Gearing up for exam time!

With the exam season upon us, cranky kids and late-night revisions are the order of the day. However, the heat definitely doesn’t help, and in between taking care of work, the house and other family members, we know it can take a toll on any parent. Tests and exams are a challenging time, but here are some stress free ways to deal with your child:

Recognise stress
While disciplining your children is important, putting too much pressure is where parents tend to forget to draw the line. If your child is irritable, negative and doesn’t seem to have an appetite anymore, you know it’s time to back off a little bit.
Talking to them and keeping things in perspective, as well as talking to a teacher or tutor can help ease your children and calm their worries.

Eat & sleep well
While a balanced diet is a well-known fact, we suggest avoiding too much of fat, sugar and caffeinated foods and drinks, which lead to hyperactivity and sleepless nights. And when it comes to sleep, we cannot stress the importance enough! An all-nighter is a definite no – no, so make sure your child gets his required eight to 10 hours of rest before going for an exam the next morning.

Take a break
Keeping your kids active helps boost energy levels, relieves stress and clears the mind. Reward their hard work with an extra half hour of playtime with their friends, or even better take them cycling, swimming or running with you.

Keep calm
The most important rule during exam time is to never stress yourself out! Negative vibes, yelling and arguing only leads to distress and pressure. Be flexible with regards to undone household chores and little distractions here and there. Keeping a calm head makes sure you prioritise your kids and your schedules and leads to a hassle-free exam season.

A summery twist to your baby’s wardrobe!

Can you feel it in the air? Summer’s here! Time to pull out the adorable hats and classy little shades, your baby needs to be well protected from all that heat, albeit stylishly!

The new Baby Shop Summer 2013 collection has now hit the stores, with oodles of color and light, breezy fabrics to brighten up your kids’ closet.

Let’s take a look at the latest trends you’d love to dress your baby in…

Soft and buttery colors to calm him down!

Get your baby bundled up in these sunny prints this season. From cool check shirts to adorable baby pink princess dresses and bright collared tees, your little one’s going to shoot right up the style charts.

Jazz up with fashionable florals

A dash of sassy yellow, a hint of bright blue and a splash of glitzy greens, this summer your little infant’s going to stand apart from the rest of the kiddie crowd!

Stripes, whites and everything nice…

… is what adds to the seasonal spice! From denim jackets, chic wavy skirts and graphic tees, your little princes and princesses can show off their style statements with flair.

Standing out while fitting in

At an age where it’s all about the pressure to look cool, don’t forget to add onto your teen’s style quotient with these awesome bermuda shorts and dainty printed dresses.  We guarantee those tantrums will fly right out the window!

Don’t forget to head to your nearest Baby Shop store now to pick up these cool summer outfits!

Tech Boons for Moms!

A mom has to don different avatars in the blink of an eye! From a chef one minute to a  doctor, we’ve thought of a way out by taking the tech route to help you achieve your superwoman self all the time.

It’s the perfect time to tap the power of the app! Browse through these techy assistants that we think will make your life easy.

Total Baby

As the name suggests this is one app that helps you care for your baby in totality! It plays the caring mother-in-law and keeps alerting you of feeding and diaper change times. It also reminds you of vaccinations and visits to the pediatrician. So keep all your worries at bay and let it do the job for you!

RunPee

Here’s a phone app genie to assist you in potty-training your baby! It lets you know your kids bathroom schedules and helps you keep track of your assistance as and when is required. So hurry up and download this app on your phone right this minute.

Ruckus Reader

This app is a must-have for all moms whose kids refuse to sleep without listening to their favourite story. It’s a library of mobile apps that provide you with digital storybooks, video books and other literary activities for kids. With this app you will no longer have to pour through story books or read out to your kids. Get the app, get a story out of it and you’re set without having to turn into a wordsmith every night.

Dinner Spinner

You never know when those small kitchen woes turn into catastrophic problems. This app allows you to look for recipes by ingredients, cuisine type and preparation time. Get it at once and turn all those leftovers into gourmet treats for your kids.

School Prep up Without a Hiccup!

Trrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnngggg……….trriiiiiinnnggg. Back to school marathons are a force to reckon with. So is the race against the clock.

Not to worry. We’re solely to your rescue at a time like this.  Take a look at these ways in which you can prep up your kids for when they go back to school.

The Routine Scene

Straying away from a routine is one of the first things that kids do on a holiday.  Have your kids sleep and wake up at their school times, a few days before they start school.  Make them have their breakfast, lunch and dinner at designated school times.  This ought to save you the ordeal of making the kids eat on time, when their school starts.

Your kids are sure to befriend the ring of the alarm once again and be up with the sun if you follow this advice!

Shopping for Academic Essentials

One must never underestimate the excitement of going back to school with new stuff. Be sure to treat your kids to a back to school shopping spree before they start their classes. This is sure to have them look forward to going back to school and show off their cool stuff to their classmates.

The creation of some personalized school supplies is bound to make them doubly excited at the prospect of showing it off!

Refresher Work

Put the last few days of vacation to some productive use.  Try incorporating a little school work in your child daily activity schedule. This can include a few Mental – Math’s exercises, practicing on cursive writing books or even maintaining a journal of what they’ve done throughout their vacation. Reading a couple of books or the newspaper might also come in handy for when they go back to school.

Prioritization of Socialization

Get the kids to reunite with their friends a few days before school starts. This will not only let them have a good time, but will also remind them of going back to their classes in a few days.  A Back-to-School party with some fruit crushes and barbecue doesn’t seem to be bad idea. Provided you don’t have to do the clean up, thereafter!

So mommies and daddies the countdown has begun. Gear up your studious little ones for getting back to school. The next you know the alarm clock will go into a ringing frenzy sitting right next to you!

 

 

A Mother Like No Other!

God’s presence on earth is a mother

The epitome of love and care

Like none other!

Being up before the sun, being more punctual than a Swiss watch and the one who punctuates every bad day with a smile is what a mother is all about.  It is she who whips up a delectable meal when the hunger pangs threaten to invade our stomachs. A mom is also the fairy god mother who magically picks out items from our cupboard when we think that we have absolutely nothing to wear.

They sure have a way of making us feel happy on the worst of the days. They never cease to treat us like babies despite repeatedly asking us to grow up.

We at Babyshop are staunch advocates of every mother having an intuitive super power to raise her children as praise worthy human beings.  We’d like to pay an ode to motherhood and the entire fraternity of mothers who have nurtured us with all the love and care in their might.

What better day can there be to do so than Mothers Day?

We decided to reward all of the mommies for making us a part of their child’s upbringing and being the best mom to their kids. We asked all the mums associated with BabyShop to send us pictures of treasured moments that they share with their kids. The lovely ladies that call themselves mums diligently sent us those pictures that were featured by us on our cover photos as the winning entries of the day.

Here are the lucky winners:

• Sadia Sheikh
• Neelu Aseeb
• Yvette Sinson
• Sandhya Vora
• Hiba Husni Khraiwesh
• Tonya Bebeshko

We’re also gifting 5 VLCC vouchers to fans located in the UAE:

• Henna Bhojwani
• Nabila Abdulla
• Sadiyah Malik
• Jayashree Padnekar
• Samar Maqsood

A very special thank you to all those who participated in our contest. All of you might not be the winners but each and everyone of you is a supermom in our eyes!

Let Fashion Give them Trendy Springs!

The soft feel of the lush green grass beneath tiny feet, the blooming buds waiting to be felt by chubby hands and the buzzing of the nectar starved bees in the air – it’s Spring time!

It’s the time to take your little ones out to soak some sun, play in the park and drench themselves in the adorable colours of the season. Our Spring 2013 collection is all about light, casual fun and colours bursting with the freshness of spring.

Turn to Colour for your Little Fella!

Soft or bright, your little ones love colours! Ranging right from the jelly reds and blues to the cotton candy pinks; the entire collection is full of the spring like sweetness that your little bundles deserves to be ensconced in.

 Get your Infant Fashionable in an Instant!

The collection for infants is oh so fruitlicious! We took a leaf of inspiration from nature and infused it in the style book for infants. The result is spring green tees, strawberry jumpsuits and peachy shrugs that will make your kids look as sweet as the fruity colours they sport.

Trendy Dazzlers for Toddlers

Let the kids indulge in some fun and frolic! Your girl can go skirting around in rainbow-inspired skirts and leggings while the boys get checked out in their checked shirts and cool and casual bermudas.

Hit it Right with Everything Bright!

For the teens, our collection is as varied and diverse as their own mood swings. From floral jumpsuits and bright colours for girls and sunny side-up inspired looks for the boys; there’s something for every teenage to mix and match and create their own style.

Go ahead and give the green signal to a brand new spring wardrobe so your little trouble-makers can look stylish and adorable even when they’re being naughty!

Matters of the Alma Mater!

Time for kids to go to school

But which one to choose

From the entire academic pool!

Is this exactly the kind of dilemma that you’re facing right now?

Kids grow up too fast. One instant you are changing their diapers and the next you find yourself looking for a school for them. Choosing the right school is not easy. Naturally, you want them to have the best but how do you determine what really is the best?

We’ve put down the little things you need to consider to help you narrow your search for the best school for your kid:

The Exploration Drive

The first step towards choosing a school for your kids begins with the exploration drive of the schools in the vicinity.  Be sure to visit the campus and check out both the kind of academic and extra-curricular facilities that they offer. Browsing through the schools previous academic records and meeting teachers and ex-teachers will also give you a better idea of the school.

The Teacher Feature

Make it a point to book an appointment with your kiddos’ pre-school teacher before you finalize a school for them. Let her give you a wholesome overview of your child’s hobbies, interest and of course their aptitudes. Pour through your child’s old performance reports along with the school brochures so that you’re able to zero down on an apt enough institution for your child.

A Class Apart

It is always important to inquire about the student-teacher ratio in school. It will tell about whether the teachers will be able to pay enough attention to your child’s academic progression and performance. The teacher and student ratio also plays a major role when it comes to your child’s capacity to adapt to a big group as some kids may need the personalized attention of the tutor.

Hear Say

Friends and colleagues, who have already admitted their kids in school, come in really handy at a time like this.  Have them let you in on the information that the school website and the leaflets don’t provide you with. Ask them about the kind of environment that the school provides for a child’s growth, their overall development and nurturing. Pay enough heed to all the information that you receive from them without getting carried.

After all you’re the best judge of what is best for your child. Enroll them in an institution that’s best for them; academically and otherwise.