raising good kids hard

As a parent, I am often overtly moralistic. Pravachan (Lecture) commonly come out of my mouth at the drop of a hat. With a teen and an almost teen, can you really blame me? When I am not playing a referee without a whistle, I am trying to instill some good old fashioned sanskaar (culture) Read More →

Mother’s Day is this Sunday. A day that is very special for every mother. We pat ourselves on the backs for doing our best for our kids. For me, Mother’s Day is doubly special as my older son was born on this day. So I became a mother on Mother’s Day. Being a mother has been Read More →

how to deal with disrespectful child

Most people thought that teens were the toughest to deal with. Well, it begins with tweens. Since the past few months, I am having a tough time dealing with my tween who seems to flit from one emotion to another in a matter of minutes. But what gets my goat most often is the disrespect. Read More →

pressure teens

As soon as one becomes a parent there is a fierce need to protect your child. When they are tiny, we are constantly stressing about falls and injuries. As they get older and start going to school, we suffer angst about incidents of bullying, loss of good friends and time management. And when they are Read More →

boy who was bullied

This overweight boy sits in one corner of his class. From time to time he looks up but turns away his eye as soon as makes eye contact. He sits alone. He does not mind it too much. It is better than sitting with someone who does not like him. But, it is lunch time or projects Read More →

Tween Tantrums

A regular scene in my home: The two boys are at the dining table, laughing and chattering noisily. Suddenly, the conversation grows animated. Some screaming is thrown in the mix. And then the tween gets mad, says something nasty in a high-pitched voice; there is an exchange of angry words as the teen bellows in Read More →

conversations with kids

Do you remember the time when you and I were growing up? Not only was the innocence charming, our parents were extremely trusting as well. Those were the days when it was natural to strike conversations with strange kids, pull their cheeks and offer them chocolates. When a neighbourhood ‘uncle’ was the benign fun guy Read More →

This year my elder son turned 15 and I completed 15 years of motherhood. Yes, motherhood which is often put on a high pedestal, not without reason though. Trust me, I am not one who likes to be treated as a deity or worshipped. I am as human as another woman and terribly flawed too. Read More →