When the going gets tough...

This weekend I travel all the way up North, changing flights and trains. Heading into the eye of summer. A seasonally unwise move. But on the soul-level it feels right. I’ve been missing home and two years has been plenty of time to be away from it.

So, I’m off to ‘see’ my home (in military parlance, home is whichever house you’ve been allotted to live in for your tenure at a military base). My home is a sprawling bungalow in the middle of nowhere. Or rather in one corner of an Air Force base, set amidst a village and its dusty fields.

Good Morning Monday + The Slow Yourself Challenge

Hello! How have you been?

I’m in Pune, visiting my parents and enjoying some downtime. Slowing down in every sense of the word. Letting go of to-do lists. Cutting back on writing & reading, chores & tasks, home management & cooking.

I’m in a good-kind of lull. Resting before I head back to set up my home in the north of India. Dust and decorate, clean and cherish a sprawling bungalow that’s been without its dwellers (us!) for almost two years. There’s a lot of work waiting for us next week – new routines and to-do lists to me made, meal plans to be created and a sense of warmth to be infused into that shell of a house.

Baby N turns 11-months-old!

11 months – seems just like yesterday but at the same time there’s been a lifetime of living and learning within the span of these months.

The months whooshed by; the days crawled at the speed of a baby just learning to move around.

11 months of babyhood and motherhood. 11 months of getting used to brand new roles and changing identities.

Sketchbook Story: Savoring slow

There are dreams in the sky,

Wispy like clouds, floating by.

There are songs in the air,

Handfuls of words shaped as a poem & a prayer.

I lie down on the grass, letting time stand still,

Holding on to the moment, getting my fill.

Overdosing on quiet, savoring slow,

Before it’s time again to be on the go.

Call to action: Share your favorite ways to slow down and savor the moment.

Art & words by chandana banerjee

Good Morning Monday + Books for our children

Good Morning Monday + Hello New Week!

We’re already on the halfway mark of 2014, hop scotching on June.

So, how was your weekend? Did you rest, rejuvenate and replenish? We did just that. We burned our to-do lists, and stayed in the moment. Reading books and news features. Going for long walks and talking. Resting and just being. After a week packed with birthday and farewell parties, late nights and lots of socializing, taking some time out to burrow in our ‘lair’ and recharging our batteries seemed like just the thing to do.

This past week, I’ve also been reading a lot, and searching for new books to add to Baby N’s library. Story books for babies. Activity & Idea books for kids. Even though N is a little over 10-months, we read a book or two every day. Picture books with beautiful pictures and bright stories.

I’d love to raise a reader and reading to him & giving him a rich array of story books to choose from is my way of introducing Baby N to the fascinating world of books. 

These are recommendations and reviews to some lovely books, if you’re looking to build up your child’s home library:

Here are 6 activity books for kids that I’d Lurrve to add to Baby N’s collection. Like bright packages of candy, these are chockfull of interesting ideas that I’d like to incorporate in our daily art & craft hours.

These 4 picture books seem ideal for our story time. We’ve got book 4 – Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers (as well as its sequel) – for N, and the other 3 will follow in the weeks to come.

I’ve been lounging around this beautiful and bountiful book blog for the past several years, hopping over every now and then to read reviews of new children’s books that I’d like to add to my collection. Yes, that’s right. My collection. I’ve been buying picture books to read for many years – all of which are part of N’s treasures now.

What do you read to your kids? I’d love to hear about your book recommendations!