Thailand Cave Rescue: Why I am following it and what my kids are talking about

For the past couple of weeks now, the one news that I have religiously been following each day is that of the boys stuck deep inside in the caves at Thailand.

I am not alone.

The world is out there, trying to provide all means of help and support to the Thailand government, so that the young boys, and their coach (who is all of 25 himself) can come out of the caves safely and be reunited with their family and loved ones.

What started off as a day of outdoor exploration and a fun birthday celebration of one of the boys along with friend aged between 11 and 16 and their young assistant coach, has turned a nightmare that the world is keenly watching.

There is so much going on there. Rescue teams have been created from different parts of the world, some of the best divers from around the world are already there, experienced and ready to help at each step, while one of the rescuers, a Navy SEAL, lost his life trying to rescue the boys.

Last heard, 4 of the children from the group have been brought out alive and have been sent to hospital for treatment and medical care. Efforts are on to bring out the remaining boys, which will begin soon.

For now, I have made sure both my kids, aged 4 and 10, are aware of what is going on.

Some of the things they discussed among themselves and with me are:

• the importance of not going out without informing parents of the exact location
• the need to learn swimming (my elder one is super comfortable in swimming, while the younger one too has now learnt swimming and can swim on her own, without any need of a float)
• assessing your surroundings and not going in places that you are not comfortable in (this is something the elder one is speaking about, after she saw the footage and how deep inside the boys were) - she means that she would try and avoid going so inside the cave, and would rather stay out and get wet

Of course we are not aware of the exact reasons that prompted the boys to go so deep into the caves, but can just hope they all come out safe.

For now, my kids seem to be keen on staying safe and understanding the risks around them, so I hope things will get better, for those kids, and for the safety of mine too.

- Debolina Raja 

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And like I always believe in and say:
'Heal the world we live in
Save it for our children' - MJ

Happy Parenting!!!!

Debolina Raja

Reading Your Way To Good Nutrition

 Be sure to read the label before you buy the product.

As a family, we became more aware of packaged food labels some years back- it was my husband who drove that consciousness, especially with my daughter, who was then on the heavier side. In order to help her curb her tendency to indulge in what we loosely call “junk food” he trained her to look for the calorie and fat content. Also, being a compulsive reader, he came by articles on the net which made us understand that what you see/what you read is often now what you get! That means, no added sugar is not always as
healthy as it seems- they may have added corn syrup- which is worse! Also, many times, what you don’t see is what you get. For example, in India, it is not mandated that you explicitly mention if an item has transfat unless you want to make a claim. So, if we read a label and find no mention of transfat, it does not mean anything at all.

Cleaning Your Infant's Ear: Diary of A New Mum

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As most doctors will say, it's not advisable to put anything anywhere in your baby - at all! One of your first concerns regarding this may be cleaning your little one's ears.

An infant's ear is one of the most delicate and trickiest parts to try and clean, one that can be quite dangerous if you're not careful.

REMEMBER:  NEVER PUT ANY CLEANING DEVICE INSIDE YOUR BABY'S EAR This

Do You Know How To Read Nutrition Labels?

From my experience, even among the educated, ‘Nutrition Literacy’ is far from where it should be and learning to read nutrition labels can be a good starting point.

Most of us walk into a grocery store and add items to our basket, blissfully unaware of what nutrition it actually delivers. In fact, many of us hardly ever stop to read the label and even if we do get around to looking at it, we may not be sure what the numbers imply.

So here are some pointers which will help you decide if the product falls in the “healthy or not so healthy category” and how often you or your child should consume it.

“No Label Don’t Buy": check for nutrition label on the food pack you buy. Today, all food manufacturers
in the country have to declare the following on a label -