“ Masi, plzz I don’t want that small black balls in dal “ she sees to it that her innocent face makes me melt on blend on request and demand. Shagun, my niece, who is apple of my eyes studying in senior kindergarten was as usual refusing to eat mustard seeds in dal and had eyed on tempting chocolate cake, which I had bribed for finishing her lunch. She had just arrived after her school and had bumped herself into books; and on asked she answered in tedious tone “lot of studies masi, have to finish na ! Or else my that teacher; pooja miss will shout in the class na “
As I was watching her, doing her chores I felt a sudden pang with sense of luckiness… pang for that sweet little chubby life that was drowned in all those ho-hum books. What a stress this kids carry? I just recollected myself smiled as in my kindergarten days I was not the one of the sufferer for stress but was a carrier of stress. My lovely parents took care of all the tensions. But to be very honest today’s kids goes through a hell of stressful life.
As a parent, especially being a mother it is very difficult to take care but it is very necessary in our day to day lifestyle to have check on the stressful life of our kids. Their stress is wrapped in all different packages and they are easily overlooked. They get stressed from their home life. Parental divorce, family shifting, the loss of their favorite pets, illness, and ill health of their loved ones and so on. This things are easily neglected by us but this small things leave a huge impact on their tender hearts.
Many times the younger one in the family gets affected if the elder one is more perfect which, create a rift between siblings. And vice versa sometimes elder ones are told to maintain calm as younger ones are more notorious. These all things create more tensions within kids. Secondly, we overlook the problems children face by their Peer groups, teasing, and isolation are all carried on a large scale in preschool. Kids eventually fail to handle this pressure and lose their self confidence.
Kids need extra care with extra attention so, it is just not sufficient to guide them and counsel them, it is very necessary to get them a proper diet. We need to keep them away from all the products which are threat to their health. I know it is just one of the toughest jobs to feed kids with all right things, like it is said it is not impossible just need an extra effort.
Here’s how we can make their food more interesting and even they can relish it:
Drinks
Cut on their carbonated drinks, soft drinks and replace it with all natural drinks like fresh fruit juices, buttermilk, garcinia indica better known as kokum sherbet, lime juice are far better to curb down their stress level.
Pasta and rice
Pasta and rice are kid’s favorites. They contain a good amount of carbohydrates which tend to boost the energy level.
Porridge
Add some bright fruits to your kids morning breakfast with porridge. Fruits are very high in fiber and porridge has low glycaemic index so it doesn’t spike in your sugar level and in addition, porridge has high level of protein which sustains their energy level through out the morning.
Nuts
Fill their pockets with unsalted nuts. Almonds are a rich source vitamin B2 and E as well as magnesium and zinc. No doubt, almonds are high in fats but most of them are unsaturated fats. Stress leads to dilapidation of their immune system; munching few raisins can boost their immune system.
Cornflakes
A very ready to eat snack is cornflakes and rice flakes which are nowadays available in lot of yummy flavours like chocolate, fruits, honey. They are fortified with vitamin B and folic acid.
Bananas, Oranges and Blue berries
Banana is excellent source of mineral potassium which, maintains the fluid balance in your body and keeps your blood pressure under control. Oranges are good source of vitamin C which is a great weapon against your illness and low mood. Blueberries are very rich in antioxidants, they offer high fiber and can be blended with strawberries and kiwi.
Milk
As recommended Cow’s milk is high in antioxidants and vitamins B2 and B12, as well as protein and calcium. Have a bowl of cornflakes or cereals with low-fat milk in the morning to start your kid’s day with a stress-fighting breakfast. You can even blend some fruits with the milk to make it more delicious like milkshakes, smoothies and so on.
Chocolate
Chocolate is controversial stress buster. As chocolate contains Theo bromine. Theo bromine stimulates brain so if a person is stressed out it will further stimulate brain and worsen it but if the child is getting depressed and dull out and few amount of good quality dark chocolate can be consumed. Chocolate even contains magnesium which is termed as “Natural tranquilizer “which calms down the agitated moods of kids.
Vegetables
Vegetables are the biggest enemies of kids. None of the kids like to consume vegetables but we need to feed them in their diet so we can mingle up few vegetables like cucumber, carrot, tomato with yoghurt turn out as a great delicacy for kids. Red and yellow vegetables have a good amount of vitamin A and C as well as folic acid, this things can be mixed up with rice and fried for a stuffed rice.
Honey
Substitute sugar for honey in your kid’s diet as honey contains 40% fructose and 50 % glucose. Honey has anti bacterial and anti fungal properties. It is also used as medicinal purpose for diarrhea and dysentery in kids. It also cures cough and colds. Honey also reduces the stress levels as it calms downs high moods of kids.
It feels weird to be tricky with our kids but it is necessary for their well being. We need to make this primary proverb implement in their life “Health is Wealth “
