Entertaining my sick babies - Things to keep them busy but rested

It's that season of the year. There are colds and coughs and fevers. Its all around and as you pray and hope that it does not enter you house, it does! Being sick is one thing, having a sick baby at home is another. And then the cooties spread from one munchkin to the other one and it seems like the only thing you are doing is scampering for the tissue box and making hot soups.
We had one such season a few months ago and the hardest part of this time is to keep the kids rested and yet entertained. Its one of those seasons when you need to start thinking outside the box for ways and means to keep the children occupied. A a mother I am learning to experiment on the roles of various indoor activities that can be put into good use. While a day could go along with regular games and toys, when the cold and fever continues on to Day 2, we mommies must start getting creative.

Little bookworms: I know it sounds simple. And simple enough it is. Sick days are a good time to pick up a huge stack of books from the library and sift through them. Reading is an all time favorite in our house. I usually rotate my stack of books so that in desperate time such as these I pull out old books that suddenly seem exciting. Benefits of reading: The kids sit still for a few moments. Even a few moments such as these add to the process of healing which their tiny little bodies need.

An artistic twist: While I am really not in favor of using water as I do believe that the kids end up playing with the water more than anything else, still I believe painting is the most relaxing thing ever! Most moms like handing over crayons and color pencil to ease up the cleaning procedure. I however believe painting is the 'no pressure' name of the game!  The holding of the brush, the ease at which the colors fill the paper and the joy of mixing up colors makes for very playful moments. Especially when your little munchkins are sick, you should really try this form of art. Usually, I too sit down with them with a piece of paper and the colors. A complete de-stresser even for us mamas!

Playing around with Play-doh: Making and playing with play-doh can be a very entertaining and very engaging form of play. The making part involves a lot of effort but the kids love mixing the colors and watching the dough form. Once the dough it ready, it makes for several hours of quiet play time. A relaxing and calming down activity with plenty of brain stimulation! My munchkins love the mixing and the rolling and forming of all kinds of shapes and structures. And I love that I can get them to sit still for a few hours while the medicines and warm fluids do their magic.

Hot soups and warm breads: Sick season is also the time for plenty of soups. Thankfully both the little ones love soups.  Usually I would not let anyone with the colds and sniffles into the kitchen. However desperate times call for desperate measures and one good way of getting the munchkins focus off their aching bodies is getting them to help our in making their own soups and breads. So the munchkins get to watch the dough for bread being mixed, they get to work on their own shapes of bread. Involving the kids in the cooking process also helps the appetite increase at a time when food consumption does become a challenge.

A few soothing tunes: Music works like magic! It is true and few soothing tones are good to help the little ones fall of to sleep. A little music and a little swaying around also helps the bonding between mommy and baby which is very essential during those fevers and chills. Body contact is essential for the healing of our little ones body and music just adds a little masala to this beautiful process. So turn on those comforting notes and help your munchkin relax.

Getting clever: I am not a big fan of leaving the TV on especially when the Z and I are sick. I feel the blinking light from the TV does more harm then benefit. I try to avoid animated series as they are more flashy. But I have stack full of National geographic videos with calm scenery or whales jumping over water. I find these very soothing and the kids love watching the animals. On sick days this is my back up especially if I start to feel the body ache and runny nose entering my immune system as well.


While I totally dislikes the flu and cold season, I know that is a great part of growing up. In being restful our children learn to react to their bodies. They learn to listen to their bodies. They learn to entertain themselves through calm and quiet activities.

Genetics

Genetics is fabulous....
No - not the subject that teaches you about X and Y chromosomes (or talks about dreadful diseases)

But the one that you see with your own eyes when you look at a child and say ... 'You look exactly like your dad/ mom'

I remember my friend Anita's husband saying, a long time ago, its amazing how kids look like a combination of both parents! Amazing indeed -- its another sign that we have an amazing God who knows how to form us 'Fearfully and wonderfully'

For I was fearfully and wonderfully made
Why fearfully -- because he did not want to make even one error --- i.e. you are perfect. And why do I believe I am 'wonderful' because I see Ziva and Isaac each day and I can see a little or a lot of me in them - and I believe they are wonderfully created!

I always believed I was adopted when I was growing up --- some kind of a strange complex because I never got treated well by my relatives ... rather I felt that way... One day Suresh and I were talking about strange complexes and I shared this childhood fear that I had and he laughed ....'Do you see how identical you two look- Mona and you ... You could be twins'. Mona is my sister --- older by 3 years. I actually still don't see it! The similarity ... neither does she.

But what I do see is how our family is split. As someone in our park said - 'Your family is divided well. Ziva looks just like you and Isaac looks just like Suresh'
I can see Ziva looking like me but I see a lot of characteristic behaviour of mine showing up in Isaac. I was just thinking this when Suresh says 'Isaac looks so much like Grace!'. Grace is my 13 soon to be 14 year old neice.  I rummaged through all Grace's old pictures to find a perfect match and finally gave up and went back to Suresh. He pulled up this picture and said - 'Its not how they look like each other - rather some kind of behaviour similarity.'
I looked at the picture again and saw it!

There is also the case when you look at someone next to someone and they look alike... or is it still genetics. Here is a picture of Ziva with my aunt. i.e. her grand aunt. I have been told often that I resemble my aunt and in this picture I feel Ziva looks like her.

We were on a vacation with another couple (Veena and Satheesh) when at the breakfast table an exasperated Satheesh said something to the extent of 'exactly like mother'. Veena had this thousand watt smile on her face. It wasnt a flattering similarity .... but Veena took it just as the biggest compliment. What is it about us moms and dads that we want our kids to look like us or behave like us.
I told a father that his daughter looked liked him -- and he was overjoyed --- he even went home and told his wife -- 'See there are people who think T looks like me'

Have to end this one with a little bit of an emotional twist ... Its a time like this when everyone says ... you are just like your mom or just like your dad ... that Suresh misses his mom and I miss my dad. If  anyone asks my my mom if my kids look or behave like me she just shrugs her shoulders and says 'I dont remember'. But I remember my dad bringing out  my sisters baby pictures when my niece was born and showing it to everyone who came to the see the  baby, ... the similarity!
We were at Suresh's friend's place and his friend's mom had a slip of tongue ... calling her grandson by her son's name. A moment like that ... and Suresh is reminded about all the stories his mother would have told of how naughty or good he was as a kid  and how Isaac /Ziva was exactly the same as dad!

So who do you look like?
So guess the folk in the pictures below

Pic1

Pic2

Pic3

Pic4

Animals!: Quotes from Isaacland

So Isaac is crazy about animals. We are glad that it is animals and not cars or guns. I guess I owe big thanks to Suresh who refused to accepts cars as gifts and blatantly told people he didn't like cars as a toy - 'he' being Isaac.

So animals it is! At age 22 months he would keep turning to the 'Hippo' page of his animal book and we had to read again and again and again about 'Pygmy hippos' and its fears and its love for water! I even learned that the hippo was a 'Pachyderm' - something I never knew till I was reading Isaac's book for him.

So he's got a favorite. About a year ago we visited the Trivandrum zoo with my uncle and aunt and they promised to show him a 'Hippo'. The zoo had like five hippos bathing in the water and eating! Isaac was mesmerized.
I still didn't realize how much he loved the hippo till he started interacting with story time buddy Dhruv. Now Dhurv's favorite animal is the Koala and Isaac realized that 'favorite' was a nice word. So Hippo it was! The rest in the family were assigned animals according to his liking. For instance Ziva's favorite was the zebra ... Appa's favorite was gorilla and Amma's was alligator (Maybe because when I yell at him I look like one!)

I still didn't realize how much he liked the hippo till one evening at dinner time. We were sitting around watching  the movie - Three Idiots. Well just watching the songs!
Suresh turns to Isaac and says 'Isaac don't become an Engineer and don't go to IIT OK!
Isaac nods: 'hmmmm' Which means Yes
Suresh: 'Isaac, what do you want to become when you grow up?'
Isaac: 'A Hippo!'
DONE!