Hey everyone, I know I am not a pro at writing but I have just begun. And I didn’t even knew I could until I picked up a pen and started to write and then it all came naturally to me. Through this blog I could write what I have in the heart of my heart, I could show the world what I feel and what I think. Let us all make a small family and lets begin our journey on a positive note. God bless our journey we are about to commence.
Yeah..sensational right? Hitting any cords there? I know it is hard to say it out loud, but we think about it atleast twice each day. Isn’t it? Please tell me I am right, and I am not the only one in it?
And, No, it does not mean I am unhappy in my marriage, but, I feel I was happier before I got into this institution! Why the hell marriage is called an institution anyway? Because it teaches us many things…each day. Yeah…maybe. Ok..Ok..Yes it does!
Many a time, when I see a happy, cuddly, mushy, clingy, PDA friendly, young couple outside, I try to tell them through telepathy, ‘Dude, do not get married!’, ‘I know you’re very happy together and you feel like you can spend eternity together and that you can’t live if you don’t get married!’ No Dude, seriously, trust me when I say that, having a fling, no matter how serious are you for each other… things will change after you tie the knot. This pink season will turn into grey before you know it. Having said all this, I know you are judging me in your heart, that I am that saddist, vicious, brutal, ruthless beyach, who just talks negative and tries to scare others.
Well, No! I would say, marriage has it’s own perks. Like everything else, this coin also has two sides. You get a partner for every crime you will commit, forever. If it is forever! (Saddist b**** back).You get somebody to share your entire life with. You get to make babies, have your own family, have your own little world in this big world. (as Sridevi said in Engligh Vinglish). A gene pool, you get to call your own. Yes, sounds beautiful right? (If you’re unmarried, it will sound beautiful!). Conversely, You get to spend your entire life with just one person (just kidding, don’t take out your swords ladies. But I know you have thought about it too.)
On a serious note, what I am trying to say here is, every relationship is built on a lot of factors, like trust, love, faith, care, passion, sense of belonging, needs and desires, and many many other factors. Only try adding baggage of responsibilities to it. Dayum!! There it goes..!
The whole gamechanger is the set of resposibilites, that come with the word ‘Marriage’. No, I am not trying to demotivate the ones who are unmarried and are planning to enter the world of being ‘soul-mates’ soon. I don’t regret being married even for a single day. To marry was my own decision and I knew very well that life was going to change after that and it won’t be that rosy love story forever anymore. It was ‘one-step-ahead’ of our relationship.
But my heart does cringe at times when I visit my past and feel we were more fun before we got married. We had no responsibilities and we were free like birds. We lived the way we wanted to. We were not answerable to anyone but ourselves. Life was more amusing. Don’t you agree?
After marriage life took a full turn and we had to make a life together for ourselves and our families. We had to be more responsible or atleast act like one.
We were answerable to our families.
We had to behave, keeping in mind our loved ones.
We had to think before we did anything.
Now saving accounts were very important.
Festivals became very important all of the sudden.
Many rituals we din’t even heard about were now important.
Relatives we never cared about were suddenly very important.
Holidays became more of a family affair than just us backpacking to the mountains.
Grocery shopping became a monthly pilgrimage (who knew there is a thing like ‘monthly budget for grocery shopping’?)
Speed dialling numbers changed to doodhwala, presswala, maid, cook, etc.
Furniture, bath linens, bed linens, were more important than Zara, H&M and Mango.
Buying disinfectants were more important than buying perfumes.
Who knew one needed two towels in the bathroom, a hand towel and a face towel. And yes, not to forget, bathe towel is separate one, needless to say.
We now have separate toothbrush too. (How did we ever shared our toothbrush?…eewwww)
Who knew one needs so many toiletries in the bathroom?
Forgetting a birthday or anniversary of any family member was a crime you could get hanged for. (Earlier it was ok if you didn’t even attend the party, even though you were invited to it.)
A major part of the wardrobe is occupied by salwar suits, sarees and lehengas you can’t even imagine wearing before you know what.
Sasu Maa becomes the most important entity in one’s life. Even more important than your husband, your own parents, your own life.
Let us not elaborate about the above topic. It is a little risky, as it is possible, she might read this article.
Ahem…moving ahead, even friends change. Like literally. You will never know when the opposite gender buddies disappear from your life and how soon.
Well, the list is endless and I know I have scared the s*** out of my unmarried readers here. So, lastly, I would say, do not get scared from taking this step. Change is the law of nature and no matter how much you want to hold on to your current supercool life, it will change someday.
So go ahead, find yourself someone you think you can spend your entire life with, someone you think you will be happy with, someone who understands you and love the way you are, someone with whom you don’t have to change yourself much, someone you can dream your future with and cross the bridge and enter the world of matrimony. You will not regret it.
Just take it with a pinch of salt and don’t overburden your partner with the load of your expectations from him. You have your own life and your partner is not responsible for your inner happiness. Do what makes you happy and be yourself. Live your life and bring joy to each other. As long as his actions are not the sole reason of your happiness, you will be fine.
Marriage should be a bond of happiness and not a baggage. Remind your partner that you appreciate the little things he/she does for you. Be faithful and loyal to your partner. Honesty is the best policy after all. Last but not the least, always stay vocal in your relationship. Communicate everyday, as much as you can. Do not just complain but communicate your fears, your weaknesses, your loss, your failure, your joys, your victory, your happiness, just communicate your heart out.
Marriage comes with the promise of forever and forever is a very long time my friend. It is indeed a very long time so take tiny steps each day to make it work. Marriage is forever a work in progress.
Hi all my lovely readers. If you liked it, leave your comment and share it with your friends and family. To know more about me, search ‘that middle class girl’ on FB and Insta.
Love n hugs!
Most of my friends are same age as mine, and we have kids almost the same age too. And it is a known fact, that once you are a mother, the only conversation you have with your friends, is about kids! So most of us, as a current issue, have, school searching agenda at hand. A school that is next to home not just in location, but in the feel too.
We all know how critical it is, to choose the right school for our kids. Earlier in our time, there were not too many options, and it was an easy choice to send a child to start schooling. But today, with a flashy building in every nook and corner of the city, promising all the amenities and facilities, it becomes a stressful task to choose the right school.
Me and my few friends decided to make a list of things we need from a school and start to look for options available to us according to the same. So first thing we did was to decide what we want the school to do for our kids.
Then we gathered information about different schools and visited quite a few. Finally, we narrowed down the choices we had after going through the entire process. Topping our list of choices was standing tall : The Klay School.
The first thing that caught my eye was the school philosophy. Klay school thinks not just about the child, but the parent too. It says, the parents should not feel guilty about leaving the child at school and going to work. At the same time, children should have access to the best quality care and education, even if both parents are working.
These few lines sent a sense of relief down my veins. Which school thinks about the parents too?
The mission of the school is to ensure that the children receive the best of the care and a stress-free, healthy and happy environment in the initial growing years, that are very critical for the future development.
During my first visit to the school, I found it very welcoming for both the kids and me. The school premises were well kept and every corner of the school was a learning space, providing early education and development to kids between the age 0-10. The school promises to take the best care of not just the school going kids, but it serves as a suitable place for infants and toddlers as well, where it provides both day care to after school care. They have proper trained staff and In-house nurse, all the time for any kind of crisis.
They have a team of staff members who are trained for early childhood education. The teachers engage with the kids and express genuine interest, care and respect to each child. Also they have the best teacher to student ratio, so that each kid get proper attention.
For me the most important part of the school is safety. I was more than happy to find out that the entire staff was police verified and CCTV were installed in every corner of the school and the parents can access the live footage from anywhere anytime.
The floors, walls, and kitchen area were clean. Also the food preparation areas was clean and staff made healthy meals at the campus each day.
All the basic safety measures were taken and no strangers were allowed to just walk in off the street – and children were not allowed to wander out unattended.
Toys and play equipment were in good condition. Medication and all other hazardous substances were kept out of reach, and the outdoor play area was level and secure.
The school has an outdoor play area. Children get a chance to play outside every day – running, jumping, and skipping are good for them physically, mentally, and socially. Living in a metro city with row of apartments, kids hardly get enough sunlight and a safe and secure ground to play, and at Klay school, they make sure, kids engage in enough outdoor activities each day.
To my delight, this year being the 6th birthday of Klay school in India, they are up for a celebration in form of Lil Folk Festival in many of their branches in Delhi and NCR. There will be lot of activities for kids 0-4 years like puppet show, music, painting, Rangoli making, story telling and what now. I am very excited for these events happening on 16th February 2019, 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM in its Gurgaon and Noida branches.
Their curriculum and other school related information is available on their website www.klayschools.com and for more satisfaction visit your nearest Klay School branch and find out for yourself, what the school has to offer and I assure you will not be disappointed. There are more than 100 Klay Schools in India, so finding a branch close to home will not be a problem.
While I was collecting the toys from one room to another, on the first day of 2019, all I could think of was, I still have to find out those hidden Lego blocks, clear the dirty dishes from each room, think about how to clean the wall of the drawing room, the center table and a couch, which is my little ones latest sketch board, not to forget he has colour all over his body that needs to be washed (however I doubt it will take days to go away), sky high laundry, and the rest of the miscellaneous daily chores.
I was feeling like I was doing some disaster management. It was the next morning of the new years party. We had a house party and it was quite a hit. We had 5 couples with 2 kids each and including us there were 12 adults and a dozen kids with age varying from 6 months to 15 year. What a night it was? We asked our maid to bring one of her sister and stay the night to handle the kids and still, kids room looked like it was hit by tsunami last night. And I am saying literally, because there was water, juice,and food all over,along with the toys, books, colors, shoes, and some of new T-shirts used as a cloth to wipe the paintbrush.
“Honey, please remind me not to keep a house party next year or …..EVER!”
My maid helped as much as she could and then finally she left looking like a zombie. Her sister left around midnight complaining of stomach ache. Well, I was left to deal with most of it and being a holiday, kids were home along with husband dear, who was too busy catching up on the highlights of last nights game. ‘Yeah, that must be pretty important. Wish I could swap my life with his.’
While rubbing my little ones new romper in the sink, which the kids used to clean the white board, I thought to myself, how good a kid I was, when I was their age. I never did this amount of damage to the sanity of my parents. At least I don’t remember doing any such thing, ever. I guess most of the 80’s kids had no choice but to listen to their parents and spend most of their time at home with parents, listening to their words of wisdom and agreeing to most of it. I remember making new years resolution and sticking to it for at least half the year.
‘Hey, that could very well be a good idea, I should ask my kids to have a new year resolution. May be then I will be able to put some sense of responsibility in them. Yes, let me make a list of the most important things and I will let them choose one or two….no no…at least five of them. Yes, good idea!’
I washed my hands and closed the door of each room including the kitchen and bathroom, made myself a coffee and sat down on the redesigned center table.
‘What are the most important things they should follow? Yes, keeping the toys back to where they belong.’ I visioned both my kids playing with the toys quietly in their room and after that putting them back to where they were. “Momma, which shelf is for Lego?”
“Momma, which cupboard is for my teddy?”
“Mumma, where do I keep my cars and remotes?”
“Mumma, I need new batteries for my guitar.”
I snapped out of my dream and faced the reality of life. I got up and opened the door of the kids room. It had shelves and shelves of toys. A huge cupboard full of soft toys, doll houses, Lego scattered all over, racks full of books, a bucket full of colors and so many remotes, I myself did not know which one was for which one?
“May be first I need to call Marie Kondo.” I silently closed the door of the kids room, making a mental note to clear out the room soon and give away lots and lots of toys and books.
‘What else could be a great new year resolution? Oh yes, How about never say no to your mother. Yes, yes, that will be a very good idea to get everything done.’ I thought to myself and smiled at my smartness.
SLAP! I held my left cheek. It felt like yesterday when my mom gave me a good one on my left cheek, few days before I got married because I was still unable to cook a proper meal. ‘No, no, not going to happen either. ‘
Actually, the list is endless.
Make your own bed.
Get ready on your own for school.
Polish your own shoes.
Iron your own clothes.
Clean your own room.
Show interest in home cooked food too.
Finish homework on time.
Focus on studies more than Netflix and Instagram.
Stop eating on the bed in front of the TV.
Help your mother with random house work.
Share stuff with other kids, including your own sibling.
Spend a day without fighting or crying and yelling.
Let your mother chose clothes for you.
Brush your teeth twice, daily.
Keep the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink.
Keep dirty clothes in laundry.
Quit watching videos on youtube or playing games.
These are very few points of an endless list every parent has. So do I, but is it even feasible to have it in this time and era? The kids already have school bags heavier than their own body weight and too much competition to prove themselves. 80’s kids were the last kids who actually knew what childhood was. We played at neighbors houses, ate food and sometimes even slept there and our parents never worried about us. Summer vacations meant spending months with our cousins and having a great time and not learning new art forms of joining random classes or finishing off monstrous holiday homework. We already are living in the time, when we can’t leave our kids alone for a moment to play in the park or their friends house, because we are always worried about their safety. We don’t trust anyone with our kids, be it friends or even family at times.
So I don’t feel like loading them some more with the weight of our expectations from them and whatever little childhood innocence is left in them, take it all away. I would rather let them be. Let them dirty the house, the walls, the couches and the curtains. This is their safe zone, their playground, so I will let them be. These dirty walls are my memories. As they say, childhood turns into adolescence in a blink. So, I don’t want to blink and miss it all. Let them carry weight of books on their shoulders and not the weight of our expectations. Let the kids have fun while they still can. Let them make their own resolutions, as and when they want to. As it is, resolutions are meant to be broken. I don’t remember reaching the finish line of even a single of my many resolutions I made year after year, so why make a list for them. I love the mess, the Lego hurting my feet, the almirahs full of toys and couch full of squeaking toys every time we sit on them. These are the perks of having kids around. Soon these little birds will fly away and leave an empty nest behind. But these memories will forever stay within these walls. The stories of their childhood will be mine to tell. Today and forever.
This post is part of a Blog Train hosted by Prerna, Vartika and Alpana and sponsored by Pandora’s Box and Recipe Dabba.
HONEY I GREW UP THE KIDS- RESOLUTION FOR KIDS TOO
Being a new mom can be really stressful. That too, if you are a first time mom, it is not going to be easy. I remember my time as a first time new mom and it was not a very good experience. I would burn out myself to be a perfect mother, a perfect wife, a perfect homemaker. But most of the times I failed and felt guilty all the time. I was on the edge of being depressed. But, I guess, I was strong enough to cope with it and come out with flying colors.
At the same time, I have seen mothers not doing great and blaming everyone else and themselves, for not being a perfect mother. This needs to be stopped. Being a new mom is not easy. As they say ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ and hell it is true. New moms need to know that, whatever they are doing for their kids is OK. Whatever efforts they are putting is enough. No one is perfect in the world and a perfect mother or a perfect child is a myth. Whoever says they have perfect kids or they are perfect parents are lying.
Motherhood is all about learning with the baby. You learn in the process of raising a child. Yes, you will make mistakes, but they will be ok. Those mistakes are a part of your motherhood journey. Remember whatever you are doing for the baby, is for his/her best interest. Stop blaming yourself for everything.
However, when I had my second baby, I knew what to do. I knew how important it was, to think about myself too and not just the baby. How important it was, to take care of myself too and not just the baby. How important it was, to do everything to maintain my sanity because only a happy mother can raise a happy child.
So here are a few things I did. No, I did not do all of them, but they were definitely on my list. So go ahead and indulge yourself with a few of them, and see if it helps you in any way.
⦁ My doctor encouraged me to meditate and join Yoga classes, which helped me a lot in two different ways. One, it helped me physically, calmed my senses, made my trimesters easy. Two, I met many fellow mother-to-be’s and spent time chatting and sharing experiences.
⦁ I never realized the importance of spending time with myself before I had a baby. So my advice to all new moms or mom-to-be’s is, make sure and do whatever you can, to spend some time alone. Ponder over silly things, go watch a movie alone, go shopping, read a book, take a solo trip, visit a place you always wanted to, check a few things off your bucket list. You will see what wonders it does to your health and how happy it will make you and fill you with new found enthusiasm and energy. (Doctor’s advice is a must)
⦁ Visit your family, your cousins, your favorite people, your mom, your dad, your brother/sister. Spend time with them. Let them take care of you. talk your heart out with them. Share your fears, your agonies, your worries. Let yourself go back to your childhood.
⦁ It is a well known fact and no one can deny it, that after you have a baby, you spend more time with your child than your spouse. Having a baby is a life changing experience. Relationships change. Your camaraderie with your spouse is going to change. So go ahead, and plan a date night to rejuvenate your love life. If you already have a baby, arrange a nanny or your family or friend, and go on a candle light dinner, watch a romantic movie, do whatever makes both of you happy and rekindle that romance.
⦁ We all know, women love to shop, so go ahead and pamper yourself with all the things you might need after the baby or just spend some moolah and shop till you drop. Retail therapy is the best kind of therapy.
⦁ Cook some thing nice for yourself. We always cook for others. We cook what our husbands like or children or family and we adapt their taste and forget what we like to eat. So go ahead and bake some cake or cook your kind of pasta and hog on. The aroma of baking is the best kind of aroma your house can have.
⦁ A day out with friends can be really relaxing. Leave your kids with the husband and go ahead and take a day off with your friends.
⦁ Reading is always a good option and there is no better friend than a good book. Be it fiction, autobiography, fashion/food/travel blogs, history. Whatever is your taste in books, go grab one.
⦁ Fill your tub with warm water, put a generous amount of your favorite body wash, light some scented candles, turn on your favorite playlist, keep a bottle of wine or that cup of tea or coffee, and sink into that luxurious bubble bath for hours. Forget about the world. If you have kids, put them to sleep or just let your husband take care of them and just give your body this treat.
⦁ Think about the positive things in your life. Sit alone and count your blessings and thank God for them.
⦁ Netflix can be quite addictive, but if you have time on your hands, go ahead and watch whatever you like.
⦁ Fill your life with positive people. Make sure you cut negative friends or judgmental people from your life. They are no good to you and will only cause stress to you in future. So without thinking twice, distance yourself from negative people. Talk and take advice from people who understand you and help you stay positive.
⦁ Before and after you have a baby, make sure to pamper your self with a saloon visit. color those hair, get a new haircut, it helps to give a new perspective to yourself and life. Get a massage or visit your favorite spa.
⦁ Allow yourself more time to get things done.
⦁ Sit in the balcony, grab a cup of tea/coffee and do nothing. Just relax and enjoy the silence.
⦁ Make friends with fellow moms. Share your experiences , joys and failures. They will understand you because they must be going through the same and will never judge you.
⦁ Do not stress about your failures. It is ok to make mistakes. Parenting is all about making mistakes and learning from them. Stop feeling guilty.
⦁ Maintain a journal. If you can not open up easily in front of anyone else, just write everything down in a diary. It will help you vent out and will make you feel lighter.
⦁ Arrange for your kids and take that solo trip you always wanted to take or even better plan a trip with your friends. You have no idea how liberating it is to travel alone or with friends. Give it a try.
⦁ Create a hobby and make time for it.
⦁ Hit a gym, as and when your gynecologist recommends. Nothing feels better than to work that sweat out in the gym and go back to a toned body or just a fitter version of yourself.
⦁ If you can not go to a gym, go for midnight or evening walks or runs.
Motherhood is beautiful, but it is also a fact that we moms give all of our self to it and often end up neglecting ourselves. My first pregnancy was like that. I gave my everything to the baby and ended up being cranky, sad, depressed and messed up all the time. But when I became mother for the second time, I made sure, I paid attention to myself too. Because as they say ‘only a happy mother can raise happy children’.
Follow me on Facebook and Instagram. Find ‘that middle class girl’
I was in a frenzy, while my little 8 months old baby boy was wailing on the top of his lungs. I cursed myself for losing track of time and forgetting about his 4-hour feeding cycle while shopping in a local market in Delhi. He was crying hysterically to be fed. It was a hot day and I was out with my aunt who wanted my help for her daughter’s wedding trousseau. Although I thought of saying no because I knew it was going to be difficult with Abeer being so little and the heat outside, but she promised we won’t lurk around the market and just visit a few designer showrooms. “Atleast there will be AC!” I thought and went ahead with my little one. He soon dozed off as I nursed him in the nice air-conditioned changing room, of a posh designer showroom in South Delhi and I being a shopaholic myself, lost track of time. As everyone knows, women go berserk when they shop and so did we. We never knew when we reached to look for some miscellaneous random stuff in the local market around the showroom. Abeer woke up after his regular two-hour sleep, played with his rattle toy for sometime and soon started to cry. It was time for me to feed him again and damn! there was no changing room around here. The showroom we were in was far away and it was very hot outside. There were hundreds of people around and there was no way I was going to feed him there in front of everyone. This is India. It does not work like that here after all. As soon as the baby started to cry, people started to give me half annoyed and half sympathetic look. I tried feeding him some cookies, I kept for him, but he was in no mood to surrender. He wanted his portion and he wanted it now. I ran outside, not caring about the heat, to find any trial room or a restroom available. I went from one shop to another but all the trial rooms were full. It was weekend afterall, and with the wedding season fast approaching, people were all out for retail therapy. Finally, I found a shop and they were kind enough to give me some water first and then send me off to their stitching room. I thanked them and ran towards the 6*6 wooden compartment, which was already loaded with unstitched clothes piled all over and a stitching machine. The tailor left, as soon as I told him what I was planning to do there, and I without wasting anymore time shut the door and gave the crying baby, who had lost his patience by then and was nearly pissed at me, what he wanted. I was cramped with the baby in that room with no fan or AC, but I was thankful, I found a place away from the pruding eyes of people around.
I can tell you more such horror stories, where I sneaked under the big table in the conference room and feed the baby because there were cctv cameras everywhere or when I stood in the filthiest washroom I had ever seen and feed the baby, just to ignore the staring uncomfortable people around. Many times I would pump the milk in a bottle and would carry with me while travelling to places where I know it will be difficult to breastfeed. There are many, but at the same time I can share stories of the times, when I did not care about the stares and feed the crying baby in an aircraft and a train. There was one instance, when my 3 year daughter saw a cow feeding her calf and asked me what she was doing, in a car full of elderly relatives and I could feel the tension growing about my reply. I told her the fact without caring about anyone and few of them let out a sigh. Funny as it may sound, but isn’t it as natural as giving birth to the baby? why such a taboo about breastfeeding in our country whose population is about to explode soon?
At the same time in other countries, I have nursed my kids in open and no one gave me an eye about it. The world’s become quite a breastfeeding positive place. I’ve never gotten angry looks for nursing in public, and nobody’s ever suggested, that “There are children here! Can’t you do that in a room?”
Ubiquity and social acceptance vary from region to region. In rural India breastfeeding in public is completely acceptable. Definitely it is not a norm in higher sections of society, but is quite common in the lower economic sections.
I dread having to feed my baby anywhere outside of my own home. Mainly because it makes people so uncomfortable. Men and women both suddenly either stop making eye contact or you get the full attention of some creeps who attach breastfeeding to something sexual. Yes, there are men who support breastfeeding. There are men who understand what a sacrifice it can be, and think breastfeeding is a beautiful thing. But they still don’t know where to look, because they’re trying not to make the nursing lady uncomfortable.The problem isn’t me, and it’s not them, either. It’s that public breastfeeding hasn’t become normal enough, in our country.
Breastfeeding is a natural process that is important both for mother and baby. I remember myself at a wedding and my little girl wanted to be fed, so I covered myself with a shawl and started to feed. There was one guy sitting next to us, who could not take his eyes off. Although he could not see anything, as I was covered completely, still his imaginations knew no bound and he could not look away. My mother-in-law saw the look and went and asked him, if his mother ever nursed him and he said sorry and left. But the whole thing is this, that in our country, even though we know, that a child gets his best nourishment from the mother’s milk and how important it is, but it is still attached to a certain stigma. People find it sexual, to get a glimpse of a nursing mothers breast and by the time this stigma is not removed, we mothers won’t feel comfortable about breastfeeding in public and will have to depend on either formula milk or feeding bottles at public places.
Even though the practice may be legal or socially accepted, some mothers may still be reluctant to expose a breast in public to feed the baby, due to actual or potential objections by other people, negative comments, or harassment. It is not the duty of the mother alone. The child’s father and the family too should be supportive, especially in public places.
We see so many celebrities supporting the cause in our country, we see them talking about it and many celebrities went ahead and did a photo shoot nursing their babies, but the taboo around breastfeeding is far bigger.
A study reveals that more than 8 lakh babies die every year for lack of breastfeeding. It is definitely, the best form of nutrition for any child and an excellent way for a mother to connect with its child. Breastfeeding is the best form of nutrition a child can have during the starting year of its life. Breast milk contains Antibodies which help the child fight with many infection and diseases. It is equally beneficial for the mothers, as it rules out the possibility of having breast cancer to much extent.
India is definitely not a breastfeeding country but it surely and badly needs to be one.This is not surprising in our country, where cases of crime against women are rampant despite being fully covered. Feeding the baby even under dupatta or shawl feels uncomfortable to mothers. Lack of breastfeeding counters in public places like parks, shopping malls, railway stations etc. also discourage breastfeeding. Most mothers opt for bottle feeds when going out in public or traveling. Instead of giving nursing mothers some crampy compartments in trains and other places, we need special breastfeeding counters and educate people about it.
Although we seldom see few advertisements, run by government encouraging breastfeeding, we need to educate more and more people about it and make it a natural process to see a nursing mother in public, just like eating in public.
Families should be the best support system for these nursing mothers and should take good care of their health too. Eating a healthy diet while you are breastfeeding is equally important because what you eat determines the energy, protein, nutrient and vitamin content of your breast milk. So it is important to keep a tab of the diet, of a lactating mother, and families can surely play a role here.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby’s life for optimum growth and health of the baby. Babies who are given feeds other than breast milk are known to have lesser immunity, more illnesses and require more hospitalizations.
So, in order to have a healthy tomorrow for our country, we need to make a move today and make breastfeeding a normal and natural process for everyone. That in return will make new mothers comfortable and they will be encouraged to nurse their babies whenever wherever needed.
That middle class girl 