I have a working weekend and long week ahead of me. In stressful times, I try, to remember the quote below by Robert Breault.

“In the happiest of our childhood memories, our parents were happy too.”

There is research that connects happy childhoods to happiness in adulthood, as well as health benefits. But while we plan the perfect days, playdates, environment and activities, for our children, I hope we remember that children are perceptive and pick up on our emotions easily.

There was this survey report I once read about people describing their favourite happy childhood memories that shaped them. Surprisingly, most of the answers were about simple, relaxing, moments of connection. A day spent playing in the beach, laughing at a funny movie, baking together on Sundays, cuddling in cold mornings, etc.

I asked V what her favourite memories from home so far are, and she said,
1. Reading together
2.… Click to read the rest

Once your baby starts pulling themselves up, either people around or data mining on social media will throw walker suggestions in your radar. What is the deal on walkers? Are they montessori? Are they recommended? And most importantly, are they necessary?

Commercial walkers

Walkers, and other commercially available movement aids hinder development in the same way. They make a child mobile so quickly that he sometimes just gives up on his own attempts when outside the walker. They also give the child misinformation about where his “space” or body ends, and how legs really work, confusing messages that have to be relearned later.

Susan Mayclin Stephenson, The Joyful Child: Montessori, Global Wisdom for birth to three

That quote really sums up the case against commercially available walkers. For one, the baby depends on the adult to be put in and out, which straight away removes independence and need to walk.… Click to read the rest

My bio reads “parent, educator, montessorian and feminist”. People often ask me how all of it work together. How does being an educator and a montessorian translate in feminism, especially since child care and teaching is traditionally considered women’s territory in India?

Here are 3 reasons why I think Dr. Maria Montessori was a kickass feminist.

1. She went to an all boys technical school to study engineering. She was first refused admission into medical school. However, she persisted and became one of the first women to practise medicine in Italy. She faced gender discrimination ( for one, she wasn’t allowed to study male cadavers with male students and had to do it after class hours).

2. A staunch believer of equality, she advocated for equal pay in her speech in Berlin in 1896. She was for women following their passions, but also that all sexes do every chore with dignity, which is seen in the philosophy even today.… Click to read the rest