidays. As parents, this phase involves a multitude of emotions.

Some thoughts that bring relief- Mornings may be a little less rushed next few weeks, no pondering what to pack for the multiple little boxes, how to keep cold and fever at bay for your little one when every other kid has a runny nose or a stuffy nose, a cough or a sneeze or just that irritating bug.

The primary summer concern- How to keep the active, excited, non-stop chattering little human being occupied for the next 75 days! I like to make plans, make lists and strategize. We do believe in unstructured play but I did vehemently plan play dates. We wanted her to do her own thing but we also wanted her to be a part of the summer camps and experience something new. Ira is an early riser and we did hope that she sleeps in longer during these days.

Summer Camp and Party Time

This decision was very easy and yet, a bit hard. While listening to moms talking about how this is a real break, kids must just play at home or visit family or do nothing, a part of me began tripping on the guilt path. I am currently a freelance consultant, working primarily from home. However, the busy days can be real hard. I knew the summer camp choice was for two reasons- 1. We get those few hours to work while she is at the camp 2. Summer camp promises to be a fun learning experience for her. P and I decided to send her for all of them. The themes were sea creatures, space and earth. She absolutely loved the first one. We conclude going by the loot of things she brought home on the last day of the camp, post the party and excitedly showed us. Otherwise, every day when we asked what she did, a stoic silence or nothing was the reply. The second one she attended the first day before coming down with a nasty bug that lasted over a week. She did return to the third camp all smiles and learnt about earth.

Learnings:

·         Ira had fun

·         She learnt a lot of new things. She learnt about submarines, lighthouse, germination, earth and more

·         She made new friends

·         She finally took to the water play

·         She was excited every morning to go to the camp, most excited about the party day

·         It was a decision well taken

·         Happiness guaranteed when you listen to your little one constantly sing, “Big blue whale, big blue whale…s(w)imming in the water…”

Chores and Activities galore

Ira quite likes the outdoors. She loves the parks and play areas. This summer, she also got a pretty good hang of her balance bike and now all our friends who visit are shown her biking skills. While we did some crafts activities, did vegetable painting, finger painting, block prints, glue and paper activities, these would last for a few minutes to maximum half an hour. However, they often set the momentum for the day and the excitement to show her papa what she did that day when he came home from work. Ira ofcourse took on the task of sweeping and swobbing every other day, post Usha  (our house help) finishing her work. She helped us cut veggies (under parental guidance only) and even stirred the alu bhaja in the kadai. The idea is to make the chores fun and ensure the activities don’t seem like chores. We have always spoken to Ira like she is an adult and we followed the same dictum with getting her involved in the activities. So, she sprayed water on the car and cleaned the surface, we used the veggies she cut and we also ate the veggies she stirred on the kadai. Activities give them a sense of independence and is a great source of encouragement. While some days are creative and some days, we just sat and watched a movie. Even mamma feeling lazy had its perks.

Learnings:

·         Kids like to be involved in home chores

·         Chores to be carried out under parental guidance only

·         Mix and Match the activities- building blocks, painting and craft, car washing. Assured of happy times.

·         What works today may not work tomorrow, to keep them occupied. Kids are smart, can think of a thousand things to do. Eg. Watering a concrete wall, cleaning the jhaadu strands. The list is endless.

Experiment is thy Name

1.       Can I slackline on the window?

2.       Can I make carrot soup(imaginary) for you?

3.       Can I take one photo in your phone?

4.       Can I work on my small lappot (laptop)?

5.       Can I go down by myself in the lift?

Pretend play, Unstructured play and no play becomes the norm some days. Replicating our conversations with either Bonnie or Leo or Snowy, while is entertaining for us, is serious business for Ira. We once in a while gave her the phone to take that one pic. The result would be burst shorts, gallery full of pics and a happy little human being. While we are quite strict about electronics and gadget usage, we gave her with limited time and some ground rules. She of course plays a surfer game and makes cakes in the pebble bay with elan now.

Learnings:

·         Sometimes let the child be and discover all the things they can be- astronaut, dinosaur, doctor, teacher, dancer, story teller, chef, photographer, movie buff.

We love People

Summer holidays also meant she spent ample time with her Dadu-Dida and Joy, her Ajji and also her Mashidida, Meshodadu and Rony. While she went shopping with them, bought veggies and her favorite fruits, she also demanded that elusive lollypop. Grandparents are a child’s best friend because they never say No! While Ira discovered how to make their world turn around her, we realised how with her, they rediscover the child within. We also planned some play dates and met a lot of babies (says Ira). Having friends over and busy weekends drove home the point again that today as most of us live in nuclear setups, children naturally crave for people around them. Like P often jokes that she must be at times bored of just seeing us.

Learnings:

·         Play dates meant chaos, fun and ‘learning to share toys’.

·         Play dates are a great way for the mommies and daddies to get to know the other mommies and daddies

·         Being and introduced as Ira’s mom or Ira’s dad becomes the norm

·         Summer break is a boon for the grandparents

·         The little human beings absorb all the love around, it can never be enough

·         Learning to express love though a hug or a peck is a big step for their little feet

On the last day of her holiday, while playing with kinder blocks, Ira made a car in which she was going to school and mamma was saying bye. The eyes moisten at this moment because you realise that your baby is now a ‘little girl’. Please note that now Ira likes to be referred to as a little girl as she feels she is no more a baby. What seemed like so many days, are now gone past and we are left with memories of her first summer break to recount, write and talk about. Summer holiday also seems like a growth spurt time, literally. The kids seem taller and there is a tremendous increase in vocabulary. Must be the summer sunshine effect. Like Ira would say, “First of all guys, that’s my logic”.

Summer holidays begin, the Ira way

The summer is here

Montessori year one done

Filled with activities and fun

Summer holidays have begun

basking in the time and sun

Mamma planning activities

Papa planning trips

Stories to tell and create memories

More new books

More new ideas

New things to do every few minutes

Keep Ira busy

is the mantra

unstructured play is here to stay

Ira doing her own little thing

conversations and dialogues

phone calls and visits

Play dates with friends

Excitement rules the meet-day

Some park time

Making rotis for the pigeons

Cleaning soppu with elan

Teaching story puzzle to guests

Wearing her doctor glasses and checking temperature too

The summer camps begin today

New experiences and new worlds to explore

The Sea , Space and the Earth

More on them in another post

#Ira #Iraisms #Summerholidays