parenting – Page 8 – Sugar And Spice… Among Other Things

Christian, Family and Society, Life, Personal Musings, Reflections, Work

Anxious to Spill

Posted on April 11, 2019February 7, 2019 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” Charles Spurgeon

One of the worse things of happy times and days when everything goes as per the plan, is the niggling sense foreboding that something bad is going to happen. The problem arise most when we are doing well, yet one doesn’t understand how is it so and we often look for an excuse and cause for concern. One thinks of what will happen in a few years, after the exams, when children attend school or when the economy takes a turn for the worse. Worse of all are the thoughts of what will happen when one dies suddenly, about the events after, especially for loved ones, family, spouse, children, inheritance and life in general.

“The truth is that there is no actual stress or anxiety in the world; it’s your thoughts that create these false beliefs. You can’t package stress, touch it, or see it. There are only people engaged in stressful thinking.” Wayne Dyer

Source:https://vk.com/public75290000

Anxiety is a painful condition often invented by man. Consequently we age ahead of our time; torturing ourselves as well as others with our wandering thoughts, imagination, speculations and scenarios that have yet to happen. Learning to put them to rest and submit our concerns to God, time and Faith will limit the “constant anxiety” which tries to pull us down and bind its’ chains around us.

“Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.” Henry Ward Beecher

Source:https://vk.com/public75290000

What we very often fail to remember is that our life is a gift from God above. Every second and minute is precious. So worry about each problem or issue once and as they come. For each sequence of events can turn out to be different, many a time, beyond our control. Try not to make our mind overrun with one’s imagination based on the present, for that alone is to blame for the scenarios in the mind that are invented, drawing from events that haven’t yet happened. There is a fine line between imagination and discernment. Learning to distinguish between both will help us enjoy the happiness that the present day life offers.

“My anxiety doesn’t come from thinking about the future but from wanting to control it.” Hugh Prather

Source:https://vk.com/we_live_a

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“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:26-27).

Daily, Food, Uncategorized

Going “Carrot” All the Way

Posted on April 5, 2019March 2, 2019 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

Being parents or guardians of little children, the most lovable yet tiring and troublesome phase is making them eat their vegetables. The beginnings of this battle with the “veggies” starts when they reach the toddler age, often progressing onto their years, even till high school and beyond.

“When a man is small, he loves and hates food with a ferocity which soon dims. At six years old his very bowels will heave when such a dish as creamed carrots or cold tapioca appear before him.” M. F. K. Fisher

Source:https://www.mandy.com/news/bugs-bunny-cartoon-tv-news#

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Source:https://vk.com/monahos

With the advent of various art forms, school activities, newer recipes, extra seasonings and the magic of Bugs Bunny and Popeye the sailor man among others, have brought down the fervor of this battle. Among the various projects among play-schoolers to get them to eat their vegetables was observing special days like the International Carrot Day (4th April). While for the toddlers, activities range from supervised game activities, music, model art with play dough fun and costume art; parents have been tasked with preparing any carroty dish. Ranging from meal based recipes, of soups and main course (pies, curry, sandwiches) to snacks or desserts (“gajjar halwa”, carrot cake or sweet carrot tarts) and juices, the list of recipes is quite extensive. In the course of cooking, there was a couple of “carrot trivia” which make for an interesting read.

“Carrots are devine… You get a dozen for a dime, It’s maaaa-gic!” – Bugs Bunny

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Belonging to the family Apiaceae, “Daucus carota”, whose common names include wild carrot, bird’s nest, bishop’s lace, and Queen Anne’s lace (North America), is a herbaceous, mostly biennial white flowering plant native to temperate regions of Europe and southwest Asia, and naturalized to North America and Australia. Interestingly both the words ” Daucus” and “carota” mean orange. Ironically carrots are not always orange, but can also be grown as purple, red, white or yellow variants. Known by the Ancient Greeks as “Karoto” with the plant called as Philtron or “Bird’s Nest”, they were initially grown as medicines, and later as food, also used as insecticidal agent as well. In fact, the Victorians had a carrot based recipe to destroy crickets especially as it was discovered that they were very fond of carrots. The mix was a paste of flour, powdered arsenic with scraped carrots, placed near their habitations.

Source:https://vk.com/slideshowarts

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The role of carrots go beyond the kitchen, with their part cited in the “Trojan War”. As far as legends go ( no documented evidence), the Greek foot soldiers who hid in the Trojan Horse were said to have consumed ample quantities of raw carrots to inactivate their bowels. However, this tale contradicts the fact that carrots are good for constipation. Being a mythical tale, did the soldiers of the Trojan War eat lot of carrots before the fight to clear their intestines and avoid any problems during the important moment ? Most likely, this apocryphal tale was conjured or circulated due to the Hollywood scenes, fiction writers or as a result of the “toddler veggie battles.” Yet their mention in literature is present with the Early Celtic citing them as “Honey Underground”.

“The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution.” Paul Cezanne

Source:https://www.bunch-of-carrots.co.uk/gallery/

The Wild Carrot is called Queen Anne’s Lace. The reason being Queen Anne of England wore a lacy headdress which some people thought resembled the delicate flower cluster of Wild carrot, giving it its more poetic name, Queen Anne’s lace.

One of the first vegetables to be canned commercially, carrots were marketed on a wide scale. Additionally tobacconists in France used to put a carrot in their bins to prevent their tobacco from drying out. With the progress of preservation and brewery, carrots today, produce more distilled spirit than potatoes. To add on carrot as a sweet snack food, try the “carrot pie flavour jelly bean.” As far as the future holds, carrots are here to stay with their in the market as “bio-fuels“, especially as the oil runs out. So going “carroty” is the theme for now, especially today with trying something “carroty” as a special treat.

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Daily, Family and Society, Life, Personal Musings, Quotes, Reflections, Stories Around the World

Like A Child’s Love

Posted on April 3, 2019January 12, 2019 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“Just imagine becoming the way you used to be as a very young child, before you understood the meaning of any word, before opinions took over your mind. The real you is loving, joyful, and free. The real you is just like a flower, just like the wind, just like the ocean, just like the sun.” Don Miguel Ruiz

Children are simply beautiful. Interacting with children all day long, one is always fascinated by the numerous expressions, emotions they undergo, the innocent laughter and their mischief. A child’s love is always untainted at heart. Unfortunately as they grow from toddlers to adolescence, we adults and collectively society as well as media influences them, such that they lose their own selves and plunge into the niche that society carves for them. As parents, it is difficult to fight against this phenomenon as this has become the way of life and children will eventually grow, evolve and develop. Which is why, the growing years of a child are the most precious ones for parents and guardians.

“What it’s like to be a parent: It’s one of the hardest things you’ll ever do but in exchange it teaches you the meaning of unconditional love.” Nicholas Sparks

Source:https://vk.com/monahos

The concept of unconditional love is witnessed very often through parenting. A child’s love is never labelled nor constrained. In their very early years, their unblemished minds and hearts have no limits or barriers or categorization on their love, kindness and care. A child’s reasoning mayn’t be understood by adults. Yet as we wait to see the turn of events, one realizes that their acts of childhood are always based on their untainted guileless love and kindness. To be like a child, is a gift for the mind, body and spirit.

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” Lao Tzu

Source:https://vk.com/monahos

“Some time ago, a man punished his young daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became angry when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, the girl brought the gift to her father on Christmas day and said, ‘This is for you, daddy.’
The man became embarrassed by his overreaction a few days before, but his rage continued when he saw that the box was empty. He yelled at her, ‘Don’t you know, when you give someone a gift, there’s supposed to be something inside?’
The little girl looked up at her dad with tears in her eyes and cried; ‘Oh, daddy, it’s not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They’re all for you, daddy.’The father was devastated. He put his arms around his daughter, and begged for her forgiveness.

A little while later, the girl died in an accident. Her father kept the gold box by his bed for many years and, whenever he was feeling down, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.”

“The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” Victor Hugo

Source:https://vk.com/monahos

Daily, Family and Society, Life, Quotes, Reflections

Once Upon A Time

Posted on March 27, 2019January 8, 2019 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“…..And they lived happily after.”

One of the many endings often read; fairy tales and bed time classics have been going around for years, doing their fair share of imagination, creativity and togetherness during the childhood years. From the far-fetched tales of talking animals to almost realistic tales; fairy tale also known as magic tale or Marchen is a folklore genre, which typically features dwarfs, dragons, elves, fairies, giants to list a few. The common thread between various folklore tales across the globe is the “moral sense” of right and wrong being instilled in the young minds.

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” Neil Gaiman

Source:https://vk.com/public138314547

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Source:https://vk.com/public138314547

As we grow up, we start cross examining these stories with reality. Then why do we need fairy tales? What are we seeking for in them? Do fairy-tales help us dream of good, affection, triumph over evil ? Are fairy-tales and classics a mirage that hide the true realities of life from children ?

“There is many a monster who wears the form of a man; it is better of the two to have the heart of a man and the form of a monster. ” -Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, Beauty and the Beast

In the fairy tale, joy and love wins with everything being fair especially at the end. From the brave princes to Snow White and mermaids, kind old dwarf to naughty elves; fairy tales bring to life cozy home, adventures and dreams. Yet is the reality different or can we chose to make the best of the beginnings and endings that we receive ?

“Outside, on the bough of a tree, sat the living nightingale. She had heard of the emperor’s illness, and was therefore come to sing to him of hope and trust. And as she sung, the shadows grew paler and paler.” -Hans Christian Andersen, “The Nightingale”

Source:https://vk.com/public75290000

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Far from being extinct, fairy tales do have reasons to stay. The start of any fairy tale is one of adventure, inspiration and dreams. As the story unfolds and trials start; the fight against evil, the power of hope and reassurance that despite all odds things will turn out to be alright in the end when we believe in the true power of love, kindness, honesty and persevere for our dreams. Reassuring us to be ourselves, being honest and treasuring the gifts of life are few of the many subtle messages hidden in a fairy tale or the classics.

“You’re entirely bonkers, but I’ll tell you a secret, all the best people are.” Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

In the modern era of “smart technology”, preserving the art of reading aloud, bonding together and family time would go a long way into modeling our children for the future. So read them fairy tales once in a while. Give them stories to love, cherish and dream on. Maybe later in this world it would be easier for them to survive, cope, adapt and live life to their dreams.

“Every man’s life is a fairy tale written by God’s fingers.” Hans Christian Andersen

Source:https://vk.com/we_live_a

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Family and Society, Life, Personal Musings

Letters to Cherish

Posted on March 21, 2019December 16, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“PS, I Love You” the first novel written by Cecelia Ahern, published in 2004 was adapted as a film three years later. The book is based on a married couple Gerry and Holly, deeply in love with occasional fights, yet both are inseparable. When Gerry suddenly dies of a brain tumor, Holly is set adrift in despair and grief, unable to deal with his death and withdrawing from friends and family. One day her mother calls her informing her of a package addressed to her. It held a series of letters Gerry had left for her before he died, containing messages from him, all ending with “P.S. I Love You”. Each new message fills her with encouragement every month and with Gerry’s words as her guide, Holly slowly embarks on a journey of rediscovery.

Both the book and the movie are heart touching, though I preferred the former. Yet the underlying message beyond the fact that time is never predictable is that we should treasure the good moments to always fall back on. Waiting for a warning bell to strike and remind us of how everything can end in a matter of minutes, it is better to string the good memories for our family and friends as we go on our daily lives.

For our friends, once in a while write about what we love about them, the sorrows which they helped us to overcome, the celebrations that they were there for as well as the occasional clashes and better times. When we journal these events, we realize that we have lots to thank them for. Carry this trend into family, for our husband, kids and parents. There is nothing more precious than the written words of care, love and affection that the digital age can’t equalize. Till this day, I hold the letter that my mother and sister wrote to me when I was in college and they bring back fresh memories every time I feel like reading them.

Once a year, write a letter to your child, regaling the funny stories about what had happened to them that year; about the difficulties, mishaps, joys and fun times. Write down your thoughts concerning their future, your memories and emotions as they went about their days, the important events of that year for family and for each one of them. Add on to the letter with photos, postcards, little stick-ons, tiny notes and other memorabilia which would otherwise disappear later. In the end of the letter, don’t forget to tell them that you love them.

After closing the letter, put it in a binder and forget about it. Keep on writing a letter this every year till they reach the age of majority. On the day they reach the official age of adulthood, give them the folder. It will be an invaluable repository of parental love and memory of their childhood. These letters would be with them through joyful as well as difficult moments and trying times. Above all, it will be a reminder that your love will be with them always.

https://vk.com/public75290000

Daily, Family and Society, Reflections, Stories Around the World, Work

Fruitful but Maligned

Posted on March 7, 2019February 1, 2019 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

Somethings Never Change.

Returning from the workplace last evening, felt like a scene back from the high school days; with the immense relief felt when escaping the hurtful environment of words, snide comments and remarks, done on the pretext “good-natured” ribbing.

“Some people won’t be happy until they’ve pushed you to the ground. What you have to do is have the courage to stand your ground and not give them the time of day. Hold on to your power and never give it away.” Donna Schoenrock

Source:https://vk.com/public75290000

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Source:https://vk.com/public75290000

Fast forwarding from school days to college and university and then on to the work area, these things still keep happening. Ironically while today often grievous insults and behaviours come to front; in a very large scale, bullying is still been done in a very silent manner. As children, initially when related to parents and teachers; most of the time one is told to take things in stride or to deal with it in a quiet manner. Once when things get out of hand, authorities are involved. Though by then, most damage is done. This same cycle, involving the bully, bully-victim and victim continues on through the lives of the involved.

Breaking this trend is never easy. The first start is through education both at home and school grounds, followed by neighbourhood and community. As children, the streak of cruelty and bullying varies depending on temperament, environment and influence; though school is the place where they exercise it very often. Curbing these tends and making them understand the harm caused is important.

“Words have great power that could make or break others…so please be care with them.” Timothy Pina

Source:https://vk.com/public75290000

Recently one teacher decided to share her experience in a similar situation. Her method was very successful, so she decided to talk about it in one of the social networks; which has been posted below.

“Once, before starting classes, I went to the store and bought two apples. They were almost the same: the same color, about the same size … At the very beginning of the classroom hour I asked the children: “What is the difference between these apples?”. They were silent, because there was not really much difference between the fruits. Then I took one of the apples and, turning to him, said: “I don’t like you! You are a nasty apple! ” After that, I threw the fruit on the floor. The disciples looked at me as if they were crazy. Then I handed the apple to one of them and said: “Find something in it that you don’t like and throw it on the ground too”. The disciple obediently fulfilled the request. After that I asked to transfer the apple further. I must say that children easily found some flaws in the apple: “I don’t like your tail! You have a nasty skin! Yes, there are only worms in you! ”They said, and each time they threw an apple on the ground.
When the fruit came back to me, I again asked if the children saw any difference between this apple and the second one, which all this time was lying on my table. They were again confused, because, despite the fact that we regularly threw an apple on the floor, it did not receive any serious external damage and looked almost the same as the second one. Then I cut both apples. The one that lay on the table was snow-white inside, everyone liked it very much. The children agreed that they would have eaten it with pleasure. But the second was inside brown, covered with bruises, which we set for him. Nobody wanted to eat it. Then I said: “Guys, but this is because we made him that way! This is our fault! ”
In the class there was a deathly silence. A minute later, I continued: “The same happens with people when we insult or call them names. Outwardly, this practically does not affect them, but we inflict a huge amount of internal wounds!” Before my children, nothing ever came so quickly. Everyone began to share their life experiences, how unpleasant they were when they were called names. We all cried one by one, and then laughed together,” the teacher told her story.

“With ignorance comes fear- from fear comes bigotry. Education is the key to acceptance.” Kathleen Patel

Source:https://vk.com/monahos

Christian, Daily, Family and Society, Stories Around the World

The Omnipresence of God

Posted on February 24, 2019December 5, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

Modernization, technology, education and learning have been evolving over the years to the extent that the shades of grey have been frequently increasing, marring the areas of black and white significantly. For the present generation of children, the distinction between right and wrong isn’t easy. Very often they fail to understand what truth, Faith and true values of humanity encompasses. The easiest way to ensure that a child walks on the right path is to make him aware of the ever-loving presence of His Faith and above all, to know that God will guide him to know the difference between the right and the wrong.

Source:https://vk.com/monahos

“Mom, how to live in order to constantly feel God’s omnipresence? ..” one boy asked his mother,”I did not quite understand this lesson.”

“I will explain it to you this way,” the mother replied, “as I heard myself as a child. Listen! Live, my child, always as if you always see God before you.
Do not do anything that you would not like to have a witness to the Lord.
Do not say anything that you would not say out loud to God.
Do not write anything that you would be ashamed to show God.
Never go wherever you hope to see the Lord.
Do not read such a book, about which you would not want the Lord to ask: “Show me her.”
Never spend your time so that you can be afraid of the question: “What are you doing?” – or the words: “Shame on you!”

( Source: From the book of Archpriest Arseny Tsarevsky “Lessons on the law of God”)

Source:https://vk.com/monahos