A Book On Simple Living: Destination Simple by Brooke McAlary

Simple living isn't simple any more. Even for someone like me, who doesn't follow the standard pace (read: alway on the buzz) and trends of the world, simplifying takes some amount of thought and practice. 

Like a lot of you, I enjoy packing my to-do list with multiple tasks, can't help myself multi-tasking and feel a little lost when I have a spare moment to sit down and stare into space. As it turns out, living a slow simple life, does take some practice. Like meditation.

Brooke McAlary's second book "Destination Simple" is just the book to curl up with for those of us, who are craving a measure of slow and a cuppa of simple living tips. Many of us intuitively know what it is we need to do to simplify but still need a guide to hold our hands and lead us into a simple way of living. 

McAlary of Slow Your Home, who champions the slow lifestyle, packs quire a punch in this little book of simple living tips. She lays out the basics to creating morning and evening rituals, unplugging from screens, initiating a gratitude practice and looking at our priorities and lifestyles from a perspective of "tilting" rather than complete balance. 

There are a few more rituals and ideas on simplifying, and I found each one of these relevant and necessary.

As you read this short book, you realise that you probably know about many of the ideas, but even though these seem very basic, the art is in implementing them into your daily lives and creating a habit. 

Destination simple is a book that you may want to read once but revisit several times as you take baby steps towards creating simple and satisfying days.

When I was reading the book, I realised that even though I had dabbled in some of the ideas (like morning and evening routine, gratitude, tilting, brain dump), I had not been doing them consistently, which is why probably, I wasn't able to enjoy the measure of calm that I have been hoping to create. This book is a gentle reminder of all those little things that can enrich our lives considerably.

Get ready to wrap yourself in a blanket of peace and calm as you read Destination Simple by Brooke McAlary.

Call To Action: For more ways to create a joyful stay-at-home life, check out my new book "Queen Of The At-Home Lifestyle". You can download it here.

For more ideas on creating a simple and joyful stay-at-home life, which includes homeschooling and working-from-home as your own boss, check out my Youtube Channel.

Can we Slow Down in a Fast-paced World? Simple slow living tips

With most of us in lockdown or in semi-lockdown, it is a good time to re-think our pace, hunker down into our stay-at-home lifestyles and learn how to slow down. Here's my take on slow living and how to slow down your life a tad.

I’m the kind of person who likes to have a productive day and feel compelled to pack my days, even weekends with all kinds of things. But lately, I’ve begun to question this…this running from pillar to post at home, trying to prove to myself that I’m doing a marvellous job of balancing my work-from-home and stay-at-home life. 

The lockdown made me question this constant need to be on the move, doing something, checking things off my to-do list. Though I will be the first to vouch for the importance of having productive, purposeful days, I also realise that there are lots of times when I need to slow down and enjoy life. That doesn't mean lolling in the bed the whole day or staring at the sky mindlessly (though when done in moderate doses, that is meditation in itself).

Slowing down or building in pockets of slow in our lives is actually healing at so many different levels.

Photo credit: Unsplash

“Being slow” can look different and be different things to different people.

Ladies Who Launch: Shweta Verma and her journey as a socialpreneur and co-founder of Ginny's Planet

Ladies Who Launch: A  “fireside” chat with women entrepreneurs, who launch micro businesses from home and/or create a change-making venture

Welcome to Ladies Who Launch at https://chandanabanerjee.com. This is a brand new series that features women, especially mompreneurs, who launch micro businesses from home and/or create a change-making ventures. 

Our very first guest for this series is Shweta Verma, the Co-founder of Ginny's Planet, a social enterprise that aims to create a planet where "no one is considered the odd-one-out".

I came to know about Shweta and her work through Ginny Doll - a cute, smiley cloth doll wearing spectacles and with an adorable fringe. I'd bought the doll for my son last month and really liked the concept of learning to accept each other as we are. I was intrigued by Shweta's journey as a socialpreneur and mom, and her work through this unique change-making business that she has co-founded with her husband Jamal. Here is what we chatted about.

Note: Shweta is hosting a GIVEAWAY for 5 readers. Check out the details at the end of the story.

Shweta Verma, Co-founder of Ginny's Planet

CB. Please tell us about yourself, what you do, your educational background and where you’re based.

SV: We are social work professionals based in Delhi. We were batch mates in MA (Social Work) course. Each of us has an experience of 18 years in the social sector. I have worked in the area of disability rights and mental health since 2002. My work has interacted with child rights, gender, & psychosocial support in post disaster scenarios. Along with this my research degree (PhD) helps me take the workshops on research & inquiry forward with children with ease. My entrepreneurial perspective was strengthened through SSE India fellowship in 2019. 

Jamal has the experience of working with diverse international organizations and a keen interest in the creative fields. He has developed documentaries, public service advertisements, behavior change communication aids and campaigns.  He was a fellow of 2019 cohort of the India Inclusion Fellowship Program which focuses on innovations in the disability field. He is also an alumnus of the Aritra Leadership Acceleration Program, organized by IIM-Bangalore and Phicus.  

Ginny Doll

5 Ways to Savour this Lockdown Summer - What’s your favourite way + My new book cover

Summer is not the easiest of seasons for me to bear. The days are thick with heat and humidity, as thick as molten cheese and  often it feels futile to move or cook or do all the things that bring me joy.

If I could have my way, I’d build a small castle in a turquoise pool and spend my days like a mermaid soaking in the cool water. But with the lockdown and Coronavirus whirling around the world, I (and all of you) have had to find smart ways to cool down, stay grateful and savour this scorching season. 

Cool Treats :)

With oodles of determination ;-), I’ve come up with simple and small ways to bring my mojo back. 

1. Start the day with a small pinch of slow and a dollop of gratitude. I try to wake up early, when the sun is still saffron and languidly rolling up the sky, still an inch away from its fiery sunniness. After I get ready, I sit down on a fat cushion for a few minutes of meditation and gratitude prayer. I play some meditation music and use this time to centre myself and start the day with a positive intention.
2. Load up some good books on my Kindle. Now that we’re corralled in a single room with the air conditioner and trees around cutting out the heat (where we live, the temperatures are touching 50 degrees Celsius!), I love having a stack of books on my Kindle. A simple comfort that I can fall back on (literally), when I want to catch my breath and sink into a story. (I’ve been indulging in tonnes of wholesome Amish fiction by Amy Clipston and Tricia Goyer.)
3. Create art with my son. As the summer started notching up its heat factor, we decided that sticking to the same old’ homeschooling routine was going to be tedious. So now we begin with a small bang - an art project to kindle joy and add colour to the otherwise fiery yellow day. (If you’d like to know more about these projects, do stay tuned for our arty homeschooling posts soon).

5 Ways Our Homemaking Can Enhance Our Work-at-Home Lifestyle

In my experience, if we have our homemaking systems down to a pat (okay, maybe not down to a pat, but more or less sorted out), we can create a happy place for our family and ourselves as well as work on our assignments and deadlines at peace. 

Personally, I began valuing the art of homemaking and how it adds a sparkle to our other facets of home life, including, working-from-home, after many years of homemaking by the seat of my pants. But now that I'm kinda figuring it out, here's why I feel homemaking can help me (and many of us) stay grounded and happy as we putter around home, working, teaching and being.

Happy Homemaking to help the Work-At-Home Lifestyle / Pic credit: Pixabay

Here are 5 ways that homemaking can have a positive impact our work-from-home life:

1. When we spend time and happy energy on “making a home”, it percolates into our work-from-home life too. And in the same way, if we pour in frazzled energy into how we manage our home, it makes our work-from-home experience hassled too. While homemaking is at the core of any home, when you work from home you’re always surrounded by the energy that you filled up your home with.

2. A simple homemaking system and routine can help us focus better on our work. Systems, routines and rhythms streamline the household chores and keep offering the regular TLC that our homes and our lives need. 

3. Purposeful homemaking means that we also factor in time for ourselves and the little treats that brighten up a day. As the saying goes “all work and no play” is a surefire recipe for a dull day. I’m learning to inject more treats into my days, instead of rushing from one homeschooling or homemaking chore to a work-from-home deadline.

How To Work-from-home When You Have Small Children At Home

Hello mommies! Today, I’m answering a work-from-home question sent in by a reader. 

“How do you work when you have a small child at home? My daughter shuts off my laptop every time I sit down to write.” This question was sent in by Bhakti, a technical writer, military wife and mom to a 4 year-old, who would like to get back into copy writing and a work-from-home career.

Bhakti and all moms out there struggling with the same problem - I hear you. And I’ve been in your shoes; in fact, I’m often in this kind of situation even now.

Pic credit: Pexels

As a homeschooling mom to a rambunctious little boy and a military wife, it is a constant juggling act to work on my projects and dreams, while fielding questions from this very curious 6.5 year old, having said boy trailing me throughout the day and singing at the top of his voice whenever I get on a client call :D. 

I started this blog, when my son was a few months old and got back to freelance journalistic assignments when he was a toddler and my husband, often deployed frequently. 

(Do check out my Youtube Video on this - link mentioned at the end of the post.)

Here are some of the things I did to get some work done, while tending to and often sole parenting my son.

Find pockets of time to work in. The early morning hours are my jam; for you, it could be late nights and afternoons, when your child naps or is more amenable to some quiet time. 

Have a rhythm instead of a tight schedule. If the latter works better for you, then go ahead with that. But for me, chunking my day into routines and staying flexible has worked much better. When the day has a more organic quality to it, then I don’t get hassled too much if something comes up (which is very probable when the kids are small) or if something changes.

My Simple Stay-At-home Birthday & 8 Things I'm Grateful For

Hi friends! I celebrated my birthday yesterday. At home, with my family and with a simple but scrumptious selection of homemade treats. So, even though I didn’t go out, have a party or have friends over because of the lock-down, I absolutely loved the slow, simple birthday I had yesterday. And you wanna know the truth? I didn’t miss the hullabaloo, the frenzy of making a birthday extra special, the expectations…one tiny bit.

My simple birthday at home & my homemade chocolate cake :)

Here’s what I’m grateful for this birthday:

Another year on Earth! I’ve never felt sorry for myself for growing older – I mean who says that only the “youngistan” years are the best??!!! And when you stop to think of those who lose their lives so young, then you realize that each moment, each year you get to lead a happy, healthy life is a gold-wrapped gift to cherish.

The extra silver in my hair - I've seemed to have had a bonus this year :D. I’m unapologetically a “salt ‘n’ pepper” gal. No artificial dyes out of bottles and packets for me. Thank you very much.

The gift of slowing down. Even though the circumstances surrounding the lockdown are not something to rejoice about, this has forced the whole world to dial down their pace, huddle at home and give Mother Earth a chance to heal and repair the damages that we have caused as a human race. I’m a homebody in a frenzied social world and finally, this situation has let me be the true me. A homebody in a world that is staying home. Maybe not for long, but at least for now, no apologizing for being a social misfit; no worrying about another party around the corner; no fretting about yet another meeting to go to. At least, on my birthday, I could stay home, be the homebody I am and enjoy the slow pace of life.

The Home-baked Life - Mini pies made by the hubby

A family I enjoy hanging out with. I’ve heard people saying they get stir crazy if cooped up with their family for a whole day. But I like nothing better!

Work that lights me up. I write books, blogs and content for my online courses, And paint. And all of it from home.

A basket-full of hobbies to dip into. I’ve been hearing a lot of comments, the gist of which is “I’m going crazy sitting at home!”. I offer up a quick prayer of gratitude here because I’ve got so many things to do at home that I’m hoping I never have to step out to another party where I fritter away time chit-chatting about inane things (charged as guilty - I'm TERRIBLE at small talk). (P.S. If you need ideas on how to spend your time well at home, do drop me a comment below and I’ll be happy to make a video or write a post on this.)

Our homeschooling life. Most of the time, I’m that “weird lady who keeps her son at home”. But now with the quarantine on, there’s a sudden interest in how homeschooling parents homeschool their kids. A lot of parents are tussling with the idea of having their kids at home 24x7 and wrestling with the syllabus, assignments and their own need for “me-time”.  But now as the world slips into a mandatory home-based routine that many are finding downright crazy, we are carrying on with what we’ve always done i.e. be at home and learn together.

The need to be a homebody. Confession. Most of the time I don’t feel thankful for being an absolute homebody. I’ve lost count of the times that I’ve wondered why I do not enjoy parties, welfare meets, Ladies’ Clubs and coffee morning like other fauji wives. Where other ladies literally jump with glee at the whiff of a social “obligation” (well, that’s what I call all of these), I cringe at the thought of yet another event to be ticked off the list. But with the lock-down and social distancing mandate, I can finally be in my element. Now, when the majority are wondering how to stay happy at home, I’m in my groove. I know I will  be compelled to return to the normal world i.e. a world where social overdrive is the norm...but hey, why not enjoy the slow down as long as it lasts, eh? :)

Here’s to a slow, simple, home-based life and some of the things I’ve been grateful for this birthday. 

#birthday #gratitude #workfromhome #homeschool #beathome #slowdown 

5 Homeschooling Ideas to Keep Children Engaged & Happy at Home

We’ve been homeschooling for the past two years. What started off as a temporary situation as we were living out of a suitcase in a hotel room for three months, turned into a full time, long term schooling option. And let me tell you, it was Not easy in the beginning.

Homeschooling in India

Like most moms, I yearned for alone time, when I could think my thoughts, work and do whatever it was I wanted to do without keeping an eye on the small person in the house, or a small boy trailing me and peppering me with questions every waking hour. But as we forged on, things became easier. In fact, now I can list out several pros to the homeschool life.

Now with children at home and exams on hold because of the shutdown worldwide, I’ve been getting questions for other moms about what they can do with their kids to keep them engaged and learning.

Here are some of the things we do with our son to encourage his interests and introduce him to new skills.

Plan your way into 2020 with this planning system (a planner review)

This year – 2019 is on its way out, and the brand new year 2020, freshly minted and sparkling, is about to roll in. It’s at this time – at the cusp of the years that we reflect on the year that’s fading off and plan for the year’s that’s shining bright on the horizon. And a good planner is one the best tools to make this transition with.

Plan your business & lifestyle with a handy planning system

Honestly, as much as I like the idea of using a planner (and every year I look for one to use), I haven’t ever got down to getting one. I’m one of those people, who vouches to start on a new daily planner, only to give up on the idea before January is out. I prefer going with the flow and a simple to-do list jotted down in a notepad has worked for me till now.

But now that I’m juggling 3 ventures (two of which are in newborn and toddler stages), homeschooling my rambunctious son, devoting time to multiple military wife commitments, and carving out time to work on my health, I do need a simple system to jot down ideas, plans, goals and dreams. This is why I like fellow milpreneur Shreya Sharan Pawar’s digital bundle of planners – its user-friendly, visually appealing and flexible in the way I want to use it as a personal & business tool (thanks Shreya, for sending it to me to use & review).

Easy & Fun Christmas Crafts for Kids

With Christmas just around the corner, my son and I decided to dedicate a few of our homeschooling days to getting into the festive mood. And what better way to usher in the season than create Christmas decorations to hang onto our “upcycled” tree?!

Image credit: Chandana Banerjee

When a mom friend asked me for DIY Christmas tree decorations that her son can make as well, I decided to put it down in a blog post for all other moms out there, who’d like to do some Xmas crafting with their kids.

So, here we go.

Your Christmas craft kit:

6 Reality Checks for the work-from-home military wife

The nuts and bolts of starting a home-based career are the same in any sphere of life, but when you’re a military wife you have to take into consideration the many variables that come your way. From unexpected postings (PCS), to long stints of single parenting when the hubby is deployed, to the many logistical issues that happen when you’re living at a small base, there are lots of big and small things that add color to entrepreneurial life.

Have you factored in these 6 reality checks in your work-from-home plan?

1.     Posting orders and frequent moves to military bases anywhere around the country: Just when you’re getting cozy at work, your husband might come home with his posting/PCS orders. This means, slowing down your work and diving straight into a flurry of packing and moving. Add to that the long wait for accommodation at the next base, and then some more for a working internet connection, and you’ve got a ready-made sabbatical thrown in. 

2.   The need to tweak your venture/business/career goals as per the new place or portfolio:

Homeschooling a Kindergartner in India – Part 2

We started homeschooling our 5-year-old about 10 months ago. Though we were always intrigued by the concept of homeschooling, we didn’t really know where and how to begin.

Photo credit: Smokey Bandit

Should we set up a strict school-like timetable? Should we set up an entire room like a classroom? Will I, as the primary homeschooling parent, be able to cope with entire days of studies, play and activities, with very little time to do my own work?

There were many questions jostling for attention in my mind, but we decided to take the plunge and go with the flow. This is what we did to get started in our homeschooling journey:

Stocked up on good quality children’s books. I stumbled across a curriculum called Build Your Library, and liked how everything is taught through beautiful storybooks and ‘Living Books’. While I do have the curriculum with me, I generally tend to pick and choose the books as per what we want to learn that day.

Made art and craft material accessible. While we always had art supplies that my son could work through, we put it all in a basket and kept it at a place that he could easily access. This way, now he is always working on a project of his own, upcycling cardboard boxes into robots, cameras and whatnot.

My Big Rocks for 2019 - Filling up the jar with what matters

The New Year’s rolled in, and it’s the possibilities that a new beginning is filled with that’s got me scrabbling to chalk out what I’d like to fill my jar with. 

Goals and plans for 2019

What will be my Big Rocks, Medium Rocks, and Sand this year? I know that if I don’t jot this down, I’ll fill my jar with far too many things and get overwhelmed in the process.

So, here’s my Big Rocks for 2019. Big Rocks are all the things that are on top priority for me, and I will want to carve out a chunk of time for these:

1.      Homeschooling my son. About 10 months ago, we plunged into a homeschool life. What started with the hunt for a detailed curriculum has now eased into a with-the-flow education. We spend our mornings in our makeshift school on the porch overlooking our garden. And this is an essential part of our week.

2.    Writing more. As a health coach and writer, I spend my days doing both – upgrading my wellness know-how, creating workshops, writing and teaching creative writing. But this year, I want to dedicate a chunk of time daily to writing books, blogs, and stories.

3.    Family time. We are like the 3 Bears and enjoy huddling in at home, pottering around in the kitchen garden, baking something and enjoying a good Netflix movie on television. This is the sugar and spice to our daily life, and just as essential or more to our days.

4.    Learning new skills. As a #militaryspouse entrepreneur, I have to constantly evolve and add to my knowledge pool, to do work that I love from the back-of-beyond places that we are posted in. I’m learning about being a self-published author, which involves everything from how to write more books to designing and editing to marketing them using social media platforms.

5.     Exercise. With the hours that I put in the chair, stretching and walking are imperative to factor in. Spending an hour every day exercising also keeps me happy and energetic.

6.    Meditation and Reiki. For a while last year, I was consistent with my meditation and Reiki practice, and the way it helped ground, center and calm me, is wondrous. So, this year, I want to schedule it in and be more consistent about getting to my mat.

Happy 2019 + My 2018 at a glance

Hello everyone! Happy New Year. May 2019 be joyous, peaceful, prosperous, productive and healthy for all of us.

So, I’ve been away for a while, packing and moving, unpacking again and setting up home in a far-flung part of the country. Amidst all of this, I’ve been figuring out how I can fit in homeschooling, social obligations and my own dreams into the same canvas.

It’s not only been a full two months, but also a full 2018. With so much of traveling and living out of suitcases, not knowing where we would be every month, transitioning to a homeschooling life, and trying to find a place for my goals within the jigsaw puzzle of this, it’s been a rollercoaster of a year.

Here’s looking back at 2018 that’s whizzed and whooshed past like a dervish. At a glance, this is what I was up to:

Began settling into our first big town posting at the beginning of 2018.

Started teaching Creative Writing to children and enjoyed it immensely.

Got into the groove of DIY cleaning and housekeeping (our byebye maid phase), with our trusty spin mop and dishwasher.

Launched www.GorgeousGirlsGoGreen.com, an online resource for women who want to live a healthy life by being gentle to the Earth.

Completed and earned my Women’s Wellness Educator Certification, and taught in-person health workshops.

Continued creating wellness content for my website and workshops.

Launched #TheBrigaethatBuildsBrands series that features #militarywives, who launch #workfromhome careers while moving across the country with their husbands.

Started learning a variety of things – from Reiki Level 2 and Angel Card Reading to nuances of growing one’s small business via social media to learning how to become a #selfpublished author, it’s been about absorbing skills that can help me grow as a professional.

Wrote the first draft of my first full-length #nonfiction book.

Started #homeschooling my son.

Moved to multiple places + got posted yet again to a tiny town.

What has 2018 been like for you?

Leave a comment below + connect with me via Twitter (@ChandanaMilspo / @4GGorgeousGreen) & Instagram (@ChandanaMilSpo / @gorgeousgirlsgogreen)

#2018 #NewYear #yearataglance

Headlong Homeschooling – Our homeschooling (in India) journey so far

We never planned to homeschool N this year because he was already going to a happy little Montessori school. Yes, I’ve always liked the concept of home education, and have wondered if it will work for our family, but I never expected to take the plunge this year.

N creating a 3-D model of a butterfly's life cycle with clay

You see, as we waited for N’s lovely little Montessori school to open for the school year, my husband got his orders to travel for work. With a very long work trip looming ahead, we decided to travel as a family. That’s when I started teaching N at home, or rather, in our hotel room. With play dough clay and drawings of robots (his current favorites), stories and simple phonics lessons, with everyday material and a dash of fun, our makeshift homeschool took off happily.

When we returned back home, with the Montessori school unable to send transport to drop him back and us (we live very far from the school), on the brink of embarking on yet another work trip, going to school became near to impossible again. And so our homeschooling adventure has been a work in progress.

Now, we’re returning from our second work trip in a row. We don’t know if N’s school will be able to slot in a school van to drop him. We’re also expecting to move very soon, and are wondering if sending him to school for a few days before we move, makes sense or not.

We’re still wondering if we should send N to the neighborhood school wherever we are moving to or if we could continue homeschooling him. Even though we have several question marks sticking out of our homeschool plan, I’ve been mulling over the way that I want to teach N. The best part about being a homeschool parent is that you can borrow from a wide range of curriculums and teaching methods, take what you like and leave what you don’t find interesting.

N's version of an Igloo with the 3 of us inside - after we read about houses across the world

Continuing homeschooling: I have a loose curriculum that seems to fit in with the way N learns. It’s a slice of world education with beautiful books forming the bedrock of the “syllabus”. We plan to learn about this vast planet that we live on, the people who inhabit the world, the landscapes & animals in different parts and about children of this world. I strongly feel that in today’s time and age, raising global citizens, who can embrace the world culture, understand the issues that are plaguing the planet and have more tolerance for differences, is a must. The more our children can marvel at the beauty across the world and understand that people do not need to look/talk/behave the same way to be your friends, the more empowered they will be to create a warm and loving life for themselves and others. 

Simple sums with aliens, robots and clay balls

We’re also planning to continue our counting & simple addition + subtraction exercises through everyday material: playdough balls, rajma beans, coins, spoons and storybooks.

Natural science will be an important part of our “studies”. We study the life cycle of various insects, understand how clouds are formed, see how leaves are the kitchens of plants & trees, understand how seasons change. I’m not using any book for this, but letting the natural world around us + high-quality Youtube videos to guide us in our learning adventure.

Storybooks are ingrained in our homeschool and home life. We read lots of stories to N. I do believe that all this reading is helping encourage better vocabulary and letter recognition. We do a bit of phonics, and this is something I want to bump up a bit more.

Free play is a big part of our days

Nature study is also part of our homeschooling. It can be free flowing, with us moving around a garden, looking at the plants & insects there. Or, we go out on a mission, collecting all the different kinds of leaves in a space, and then go back home to draw a few of them, marvel at how different each of them are, and learn how leaves cook food for plants.

Art and craft is a major component of our days. N likes to do whatever I am doing, so it’s also a great way for me to re-ignite my love for all things arty-crafty. If I paint on a canvas, N also sits down with his own to create his painting. If I embroider, then N makes things out of the thread. If I make collages in my journal, N sticks Washi tape, stickers & ephemera in his scrapbook. We can spend hours making things with either music or audio stories playing in the background.

This is our current plan for our ‘headlong homeschooling’. I would like to add or tweak things as we go, see if this journey is nourishing for all of us.

Do you homeschool or are considering homeschooling?

 #homeschool #homeschoolindia #homeschoolinginindia #teachingchildren #prekhomeschool #homeschoolparent 

New Ideas for the Blog

I haven’t posted on the blog for a little while. Every now and then, I need to disappear down the rabbit hole of quiet, away from social media and the virtual world, to think and fill my well. Also, we’re just back from a very long sojourn, cleaning up the dust and settling back at home.

But all through this, I’ve also been thinking of ways to get more creative at this blog. While I generally only post a couple of times here, what can I do to showcase my love for everyday Indian saree style, my passion for military spouse entrepreneurship, and my admiration for the arty-writerly-crafty lifestyle?

I’m thinking of new columns that feature some of that love. In the months to come, I hope to interview & feature authors, artists & crafters; shake up things in the saree style section; and, continue shining the spotlight on #fauji wives who carve out businesses from the boondocks. Maybe, I’ll also throw in some work-from-home posts – because really, there are so many myths shrouding that arena.

So, dear readers, be ready to see more collaborative posts as we journey through this blog. I hope you'll collaborate, read and enjoy the new posts that I'm about to roll out.

In the meanwhile:

I’m also brainstorming for my online wellness & green living magazine, Gorgeous Girls Go Green. Slow living and its impact on the environment & our health is my current obsession. That, and more about simple ways to stay well & go clean are on the list.

I’ve also been creating and teaching workshops on the above topics (mindful eating, holistic wellness, green living). 

There’s lot’s to do, but I’m taking my blogging, writing & teaching journey, one small step at a time.

What have you been upto?

An announcement: I’m looking for a Social Media Intern to help with the social media aspect of this blog’s & GGGG’s posts i.e. help post it on various forums and channels. This is perfect for a college student interested in writing or the media, or someone who is simply good at social media. If you’re interested in this or know someone who might enjoy this, please email me at chandanabanerjeewrites@gmail.com.

#blogging #blogideas

Maid Of the Matter: 5 tips to save time & energy and stay stress-free

Ever so often, I stumble across intense conversations about..maids (domestic help). During social visits, in parties, at welfare meets, in Whatsapp groups, I see the topic of maids sneaking into conversations. I get it – here in India, we do depend heavily on house help. 

It’s not just the colossal dust that needs to be cleaned and mopped and dusted from our floors and shelves that finds us utterly dependent on domestic help, but also a certain mindset that prevents us from picking up a broom or rinsing our own dishes or even cooking our own meals. And more often than not, when we pay someone else to cook and clean, we find them come up short - more so, in today’s world.

Sweeping and mopping that’s not up to the mark, dishes that retain stains of previous meals, food that isn’t cooked hygienically or tastefully, and unprofessional attitudes (i.e. asking for higher salaries than what’s fixed in a society, answering back, grumpiness etc.) lead ladies into fraught-with-anxiety discussions about maids and the daily annoyance they cause them.

But is there a way around this? Is there a way we can stop this profuse time drain? Can we find a way to discuss maids less (no one needs to stop ‘coz we need to talk sometimes to find a way out), so we can pack our days and conversations with more hearty and interesting things?

Over the years, having employed a variety of domestic help, most of whom entered my home with a bucket load of baggage and attitude issues, I can safely say that the help at the end of my arm is way more reliable. 

As my son crossed his toddler stage, I slowly delegated less and did more to reclaim my peace. We went intentionally maid-free when we moved to as big town (for a while we hired someone for the basics, but again, we noticed that that brought in more hassles, so we went back to our maid-free existence).

Note 1: I don’t spend the entire day cooking and cleaning – in case, you’re wondering if that’s all I do, so I can mange in maid-free mode. With an almost 5-year-old, a blog to write, workshops to teach and a new green start-up to grow & tonnes of books to read and hobbies to tend to, my day includes all of this and cooking & a dash of cleaning.

Note 2: I’m not suggesting firing the maid (like I did).

With these 5 methods anyone can reclaim control over their house chores + time and be less dependent on maids and maid-related issues:

1. Invest in a dishwasher: I bought a dishwasher a year back and can say that it’s one of the best things to have happened to our home. The dirty dishes, once stacked properly, are squeaky clean and germ-free after a wash cycle. Whether its summer and the basin water too hot to put my hands in, or winter with freezing cold tap water (yes, in Punjab, the water was just as temperamental as the climate), I don’t really have to worry about the temperature of the water anymore. Neither do I have to fret about semi-clean utensils or a wild jumble of washed dishes in the drying rack, waiting for a maid to arrange on the shelves. Yes, at Rs 36,000, the cost of a dishwasher might seem steep, but it’s worth every little penny in terms of the stress-free dishwashing experience that it offers.

2. Check if you need cleaning gadgets or tools: There are great cleaning tools available in the market that can make the mundane chore of cleaning and mopping a lot easier. I use a spin mop to wipe up the floors, but someday, I wouldn’t mind getting a Floor Cleaning Robot. Yes, you heard right – there are circular robots that’ll sweep and mop for you (google the offerings by Milagrow). Interspersed with manual cleaning, it’s a great house-cleaning solution. Also, stocking a cleaning caddy with everything you need (baking soda, surface cleaner, cloth wipes, duster, scrubbers and brushes) to dust and wash around the house, makes chores a tad easier. And of course, we all have washing machines, so that's one job less to worry about.

3. Elbow grease and gym workout: We often drive to the gym to work out and keep fit, or invest in a treadmill for a home-based workout. But interestingly, a full-body workout is available for free right at your home via house cleaning and chores. Whether you’re sweeping, mopping the floors (even with a Spin Mop), dusting, wiping gadgets around the house, washing bathrooms or even emptying your dishwasher, you’re engaging all kinds of muscles and keeping those joints supple.

4. A change in how we perceive housework, including daily cooking: A slight shift (okay, Major shift) in our attitude about doing our own work (at least a lot of it, if not all) instead of having to get it done by someone else, even if we’re not happy with their output or attitude, can make a Lot of difference in how we approach housework. Its food for our family and it’s the house we live in – when I keep that in perspective, a lot can get done through DIY.

5. Ask your family members to help: Whether it’s your spouse or kids, everyone can do something for the house – it’s their home too and chipping in just makes the load lighter. When kids are involved in keeping their home or room clean, they understand the value of work, won’t depend on others to clean up after them when they grow up and will learn life skills. My husband helps me keep our home clean, while our little one, does what he can (like grate the cheese, mop up the spills he makes, pick up crumbs, prune the houseplants & water them). I totally believe that just one person cannot do every single task to run a home, especially, if you’re also managing business/project/job.

Try these five tips and see if you can free up time. I get more done with less stress with this maid-free/minimum approach than when I had more help. Yes, when we’re not discussing maids most of the time or following them around to check if they are cleaning/mopping properly or showing them how to clean or cook our way or trying to figure out why they answered back when you were perfectly polite, we can reclaim back precious time (yup, even while doing a fair chunk of the housework with the help at the end of our arms). Time that we can spend reading books, learning a new skill, watching a movie at home or setting up a venture.

Do you do a lot of your own work + cooking? If you have any tips to get it done more efficiently, do leave a comment below.

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