The Scorpios

Lilypie Kids Birthday tickers

Friday, July 17, 2015

Shopping at Jabong.com in the comfort of your home

A shopping trip without moving away from the home can be best done at an online site like jabong
 
 
Creating a profile 

I logged on to http://www.jabong.com/ and quickly made a profile for which I was given some free vouchers for posterity 

The profile creation was simple enough with a verification required. Not too many details were needed and that is a blessing.

Shopping on jabong
The first step was to shortlist a brand which would be the most simple to buy.
I chose from below because these are the shirts that my kids have worn earlier so I kind of know what would be the sizes that are good to pick up.

 
This being my first time on jabong  it took me  a few minutes to get used to the site but I liked the speed at which it sorted basis my choice of brands and age group and gender that I selected. However it was a little tricky because when I selected boys, age 11-14 and the above three brands I ended up with two choices.  I had to put in a broader age group choice to get more brands. 
 
But once I had figured out the way of doing it the process was smooth. There was a good choice of brands and designs and I loved the fact that the stuff were heavily discounted. Multiple views were given and the quick view helped doing back and forth with ease.

 

What I did not like 

The sorting by price was not very efficient.
However the moment I clicked on a larger size the price increased so it was not showing the price of clothes as per my size but the lowest price across age ranges which sort of frustrated me as I would like to have a quicker shopping experience.

What did I buy

I selected two shirts for the boys from gini&jony
The shirts were Rs 899 each but discounted to Rs 539 so I paid a few Rs extra including a small amount for tax. The order process was smooth and quick and I got a quick confirmation on my purchase.
 
The package 
I got an immediate confirmation and the package arrived today taking 48 hours to reach me which is quite good in terms of speed because in the days of instant gratification one wants to have what one purchased immediately.

See below the goodies. 



The shirts are pure cotton and good however I expected slightly better quality and smoothness of fabric considering it is a reputed brand and the original price is as high as an adult shirt. 

The acid test would be a few machine washes and I will update the post as soon as it passes those test stages. 


Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Armed against odour

The go natural obsession now includes the following


-neem leaves in cupboards to ward against insects

- a pot of baking soda to remove bad odours especially near the dustbin

- cute baby socks filled with charcoal to remove moisture especially to prevent mould on my leather bags and damp smell in the cupboards especially where bed linen are stored.

Useful for bathroom cabinets too.

- used coffee grounds on bottles to deodorise and spread good aroma

- I am also adding coffee grounds to my compost pile

- plan to fill coffee grounds in a stocking and use as car air freshener. Perhaps add a few vanilla drops.

Wednesday, July 08, 2015

Catch the Match





Cricket match? On a working day?
No problem.
It is not like the eighties that one needs to be at home to catch the match. I remember people being glued on to the transistors even in those days so that they could follow a live update on the match. Today, we have moved further.

One could still skip work and watch the match in the privacy of the home. But the busy individuals do not like to skip work yet have the best of both worlds. So better still watch it at work. Cricket is a grand unifying force. Cross functional teams get together and get glued on to the TV to watch the match and match the others in the cheering or booing. And those who do not sit with the rest, watch it on their computers! Technology I tell ya.

Cricket Match during that birthday party?
Ah well, no problem. Just screen the match on one side of the party hall. Your party will be a bigger success.
And while you are at it, make it a cricket themed party so that the kids spend a fair amount of time playing and watching. Leaves you to watch the match in peace. But then, no cricket matches are watched in peace. Are they?

Cricket Match during classes?
It is a no brainer. We do not go to school that day. And even if we do go, we keep asking the teachers for the score who in turn are glued to their phones to see the scores.

Cricket Match on the day of your travel?
If cancellation of travel is not possible then you sit near the TV sets on the airport and of course surf at every possible occassion. Or may be, just take the train, You do not need to switch off your devices there.

Cricket Match is in itself a celebration.
It brings people together and creates a bonding across cross sections of people. World cup especially prompts people to get together and watch. We once set up a screen in our building and wore India tee shirts to watch the match.

 
But sometoimes when you are travelling and you need a fast connection to watch the match, you may get stuck with dodgy internet connections.

Make use of this dedicated space for cricket fans as below. This space is a browser which has faster speed so that one does not face the problem of buffering as most browsers and would enable you to follow the match in real time. A true boon to souls who are forced to miss the match due to unavoidable reasons.

Have a go at the browser. See the benefits below.
 
 


Details on UC Cricket.

UC Browser provide the best cricket service in India including Live Scores & Latest News.

Want to check the score? No need to google anymore! Download the UC cricket immediately.


How to find cricket?

Open UC Browser - HomeScreen - Find "UC Cricket" with blue icon


Features:

- Live Scores with auto update

- Fixture & Result

- Latest News

- Videos

Check out http://www.ucweb.com/ for more
 

Crash Diet Woes

For years I have substituted honey for sugar in my smoothie/ juice/ lassi/ coffee recipes.
Honey Diet would be a good term for the same because I reduce or remove white sugar from my diet altogether and it also gives me a nice, rich, honey taste which I love.

Do not get me wrong. I do not believe in dieting. Only in making lifestyle changes.

Honey instead of sugar was one such lifestyle change which allowed me to have my favourite drink without compromising on taste but making it lower in calories.

Most people today try to crash diet which means they follow fad diets or eat unbalanced meals or just do not eat at all thereby calling on the body to store more fat.

Instead of 3 large meals, one should take 6 small meals to help the body handle smaller amounts of food .

The body should get a  good mix of carbs, protein, vitamins, fibre. Rather than doing the fad diets which focus on just one group of nutrition one must go for a balanced meal plan which gives all the nutrients to the body.

Some diets believe in fasting and therefore doing a detox of the body. Which means the body goes into starvation mode and begins storing fat as energy. One tends to then over eat the following day and lose out all the benefits of the fasting in any case.
Weigh yourself two days after a day of fast and you will sense the shock.

For example, I use the following

On rising- lassi/ coffee with honey or buttermilk. sometimes when time is a crunch - it is simple honey lemon and warm water. Honey is believed to cut cholesterol.

Breakfast- cornflakes/ oats/ upma/ dosa without oil/ idly
Midmorning- tender coconut/ fruit/ vegetable juice, a boiled egg
Lunch- 1-2 glasses of cold water, Cup of salad, 2 roti, vegetables, daal, buttermilk. The water, buttermilk and salad will help you control the food quantity to near ideal
Afternoon- fruits
Evening- fruit
Dinner- before 7.00- 7.30 pm- soup, salad, wheat bread- 2-3 slices/ roti & salad/ veggies/ oats

Ensure you take 12-15 glasses of water. Can also include the tender coconut, juice in the tally.


Fruits, salads, oats give fibre.

Tetrapack juices are not always good- remember the sugar added so focus on getting drinks made at home and remember use honey not sugar.

Everything counts- yes that small piece of chocolate too.

Attain your target and then allow yourself one treat day in the week- not before that.

More importantly, honey is a good tool for beauty and has good skin benefits too. It makes for a great face pack meaning you can have it and eat it too!
 

Check out http://www.daburhoney.com/  for more understanding on honey and its benefits. The site also has calorie calculators and meal planners which will help one in a healthy diet plan.

 

Tuesday, July 07, 2015

My Children My Buddies

Splash.

Two pairs of little feet jumped together in the water accumulated after the rains.

Up they went and down they came with a

Splash.

Creating a crystalline crown of water droplets around their feet, totally unmindful of the rain that showered on their dark heads.

Unmindful of the fact that their pristine white shirts were getting dotted with big blotches of rain drops and would soon soak them and their skins.

Surely earning them an earful each from their mom.

Well, they were safe. They were being photographed by their Dad who was making a portfolio of a rainy day.

He clicked a picture of a leaf with shining pearls of water droplets.

And another one of three pomegranate seeds casually placed on the metallic water splashed boot of a car.

And one more of a wet frangipani blossom.

What he needed was a natural photograph with children in their element.

He needed something more evocative.

The twins would make a pretty picture with their naughty faces lit up with laughter.

The twins would truly give a different perspective to the rain series of photos.

A pair of legs and a crown of an enormous water splash.

A pair of delighted, ecstatic faces turned upwards to receive the shower of rain.

A pair of naughty boys running in the rain, creating a riot of water splashes as they chased each other.

A true kushi ke pal capturing the moments of togetherness between the father and the children, benefiting boith because the father gets to shoot that perfect photograph and the kids get to pose and understand how each pose affects the shot. Evident from the fact that after every single photograph, the kids ask to look at the result and then pose differently to help the dad capture the perfect photograph.

Buddy parenting in the true sense is interactive rather than instructive parenting. A learning experience that perhaps end up benefitting both the children and the parents.

It is an emotional experience because it involves all the facilities of senses including the heart and the head.


zooooom

The remote controlled helicopter shot out into the sky.

To the chorus of excited whoops and shouts

They ran
They hopped and skipped
Following the craft

The Dads loved it
Boys and their toys

Thump
Fell the craft after a brave round of flight.

Many pairs of eyes followed the flight path.
Or rather the landing path

A part went missing

But thankfully was retrieved

The Dads tried hard to repair
The child was brighter

He pulled out the manual
And identified the way it should go

And Zooom
The craft flew again

Truly, it is important to sometimes take a step back and look at the scenario dispassionately because sometimes we do not have all answers. The child found the answer even as the adults could not because logic operates in many ways than one.


Oh c'mon
Where is the eject button
in this new car stereo
Said Mamma exasperately

The child pointed out to the right button
Oh, he would alsways press the right buttons

Mamma, look at the symbol

Oh yes said Mamma
Time I used other facilities
apart from the obvious

Symbols and not Words
That is how the kids communicate

And truly we grow older and miss out the obvious learning steps. Time to reflect upon the basics and see how that can be applied in our day to day life.

Truly said, children perhaps have more common sense than us.

And therefore a buddy style of parenting focusing on learning together rather than teacher and taught is richer and more effective than the traditional style


What is your Kushi ke pal aka Kellog's pal? What is your own learning moments?
Check out the page below and share your thoughts.

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