Teaching Vigilance to Kids ..An utmost need of the hour!

Late tuesday night, I came across a horrifying news while I was scrolling down my newsfeed on facebook. The news was of an innocent seven year old girl named Zainab who was raped, brutally murdered and then thrown in heaps of garbage. I was obviously shocked and terrified !

Being a parent makes you extra sensitive to everything around you. The pain of other children also hurts you  to the core. Every Pakistani was at loss of words. Deep sorrow still prevails as what kind of world we are giving to our kids. Imagine a seven year old innocent child who has just started enjoying the brightness of the world and she is at once thrown into the dark dungeon of cruelty and barabarism. We need to pray and also to be extra vigilant around us that this should never even happen again.

People often talk about the fears of the society to kids starting with good touch and bad touch.
Here are few things we as a parent can teach our kids so that they can be cautious about the people around them.

• Don't listen to strangers even if they say that your parents or your siblings are calling you
• Don't take anything from a stranger be it a candy or any other present unless your parents are with you
• Always make friend of your age as older people can harm you as well
• Never keep secrets of anybody as your only secret holder is your mom!
• Never hide anything from your parents
• Don't go anywhere without telling your parents. Parents should also be cautious of where their kids are going. 
• Good touch and bad touch should be taught to kids. Never allow anybody to touch you inappropriately.
• Parents should always listen to kids and should take them seriously.
• Tell your kids not to be silent if God forbid, they face any kind of bullying or harrassment. Always speak up for yourselves.

We can just hope that the world becomes a safe place to live for children all over the globe and no child has to go through this attrocity again. May the culprits of  little Zainab brought to justice 

# justice for zainab

Sending off An Angry Child to school!!

For every mother, waking a child up for school and preparing lunch for her while helping her in getting ready are routine tasks. I as a mother do feel blessed because I get to start my day everyday with a new gossip and sometimes a tantrum of our 9 year old daughter while on the other hand our 2 year old naughty son is sometimes busy dancing and sometimes being glued to me because he doesn't want me to do home chores!:)

8-12 years is a tricky age and sometimes you dont know how to handle a tantrum. In return if you shout on yout kid and your kid goes to school while crying; it becomes too difficult for a parent to leave that thought while riding on the daily tasks wagon.

So many times I have pondered on it and yes, this is my new year's resolution to not shout on my kid even if she is shouting and yes, I am going to find alternatives to it that are constructive rather than destructive.I know there is a deluge of articles and blogs on parenting but I am going to find my way because every child is different. For some kids, long discussions do the work while some kids just dont want to listen to you and they just want their space instead of helicopter parents.

Sending off an happy child to school is very important because even kids have to go through a lot in school like peer pressure , bullying and overall strict school environment. Kids can only grasp true concepts at school if they are happy at heart and know that their parents are there to support them not to scold them at every teeny weeny matter.

The magic of New Year!

Today is 9th January and it took me 9 days to post this titled " Happy New Year" . As you step into 30s, you realize that it's more into new year than only making a list of new year resolutions! I thought many times to make a list but somehow I figured that I would be doing it as a norm as everyone else is doing it. You are more enthusistic about new year resolutions in your teens and twenties when you have a countless to -do -things and the reality is that half of list remains unaccomplished every year.

New year is a new start to things but it doesnt mean that new year itself will whirl around you like a magic wand and transform everything just with its aura.No, it's not like that. It's a new start to things and probably your thinking if you allow yourself to do so. If you have the same stagnant thinking, things would probably never change; not this year, not next year and probably never. Your mind is the game changer and also the destiny changer.If you have positive thinking , things would work for you: not always but yes! most of the times.

And yes, this year I intend to focus on my mind rather than pondering on innumerable to do things .Thinking positive and taking risks is very important if you want to succeed. There are some tasks we intend to do every year like lets suppose I promise myself every year that I will read 4 books a month but I fail every year in accomplishing this task because my strategy is not right. Just saying that I will do this doesnt make it happen. You have to make it right by being in a right frame of mind with right planning and execution.

So in a nutshell, just stepping into a new year doesn't make you a new person.You have to toil hard for grabbing opportunities with right planning while taking risks so that you execute your tasks in a timely manner. Best of luck everyone for the new year!