I had not given much thought to this, ever. Primarily, we are Hindus, however I am not very religious but deeply spiritual. We thought we had time to figure out and collect our thoughts. However V loved the idols of god at home, especially Ganesha. She enjoyed hearing stories about them and one fine day, V asked a pertinent question, “Amma, why do we pray?”

And then it just came naturally to us. We had a clear idea of what not to tell her.

God is watching you.
We did not want her to grow up fearing anything unfathomable or mysterious. We prefer using direct consequences to discipline as well.

God created everything.
While many people believe this, I think it would be difficult for a child to imagine the world coming out of nowhere. She knows about evolution and loves reading Darwin’s Origin of Species for children.… Click to read the rest

Last year, while we were at her grandparents’, we had a surprisingly long long power outage. On enquiring, we were told that it was due to a fire in the neighbourhood. Until then, the only fire that V was used to was the one that helps us cook food and the one that lights our diyas. This was something new and no wonder she found it fascinating.

She made us relate the whole incident from the moment the fire broke out until it was contained. So much so that it became her favourite bed time story, and we had to narrate it atleast 3-5 times a day. I have never given any thought to fire trucks and fighters and this was a great opportunity for me to learn with her.

Community helpers

The fact that anybody could call the fire station when needed, and they would rush to help was new and a wonderful introduction to community helpers and occupations.… Click to read the rest

We took V to the Mumbai zoo to see some penguins when she was a little older than a year, and ever since, her biggest dream is to grow up, become a king, travel to Antarctica and play with penguins. Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself. When she wanted to see penguins everywhere, we had to open the atlas, show her where penguins are found.

She still couldn’t get why we could not bring them here. Enter lesson on habitats and polar climates. We did a lot of ice sensory play when she was younger to reinforce the stark difference between the hot city we live in and cold climates. Bonus- we also learnt through simple experimentation that if salt is added to ice- the ice gets colder.

The fact that penguins are not naturally found here, only hardened her resolve to visit Antarctica and learn more about them through books and play.… Click to read the rest