Self care and life skills are as important as academics, keeping themselves clean, listening to their needs and also being independent. When taught at right age, they begin to take care of themselves before emotions get in their way.
We felt that he can do it on his own, so slowly made him to trim his nails with guidance. He enjoyed doing it and feels independent.
I don't know why Almind is so obsessed with screw drivers, Allen keys and other mechanical items. Right from one and half years when he started to walk, he picks up those items and starts dismantling his toys, chairs and furnitures at home 👩🚀
Though we bought him all types of kids mechanic sets he ends up using real ones.
And whenever carpenter/plumber/electrician visits our home for repair work, he won't leave the place until they finish off the work, he loves watching them 😍
Off-late insisting him constantly he stopped dismantling (but it took long years to change him).
Happy that now he is trying to construct and build new things but I always keep an eye on him ❤️
**About the video - I'm observing him from the morning, he is using all tools in that box
Our thoughts : TV/Gadgets are not bad, there are many things that kids can learn from these, but over usage might lead to health and mental hazard. So we are not completely against TV and Gadget time but we explain and try to make them understand the pros and cons of using gadgets and restrict their time limit.
When I got married and started to live in a separate house, We didn't consider buying a TV when we started to furnish our house. Vijay and I are not TV person but instead we used to watch videos of our interest in internet or buy DVD to watch movies. We used to avoid using desktop or laptop when Albrain was awake. Until he went to playschool at the age of 3, we engaged him with board puzzles, books and went out almost every weekend (Park and Beach mostly).
When Albrain was in Pre KG, he didn't accept that TV would come under living room things. That time we thought we should also give him TV time and hence we bought a TV. Things completely changed after the new arrival. Albrain started to sit in front of TV for long time, he ate in front of TV, played in front of TV, his TV time was more than other activities. I was scared to stop TV time abruptly as he might repel. I made a point to him that he shouldn't mix up activities with TV time, for example if he eat food, he has to sit in the dining area instead of sitting in front of TV. If he has to play, he needs to play and then keep the toys aside before he switch on the TV. He can choose any one hour in a day for TV time(I made sure that he doesn't watch TV and sleep immediately). His TV time got gradually decreased over time and got under control.
When it comes to Almind, not only TV, smart phones, laptops was already a part of our life. The same set of rules were insisted on Almind too, no mixing other activities with TV/gadget time. During weekdays both of them do not have time to watch TV as they are tightly engaged in school and after school activities. So, on weekends, Almind can watch any program for two hours on Saturday and Albrain on Sunday. They used to watch kids series or some youtube videos.
Vijay and I watch movie/series on Friday nights. Kids go to bed at 8pm daily. So we both watch for 2 hours till 10pm.
We used to go to theatres when any animated/3D movie gets released. If it's some Hollywood action movies, Albrain and Vijay used to go to theatre to watch.
Kids are now exposed more to screen time because of online classes, but we make sure that they shut down the tab/laptop once the classes are over.
Points we learned and observed over time :
Both Albrain and Almind gets bored with toys over the time. Even if its their favourite toy, they get engaged with it only for few days. So, instead of buying them toys we did these activities to engage them.
** Exposing them to different routines - Hopscotch, Cycling on terrace, cleaning herbs and spinach, arranging fruits and vegetables in fridge and baskets, basic house cleaning, arranging their cloths, making their bed, opening and closing windows.
** Encouraging them to draw - give them some theme like beach scene or summer day or their future house, ask them to make handmade greeting cards for friends and family on special occasions.
** Motivating them to write stories or poems - Theme based poems like fathers day, earth day, save animals, preserve water. Give them some random words/objects and ask them to write a short story using those words/objects. Ask them to write a story about random topics.
** Journal Writing - Note down the happenings of their day in a notebook or diary along with date.
I hope all parents who read this blog could relate 😍Share your parenting experience in the comments 😀
2013 - When Albrain was in UKG, we went for a doctor's visit. We usually carry some books and travel friendly puzzles to engage him during the waiting time. That time we had a Rubik's cube which has numbers in the side (It was a gift from Vijay's office). During our waiting time Albrain was shuffling the cube, it was a long wait that day, he lost his patience. He started nagging us. We asked him to solve one side of the cube. To our surprise he solved without our help. Then we asked him to try the other side too, he couldn't complete it but tried to solve it as much as he could.
When we reached home, Vijay immediately learned to solve Rubik's cube from youtube and taught Albrain. Next day when Vijay went for work, Albrain solved all sides of the Rubik's cube by himself. I was so surprised and wanted to capture the moment. Immediately i shuffled the cube and asked him to solve once again, he did and i recorded. I uploaded the video in his youtube channel. This is the video link :
I started hunting for Rubik's cube classes and competitions but in vain. I couldn't find proper Rubik's classes at that time and also the competitions listed in the internet were not in India. So, we bought him all types of Rubik's cubes(2*2, Pyramid, Barrel, No Centre and different sized cubes) that we could find in store and just encouraged him to explore and solve the different types of cubes at home.
Once when we saw an open Rubik's cube challenge at Hamley's Chennai, we decided to take him there. It was an open tournament wherein there was no age limit listed to participate in it. He was the youngest participant. While solving, his cube tumbled down but without any panic Albrain picked up the cube and solved it. He solved the puzzle in 2 minutes 46 seconds.
He got featured in his school website and Talentzhub website which was motivating for him.
His friends used to come home and learn Rubik's cube from him and also some of his friends' parents and my friends have also learned the technique of solving the cube. During lockdown he took online classes for kids who are interested in solving the cube. He has uploaded Rubik's cube tutorials in his youtube channel. I'll link down the tutorial below
Click here to watch Albrain's Rubik's cube tutorial videos
From a friend named Aishu, I got to know about Tamil Nadu Cube Association. I called them and enrolled Albrain in speeding technique classes. Later the same month, got info regarding Nobel World Record from the same friend Aishu. We checked the records made previously related to Rubik's cube and we decided to set a new record. The event was scheduled on a weekend at K. S. Rangasamy College of Technology, Erode. The slot given for Albrain was on Sunday(14-03-2021) at 10:00am. He entered the stage with 10 cubes and a timer. The judges shuffled his cubes and started the timer. Albrain solved eight 2*2 cubes in one minute. Yayyy he set a record in Nobel World Record under "Maximum number of 2*2 Rubik's Cube solved in 60 seconds". He was honoured by Mr Selvamani, Politician. That's our proud moment.
When I created an email id and a youtube channel for Albrain when he was 6 months old(04-08-2008), I thought of sharing the password when he turns 18. I used to send his fee details, his certificates and achievements pics to his mail id hoping to give him a sweet digital memory
Off late , when it comes to digital learning, I'm learning a lot from him, he teaches me the latest updates, makes me improvise my digital appearance...and so on....
Now..during the intense lockdown(April 2020) he started coding a game for Android, May 2020 he completed it. To motivate him further, we asked him to upload it in playstore. But he hesitated and was not ready for the same, so we left it as such...a month ago he asked us whether he can upload his game app in playstore
.. That's the day we were waiting for
...BOOM... Albrain's Google developers account was created and now his app is up in Google Playstore. Being an engineering and technological background parents it's our proudest moment
Happy that he is one young app developer (12 years old) in Google playstore
Congrats my baby boy, wishing you for more and more
His app link : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details...
One fine day Almind came running to me complaining of tooth ache. I observed his teeth and found more space inbetween them than usual. Yes, a tooth was loose. I thought of following few things which i did for my elder son, Albrain. I started playing "Tooth fairy" stories in youtube and asked him to read a PDF story book which i downloaded (for Albrain i was able to lend a book from a library but for Almind since it's pandemic, i took online materials). He was so excited about the fairy visit.
Yesterday (18-07-2020) during our lunch time, he felt uncomfortable and asked me to check his teeth. To my surprise the tooth had already fallen off. First I thought he swallowed it along with his food. Then we all searched his plate and finally found the tooth next to him. I took him to wash room cleaned his tooth and wiped off his mouth. He was in complete joy about tooth fairy's visit again. I wrapped the tooth in a paper and kept it in my wardrobe. At night before going to sleep, he wrote a letter to tooth fairy. I gave the tooth to him. He kept the letter and the tooth together under his pillow and happily went to sleep.
Need not to explain his happiness in the morning, when he found a gift replacing his tooth. He jumped up in joy and thanked the tooth fairy.
Happy that we were able to help him overcome his fear of losing a tooth and comfort his pain.
