I had a super proud mama moment this week when my daughter wrote her first book review. I was so touched when I saw what book she chose.

A quick and easy recipe, for golas, with all the taste and none of the germs.

These days school annual day performances are big affairs. Even at the pre-primary and primary levels, professional quality performances are expected. But how much of these performances include contributions from kids? What are kids actually learning from annual day?

It’s we who put them on a pedestal, it is we who cover up, rationalize or dismiss their transgressions, and then much later it is we who are surprised by their sense of entitlement, much like parents of spoilt kids, who simply can’t figure out where they went wrong in child rearing.

Teenage years are trying times for kids as well as their parents. Nothing seems to make sense and for a long time the strangeness of this phase of life has been attributed to hormones going wild. But the hormones are not the only major changes taking place. Modern imaging techniques have revealed that the brain undergoes a huge transformation during adolescent years, and understanding these changes may help us understand teens better.

Wondering if you should plan a short trip without your kids? We hesitated, but eventually went through with it, and for us, it worked out great. Read all about it, and a review of the gorgeous Taj Lake Palace, where we went.

Life takes strange twists and turns, but on some days it lands you in a happy place. Today was one of those days. I was interviewed as an author for my young adult novella, Growing Pains.

Sodas make summers fun, frothy and fizzy! Here are some super simple recipes.

Here are some helpful tips I have learned from trekking with my toddlers over the years, and from my in laws, who did this throughout my husband's childhood, and are doing it now again with their grand children.

I have watched My Fair Lady several times over the years. With time how I felt about various characters had changed. This post is about how my understanding of the characters have changed as I have journeyed from childhood through marriage in to motherhood.

It took a rare cosmic event to remind me, that sometimes I need to slow down, savour the moment, and not lose perspective.

Disagreements, misunderstandings and stand-offs are a part of family life. While open and honest communication is essential for close relationships, setting certain rules for fights and confrontation, helps ensure that we don't completely lose perspective. These are some of the rules, that we try to follow, when fighting.

We sometimes think of parenting techniques as if some are better than others, but we forget how much the merits and effectiveness of these techniques depend on the personality of the adults and children involved.

New year's eve at home can be cozy and delightful. Read on to find out what we did and happy new year to you all.

We found serenity and secluded spots of natural beauty amidst crowds and chaos. This post has a review of the journey, the hotel we stayed in, tips for exploring Mahabaleshwar during the crowded Christmas season, suggestions for activities and restaurants, and many useful links. There are lots of pictures of course!

My daughter and I had a great time learning about the solar system from various websites and youtube videos. We enjoyed sifting through mounds of information and presenting the most interesting titbits concisely in a scrap book. This post details our journey and contains a link to the PDF version of the scrap book we created. Check it out.

Easy dry-fruit cake recipe, which can double up as a Christmas cake for the festive season.

Lego block building is a creative and fun activity for all ages and the perfect way to spend a family night bonding, co-operating and competing. Read on to find out what we did on Lego night.

Making a flower for show and tell turned out to be a lot more than a art and craft activity. Read on to find out all about it.

Most of our houses are stuffed to the gills with electronic products, that have a typical life of 4 to 6 years. To create awareness about e-waste and encourage kids to recycle it, my daughter's school asked them to create something useful or artistic from e-waste with the help of their parents. After staring at a pile of old wires, broken phones and other junk, I came up with a few ideas for making necklaces, notepads and more. My daughter had fun helping me. Read on to find out what we made and how.

Happy Halloween everyone. This post is about what Halloween means to me. It also has a lovely Halloween painting done by my 5 year old daughter.

A quick and easy recipe, for rich, creamy, chocolate ice cream, that does not require an ice-cream maker.

What is dyslexia? How can it be detected? What can be done, to help children with dyslexia make satisfactory academic progress? What help and support is available for children with dyslexia in India? What is ADHD? What are the treatment options? What are the risk factors for oppositional defiant disorder, and how can it be treated? These are some of the issues I am going to delve in to, in this post.

A review of a peg board toy I got my 3 year old on her recent birthday.

Sometimes winning may look like losing, but it takes strength to walk away, instead of impulsively striking back, to your own long-term detriment. Winning is not necessarily about defeating someone else.