DPDF Series: 9:15 a.m. – And I’m ready to call it a day!

9:15a.m. and I’m ready to call it a day!

The boys were up at 6.15 a.m. and it’s been all go go go since then – and yes, in different directions.

Since their room is on the middle level, mine on the 2nd floor and everything else on the ground floor, obviously, one wanted to go up to my room to Papa and the other wanted to go make his new puzzle with me downstairs.

We all march up first, then all go down to begin the day.  And then it starts:

‘Mama, make the puzzle with me’.  ‘Mama I make breakfast with you’. ‘Mama I want to mix it’.  ‘Mama I want to put the raisins’.  ‘Mama give me water’.  ‘Mama what’s this?’.  ‘Mama I want to draw the curtain’.

And then when we all sit for breakfast – ‘Mama! You feed me!’ x 2!

A few spills of ingredients in the kitchen.  Breakfast done.  I’ve cleaned up and now racing against time to get us all ready for the day.  All the way up again to play with the toys in my room so I can shower.  Y barges in to the bathroom and fiddles with all the cosmetics and pours out my ‘ear piercing solution’, A turns on the tap.  Running out of my shower, I stop them, clean up, get them out, call out for Papa to take over.

I’m ready now and we’re getting the boys ready.  2 very hyper boys this morning, keep slipping out of our hands between each garment strip and each garment wear oh and this is after a toothbrush has been chucked in to the toilet.  We get these two slippery boys in to their uniforms and down to the buggy/stroller.  Another chase to get shoes & jackets on.  Then the hats and gloves.  Got one done, and the other one undoes his.  We do his and the other gets undone.

That’s it!  I roll them out without hats and gloves, just hoodies and tell them to sit on their hands.

We get to school and now they want to run around before going down to class.

I carry A down the stairs, deposit him in his class, and go up to get Y and repeat.

Both in the safe hands of their teachers, snack bags in their cubbies, gloves in the pockets.  Coats hung up and I’m out the door.  Ready for bed.  I’ve had my work out and my challenge/s for the day.  I’m ready for a cup of tea and my bed!

DPDF Series: Out and About

Since the boys were around 5 months old, I started to take them to various playgroups.  Some organised ones by companies such as Baby Sensory which lead to Toddler Sense, and others were groups friends with their 1st, 2nd, or 3rd child about the same age as my 2.  The friends groups I probably started when they were about 3-4 months old and still laid on their backs.

I didn’t always have a nanny with me, but some times I did.  With and without, I was always quite a site – 2 car seats or 2 babies in a double buggy/stroller and all the paraphernalia that came along with us – snacks for 2, milk for 2, water for 2, lunch or dinner for 2 and a gigantic diaper bag.  I actually used the ‘Wistful Weekender’ by Petunia Pickle Bottom.  Yes a ‘weekend’ bag for 1 baby was my DAILY bag for 2!  (I do highly recommend this bag as there’s a pocket for EVERYTHING! Including 4 bottles!)

Petunia Wistful Weekend

 

With an accompanying nanny, we were quite the entourage going to someone’s home!  But those were fun and special days, watching your babies grow along with their friends and the great bond that starts to develop between us mothers and between the children.  Their first friends.

I also would meet friends and their babies on ‘play dates’ at venues like Toddler World at the Hendon Leisure Centre.  A bit smelly at first (thank God they redid the place while we were still going there) but large, bright and enough to do for babies through to 3 year olds.  Ball pits, gymnastic balance beams , hoola hoops, climbing frames, a large ground trampoline, soft play areas, pilates balls,  etc. etc.

But all this is great and loads of fun with 1 child, and it’s the time either parent bonds with their child in a playful environment.  However, once the boys began crawling, then walking…. I was in BIG trouble!! I didn’t know which way to run as inevitably they both would run in different directions! Every 5 or so mins I needed to do a head count and make sure my eyes in the front were on one boy and the eyes on the back of my head were on the other.  The were times I thought I lost one, only to see that he made a friend somewhere in the large room, or found something he really liked.  Other times I was really glad the attendants, or facilitators were familiar with me and my very active boys and would help me out.  (and then I learned… dress them in the brightest of colours so I could do quick spot checks any time!)

Needless to say, it helped me keep fit as well as I would run faster than I thought I could, stretch wider than I thought I could while holding one baby with my right hand and the other with my left leg, and get exhausted by the end of that hour as if I had completed a grueling triathlon!

 

 

The Ladies behind the Scenes

Have you enjoyed reading the most recent posts?

1.  The Rosie Project – Natasha Mahtani

2.  Late Fragments by Kate Gross – Natasha Mahtani 

3.  Gym-nasties – Jaya Lalwani

I would like to officially welcome Natasha & Jaya to the CMW Team.

Both amazing women in their own right who with their wit, charm, smarts, funny and interesting experiences have a lot to enlighten us with.

Like me I hope you enjoy their posts and insights.

Happy reading!

Anupa

Where do I begin?

2 Years and 10 Months, that’s how old A & Y are today.

2 Years and 10 Months of bewilderment, being overwhelmed, feeling a new kind of love – on the double, and just being in pure rapture watching 2 little boys I gave birth to at the same time (ok, well 15 minutes apart) being so so different from each other.

A & Y came 6 weeks early, and 2 weeks earlier than I realistically expected.  Twins can come anywhere from 28 weeks on to full-term, but I anticipated mine around 36 weeks and not 33.5.  So for the 1st 2 weeks they were in the hospital in incubators and then just under observation as by God’s Grace they were healthy and were not machine dependent.  The best healing for premies is to give them ‘kangaroo care’.  Wow!  What an amazing experience to hold two little munchkins to my chest at the same time and just listen to each one take their breath.

Watching them and already seeing how different they were was bewildering.  I could already see how different their features were from each other, how they positioned themselves while sleeping, how the tones of their little cry were different.  I can only imagine that it’s overwhelming to say the least when you’re holding your first born and you already start to dream in to their future.  Holding 2?  Wow.

Needles to say the journey has been loads of fun (ok it has been, AND challenging!) so far.  I will let you in to snippets as I recollect the fun and crazy times leading up to now.

My posts will be going back in to the past sometimes and then back in the present.  Enjoy the ride.

Why am I so quiet?

boysparkjan

Loving January.  No matter where I am – in Los Angeles or in London – I love January.  It’s the calm after the storm of the holidays, but there’s this magic in the air as I look forward to all the surprises that will unfold in the New Year!

(I do not make New Year’s resolutions as I think I keep evolving during the year and make adjustments, amendments, or learn new things as I go along.  However, this year I have stopped having sugar in my 3-cups-of-tea-a-day and resisting my daily bite of dark chocolate after every meal.  So… I did cheat yesterday, but is it cheating to eat 90% PURE, dark chocolate??)

I have been busy working behind the scenes on my Colourful Women who will be portrayed slowly but surely on this site.  As I had mentioned… these are MY Colourful Women.  The Women in my life who I admire, respect, and model various aspects of my life on.  They are an inspiration to me and many around them, and I will be sharing these special women with you.

While I work on ways to portray them, I encourage you to think of the special women in your life and either talk about them…….or please…. introduce them to me!

I have also been asked to write about bringing up my twin boys, so on my page – Double the Pleasure, Double the Fun – I will be sharing stories of being a mum in her 40’s to twin toddler boys!  Mostly funnies – yes, the joke is usually on me! – but it’s a beautiful and blessed journey when I’m not tearing my hear out and trying to pawn them off on Papa or the Nanny.

Enjoy 2015 and everything beautiful that unfolds along your path.  Open your eyes, ears and heart and allow yourself to take it all in.

 

 

 

 

Staycation with 2 energetic toddlers.

January 7.  Well into the first week of 2015, we are all settling back in to routine.  Boys at school and me chucked back in to work (while I was hoping for a week off for myself!).  Papa unfortunately worked through most of the holidays but now he can work in peace without me screaming out for help with the boys every now and then!

It was not half has crazy as I expected it to be with 2 little boys bounding with energy.  I came to realise also that they were not looking to be kept ‘busy’ and ‘entertained’ all the time.  They were definitely tired from their first term of every morning Nursery plus all the weekend activities, and they actually slept in an extra hour to an hour and half! Yay for us, the extra sleep was definitely welcomed after almost 3 years of being sleep deprived!

So, how did we survive our first ‘staycation’? (The last 2 Christmas’s and last summer we spent in Sunny California).

1.  A good friend hosted a Toddler Christmas Party at her house with Secret Santa, Musical Statues, Bubble Machines and Christmas Cookie Decorations. Y & A really enjoyed the experience as they were still grasping the concept of Christmas and Santa.christmas biscuits

2.  We baked cookies together!  The boys were fascinated watching my Kenwood mixer whisking eggs and butter, then they helped me put in the dry mix in to it and again watching the batter being made.  Obviously, scooping spoonfuls and placing them on the baking tray was fun, and then the anticipation of the finished product that they got to taste! (Yes, just taste.  We still limit their ‘sugar’ and ‘junk’ in take and we eat ‘pretend’ cakes!)

3.  Visiting one of the many Santa’s Grotto.  We went to Westfield, Shepherd’s Bush where they first watched a short movie on ‘munions’ and presents flying across the screen with each child attending’s photos on them.  (If you ask me my opinion, this film left much to be desired! but I’m not 2.5 years old).  Papa joined us for the Santa experience, then left the 3 of us on a lunch date.  I have to recommend ‘Fire and Stone’ as they are VERY child friendly.  A nice and yummy Children’s Menu with smoothies on the side, and great management and staff that stayed close to me when they say I was managing 2 boys!
santa grotto   fire and stone

 

 

 

 

4.  Another Christmas play date at another good friend’s home.  More play, more gifts, more treats!

5.  I hosted a Christmas party at home with just desserts and cocktails at the run up to main day.  The boys once again helped with some of the preparation in the kitchen with the Kitchen Aide!

6.  Oh! and I did the unthinkable!  yes, I plopped them in front of the Tele every morning for 20 mins! Like sugar, I’m not a fan of television either, but this one – if you need it, you’ve got to use it.  And that’s why it’s known as the BEST baby sitter!

7.  And now it’s Christmas Day!!! PRESENTS!! WOW!! SO MANY!!  Y & A were soooooooooo overwhelmed and excited with all their gifts (half of which I had to swiftly put away before they were ingrained in their memory), that once we got to my cousins’ Christmas Lunch, the boys wanted to turn back home and play with their ‘new toys’.  Well, this kept us busy for a good 4 – 5 days with a few outings here and there.

8.  We took them to watch Gruffalo’s Child at the Arts Depot in Finchley.  I purchased front row seats as it was their first theatre experience and I wanted to maximise on their attention span by placing them right in front of the stage.  It worked!! I read the book to them as a refresher in the morning and so they were quite enthralled by seeing it all in live action.  They still talk about it and do funny things and say, ‘the Grufallo did that’ and ‘the Grufallo’s Child did that’.

9.  Letting them run wild at home!  Down to their underwear and vests and letting them be as silly as they wanted to be.  No agendas. No where to go.  Just monkey around!  Many times they were in their 1st Halloween Costumes – I had a little cub and a baby elephant running around the house!

10.  Santa Land at Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park.  We got there with an hour left of day light so they experienced it by day and night.  A whole 1 1/2 of rides, crowds, music, sounds.  Too many rides to choose from and some they wanted to repeat!  Adrenalin high! All this excitement and madness followed by dinner at Maroush Gardens on Edgware Road.  Nothing like a good bowl of humus to settle them down!

trainsantaland

11.  Soft play areas AND Play dates with older cousins!  Now that’s when I get to take them to a soft play area – this time Gambado in Watford – and get to enjoy a good cup of coffee with my cousin while my 12-year-old niece whisked the boys away for a good hour and a half!  This was probably one of their best outings with their Didi (older sister).  The key to enjoying a soft play area – having older siblings, cousins, older children of good friends to take the kids through the hoops, climbing the walls and sliding down poles and slides.

The 3 1/2 weeks I was apprehensive about turned out to be a lovely, bonding time with my sons and just doing fun things, day by day.  They say kids need a routine and I agree to a very large extent, but letting go sometimes also is loads more fun!

So, here we are, 2015…. let’s see what fun moments the boys bring in to my days!

 

Stretching…into… The New Year

After having missed 2 weeks of my regular weekly Iyengar class I have to admit to feeling sluggish and moody.

The first week the boys were unwell and I wanted to be around them all day. The second week was just pure bad time management in trying to juggle work, the boys on Christmas break and organising a Christmas party at home. To top it off – it was a desserts party – and it really did not help my situation – especially when you need to ‘taste test’ during preparation !

I love Yoga and I’m thoroughly enjoying Iyengar’s approach.  Prior to practicing Iyengar Yoga, I had done a few years of Ashtanga & Hatha Yoga.  I was skeptical about the use of props in yoga (the Iyengar approach) but after having had a hip surgery, then a surgery to remove the rods, followed by a twin pregnancy soon after, I found that the use of props actually helps in the rehabilitation process. You get the entire benefit and stretch of the asanas using the props aiding your weak and  troubled areas.  The blocks, band, and the wall, and sometimes even a partner, facilititate in getting you in to the asana with the correct posture thereby ensuring that you get the intended benefit.

(Elaine, my yoga instructor is approximately 65 years ol and you would not put her past 45.  She grew up with her mother being an Iyengar Yoga Instructor.  The lady who taught Elaine’s mother and her is 90 years old and is still practicing.)

It looks like in the New Year I have to commit to at least 2 sessions a week with some home practice.  I am hoping the boys get in on the fun and we can make it a mummy & me activity that they (and definitely me) look forward to.

These are 14 of my favourite asanas…

1.  Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

Tadasana
Tadasana

2.  Adhomukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog)

Adho Mukha Svanasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana

3.  Anjaneyasana (Low Lunge)

Anjaneyasana
Anjaneyasana

4.  Ardha Chanrasana (Half Moon Pose)

Ardha Chandrasana
Ardha Chandrasana

 

5.  Ardha Matsyendrasana  (Half Lord of the Fishes)

Ardha Matsyendrasana

6.  Balasana (Child’s Pose)

Balasana
Balasana

7.  Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana)

Setu Bandhasana
Setu Bandhasana

8.  Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (One-Legged King Pigeon)

Eka Pada Rajakapotasana
Eka Pada Rajakapotasana

9.  Marichyasana III (Seated Twist)

Marichyasana III
Marichyasana III

10.  Baddha Konasana (Butterfly or Cobbler’s Pose)

Badha Konasana
Badha Konasana

11.  Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose)

Gomukhasana
Gomukhasana
12.  Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand)
Sarvangasana
Sarvangasana
13.  Sirasana  (Head Stand)
SIrvasana
SIrvasana
14.  Savsana (Corpse Pose)

corpse
Savasana

I would like to share the actual benefits of each Asana with you but I am not qualified to do so.  The benefits personally for me are that my spine gets a good twist, my hips open up and become more supple, I strengthen both my upper and lower body, get some blood flowing to my head, and I get a sense of balance.

Reunion in Paradise

photo 5


Ahhh….. I LOVE the ocean! I just love looking in to the expanse of the blue water, listening to the waves and watching the sun’ rays glisten and dance on the water.

On my last two trips to LA I have been fortunate to visit Crystal Cove. The first visit was a romantic morning walk with hubby along the shore, followed by breakfast at Beachcombers. It was really a lovely way to start our runaway weekend from the kids! …
The 2nd time was inspired by my friend, Anita Dhillon, who will soon be featured in the Colourful Women page. Anita jogs  at least 4 miles along and 4 miles back on this beautiful coastline every weekend. This time it was a reunion of 3 of us friends – such a beautiful way to catch up while connecting with God’s gift to us and getting a work out!!
We walked, talked, jogged, and stopped to soak in the Sun’s energy, Nature’s beauty, and the moment.  It surely was a new way for us to get together.  Not at a bar, not at a restaurant, and not in Las Vegas!  Perhaps it’s a sign of the times…  A new age, a new thought, and a new feeling… It was perfect!
Pictures speak THOUSANDS of words… BUT the video will hopefully connect you to that moment of magic in paradise. (redundant?) that’s how much I loved it!

Halloween Day Out

pumpkinHubby and I took the boys on the 31st of October to the Halloween Festival at Willows Farm, St Albans. This was our 3rd visit to the Farm in 6 months. First time for Easter Hunt and to see all the animals on the farm. The second time we spent more time around the animals, feeding them, and petting the rabbits and guinea pigs. We also spent more time on all the rides and the bouncy castles. On this trip we also showed the boys the potato fields and how to dig and pick potatoes.

This time we went to experience the Halloween Festival. The boys participated in various relays rolling pumpkins and bouncing on the space bouncers. We showed them the pumpkin patch then went on all the rides the they love.

We took a lunch break and found so many healthy options at the farm for children. Fresh fruit, sandwiches on multigrain bread, vegetables.

I have been very impressed with Willows Farm as there is so much for children of all ages to see and experience and each time we go back we have a brand new experience.

This is for now the boys’ favourite day out, before they discover Disney that is.

I’m a mother, I’m a daughter. I’m a daughter , I’m a mother.

3 weeks ago my mamma underwent a scheduled surgery involving reconstruction of a bone and skin grafting. Being that we live in different continents and not being able to leave my boys at the time all I could do was pray for a successful surgery.

That day I found myself deep-rooted in the ‘middle’ generation. Between my parents and my children. It’s quite a privileged place to be and yet it’s that place and time in my life I find myself praying for the good health of my parents and for the good health and development of my children. It’s a magical place and an un matchable emotion to be a parent and a child.

I have had the urge to fulfil my call of duty as a daughter to help care for my mother and my father who is so dedicated in  nursing my mother back to a speedy and healthy recovery. However to do this I need to for a few days not be a mother and leave my children to be looked after by their father and grandmother.  A strange place to be as both roles are equally important to me.

Nurturing my nurturer and nurturing my babies.

I am on my way to be the daughter.