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The Baby Brain Tea ‘n’ Talk Event 2022 | Gallery

What. A. Day!

I’m so excited to share images from what was an epic third event! A big thank you to Sonal Patel Photography for capturing the day so beautifully!

It was a wholesome day filled with laughter, eye opening moments and tranquillity as well as soulful connection – what we all crave right?!

Bringing women together is what fuels my soul 🔥 and I can’t wait to do it all over again next year! Baby Brain Tea n Talk 2023 … See you there! 😉

A big thank you to my event planner, Koko Events and the ladies that make each year possible – Harv, Bhav, Chonnie and Jeeti!

We started the day with a guided meditation to bring everyone in to the present moment – I think the images capture so beautifully just how peaceful and zen it was! Thank you to Chintal Kakaya for leading us. Chintal is a Holistic & Intuitive Healer, coach and therapist who helps busy professional women who are stressed, anxious and overwhelmed to reclaim their inner calm, reconnect with their power and recognise their true worth so they can HEAL at a spiritual, emotional and energetic level and create a happy, healthy and purpose aligned life.

I then shared more about my journey over the last two years, some of my learnings and what I hope to take forward.

We then stopped for a spot of lunch and shopping with our wonderful exhibitors!

Our wonderful exhibitors included:

Velvet Rani Couture design bespoke made to measure & ready to wear south Asian clothing.

Visions2uplift provides personalised motivational and positive products that are designed to help and inspire you

Osterley Skin Care offers an easy, feasible and safe alternative to surgery through their range of aesthetic treatments including Dibi Skin Diagnostics and products, microdermabrasion, hydrafacials and laser hair removal. They provide anti ageing and skin care solutions to women and men, encouraging everybody to enhance their natural beauty and stay true to themselves.

Jewels By Karishma luxury affordable Evil Eye and Hamsa inspired jewellery and home decor to deflect negative energy and evil thoughts. 

Jewels by Kaurs are the house of bespoke bridal and semi bridal jewellery for all occasions.

With a passion for Indian style and culture, explore this handpicked collection of limited edition, timeless pieces with Laal London.

Just For You – Personalised by Mrs P provide a bespoke personalised gifting service whether it be for everyday items or for a special occasion.

Made by Mandeep creates products that are designed to spread joy and inspiration in your homes and lives!

After filling our bellies, it was time for something a little high energy! Each year, I have a signature team building balloon exercise for a bit of fun!

As always, we had some fabulous prizes donated by small businesses including:

A 60 minute relationship coaching session with Relationship Coach, Shelsy Ferreira.

A 30 minute reiki session with Hummingbird Healing.

Confidence cards and an outfit organiser by stylist and fashion queen, Sabrina Cheema.

Desk journal by Self Worth & Empowerment Coach, Aman Sunner.

Gorgeous handmade crystal bracelets by Something Flora.

Gratitude jar by Visions2Uplift

Geometrical tealight set by Lu & Li Crafts.

Hand decorated candle set by Isha Henna.

A £20 voucher at my favourite brunch spot – Nashtaa.

A gorgeous kundan set by Sahib Jewels.

Edible art! A cake bouquet by Blushbouqcakes.

Next we were joined by Gurpreet Kaur aka Intuitive Knowledge. I spoke about how much closer I feel to myself – to my intuition. Gurpreet Kaur is an example of someone who has mastered that. When I decided to host this event, I sat and sunk in to my womb area and asked for God to let me feel who I should have here. Who would serve you guys best and right away Gurpreet Kaur came to me.

I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to Gurpreet for hours on several occasions – a quick catch up always turns in to a long lengthy soulful chat and I love it. I walk away feeling lighter, inspired and in touch with my higher consciousness – she is truly magical.

We have been conditioned by the world to constantly be chasing something to make us happy, yet when we achieve the “thing” we’re looking for, the feeling of happiness doesn’t seem to last … This is because happiness and the experiences we have in life begin within us, not outside of us.

Gurpreet provided a deeper understanding of the connection between Mind, Body, Soul and our circumstances and also how to tap in to your own Intuitive Knowledge.

Next up we had a mindfulness activity – painting bespoke designed affirmation cloud baubles by Lu & Li Crafts whilst discussing ways in which those affirmations apply to us.

Our final Guest was someone that I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing reiki and soul healing with and wow It’s like nothing I’ve experienced before. I wanted us to close the day with the highest energy and we did just that! The lovely Pardeep Kaur of Hummingbird Healing is a Reiki Master with over 10yrs experience and recently qualified as a closing the bones practitioner.  Working in drug development, Pardeep believes in a holistic approach when treating any sort of ailment from physical to mental. Her sound bowl healing practice is absolutely electric!

Throughout the day, we had the lovely Renae of The Little Calm Company join us to offer every woman a complimentary shoulder massage – my way of saying thank you to all the attendees for taking time out of their busy schedules to be there!

A huge thank you to the wonderful Sabrina of Party Giant who blew me away with the backdrop – I requested something light and airy and she delivered JUST that!

A huge thank you to Visionary Filming for capturing the essence of the day so well!

We also had The Sabrina Show join us to interview a few of the attendees, here’s what they had to say about the event:

A big thank you to Suky MUA for getting me ready!

Our attendees also got to take home a goodie bag full of treats donated by small businesses! A big thank you to the following businesses:

Sunny’s Cake Co for the personalised “empowered women empower women” eggless cookies

Delicious duffins by Tanys Bakes

Affirmation cards by Made by Mandeep

Handmade felt keyrings and baubles by Felttastic Felt

Samples of personalised cards and invitations by Jas Creative Design

A gift voucher for Pretty Perfect beauty clinic

A gift voucher by Aman Sunner mentoring

The most beautiful handmade dainty floral lapel ins by Delilah’s Dressing Room – specialising in custom accessory needs.

Affirmation postcards by Shop Jiva – specialising in breastfeeding friendly Indian wear

A beautiful reiki infused crystal by Chintal Kakaya

I can’t wait to see you guys there next year! x

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Saajan’s 5th Birthday Superhero Themed Party by Party Giant

What a fun filled day celebrating our little Hulk’s birthday with his class!

You guys know how much I love a theme and Sabrina and the Party Giant team did not fail to wow me yet again! I have a great appreciation for the finer details and Sabrina really went the extra mile – from the personalised placemats to the dress-up area she created, it was such a fun and immersive superhero paradise for Saajan and his friends ❤️

The cake was made by Slice of Sengupta and it was absolutely delicious … and eggless!

We had Mr Marvel providing the entertainment – without a doubt, the best children’s entertainer we’ve seen! Mr Marvel was recommended to us by friends and he definitely did not disappoint! ❤️

A big thank you to Excelsior Marquees for supplying the grown-up guilt chairs – fast, professional, and friendly service!

We had a fresh crepe stand for the kids and adults provided by our favourite suppliers, Kelly’s Occasions. No prizes for guessing my topping!

A huge thank you to Sach Devgon photography for the beautiful images!

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Our UK Staycation at The Glorious Playground – The Gleneagles Hotel | Review

We are back after a beautiful break away in Scotland!

Though Gleneagles is most famously known for its championship golf courses and two Michelin-starred restaurants as well as being a Scottish landmark, it is also a huge picturesque playground for kids as well as adults!

It is by far one of the most luxurious hotels we have stayed at from the elegant and detailed decor to the incredible service we received throughout our stay. Nothing was ever too much!

Let’s start with prior to reaching the hotel. We had booked the Bahamas and Gleneagles for the same dates to ensure we managed a get away without covid holding us back any longer! We ended up cancelling the Bahamas as we didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of a long haul flight just yet. To be honest, whilst at Gleneagles we didn’t once think about where “we were meant to be” because it was that magnificent!

Gleneagles is nestled in Auchterarder not too far from Glasgow. It’s about 45 minutes away from the picturesque Loch Lomond.

On our arrival, we were greeted by the friendliest doormen and our breath was instantly taken away by the beautiful building and its surroundings.

We were sent a text message from the hotel team on arrival and I pretty much used that as a means to communicate everything and anything with the hotel from changing Playground activity times to dining reservations to finding a local GP (I forgot my medication at home and they were so helpful in getting it arranged for me in a Scotland!). I really loved the text service as it was simple and quick.

There are so many “favourite things” I had at Gleneagles but my most favourite was the decor. From the high ceilings to the wall cladding, from the picture railings to the beautiful array of textures used to dress every nook and cranny of this impressive country building, it was absolutely stunning. It reminded me of a palace. The finer details didn’t go unnoticed – even the fluffy slippers and velvet headboard oozed luxury! Every space within the hotel has a unique style and decor but the same homely and grand palace feel. Both Preetam and I couldn’t get enough of the intricate details in the decor.

We stayed in a family deluxe room which came with a spacious master bedroom with lounge area, a bathroom and a separate room with a bunk bed and lounge area for the kids. There is even a dog bed and dog bowls for those wanting to bring their fur babies. There was ample storage (3 wardrobes!) for all four of us. Again, the room was incredibly cosy with a very royal and luxurious feel. The bathroom comes with two sinks, a bath and a shower. The boys absolutely loved their bedroom and loved the novelty of having their own television. In the evenings Preetam and I also got to enjoy our own choice of TV – the in room entertainment is brilliant. We managed to watch at least 7 films during our 5 night stay from the comfort of our super comfortable bed!

There are no words for how stunning the grounds are. From the beautiful Kitchen Garden (which I basically would love my garden to look like 😂) to the well kept landscaped open space – it was Saajan’s first time in such a huge open space since learning to walk and he LOVED it! The PGA golf course is stunning and even if you aren’t there for golf, it’s a beautiful walk with gorgeous views.

Arj, who is usually reluctant to walk, loved the grounds and would request the usual route of seeing the birds of prey and the resident gundogs before walking past the lake and fountain.

We managed to do up to 20,000 steps some days without even trying! The grounds are so grand that you end up exercising without realising. A great way to burn off the delicious food! 😉

The food at the property was of a great standard. We had breakfast daily at The Strathearn or The Glendevon. All meals are ordered a la carte and the presentation and taste were spot on. I loved the poached eggs on avocado topped sourdough and the orange juice was delicious! Our favourite spot to sit was the orangery in The Strathearn- the stunning hand painted walls, huge windows and high ceilings are breathtaking. The Glendevon was equally as beautiful. Both spaces boast a view of the beautiful grounds.

As we were with the children, we wanted to book easy and accessible restaurants. Nothing too fancy! We had dinner at The Dormy Clubhouse three times and the Birnham Brasserie once.

The Dormy Clubhouse caters pretty well to vegetarians from fresh stone baked pizzas to an Indian menu to vegetarian haggis! We were able to visit on several occasions without repeating our food though Preetam did have vegetarian haggis more than once as he loved it so much! We thoroughly enjoyed the food at this restaurant and the service was also great.

The Birnham Brasserie is right up my street decor wise. With beautiful greenery, tiled floors and a conservatory style setting. Preetam and the boys loved the pasta here but for me, I’d have welcomed a little more flavour!

Both restaurants offer a kids menu with a great selection of choices.

We also went for the Peter Rabbit themed afternoon tea at The Strathern. The vegetarian choices were the best we’ve had at an afternoon tea and my personal favourite were the vegetarian sausage rolls!

We often enjoyed a mid afternoon sweet treat with a cuppa at The Garden Cafe – a relaxed and casual lunch and tea time spot. I’d recommend the scones and the triple chocolate cookie!

As mentioned, Gleneagles prides itself as being a Glorious Playground with so many activities available at their stunning grounds for kids and adults alike. We decided to partake in a few activities on offer and when we weren’t doing an activity, you could find us playing the garden games on the lawn – such a fun (and it’s free!) way to play as a family.

Prior to us arriving, we liaised with the Playground planners who were more than happy to help us plan our stay. They were efficient and really helpful. We had to book our swimming slots prior to our arrival due to covid. Again, this was easily done via an email. You can book your swim slots up to one month in advance of your stay.

There are several activities on offer for a fee including tree climbing, zip lining, off reading (for kids and adults), tennis, golf lessons, fishing and falconry lessons. You are also able to hire bikes for the family free of charge.

The boys had three horse riding lessons while we resided at the hotel. It was both of their first time on a horse and the staff were amazing. Olivia led Arjun on all three sessions and he is now able to utilise basic commands such as go, stop, left, right and trot. The horse riding school is RDA registered and Jane, the expert, in particular was amazing with Saajan. Amy and Jane led Saajan on each session and from his first session where he was nervous to even stroke Super Sue to his third session where he confidentially held the reigns and his posture beautifully, we were all so proud – staff included! They were incredibly patient and gentle with Saajan ensuring they gently eased him in to feeling comfortable with his pony. Both the boys grew quite an attachment to their ponies – Paddy and Sue and I’m sure we’ll be back to see them again!

We also had a family gundog training session. We had a great time but felt it was overpriced for what it was. The boys walked their dogs – Raven and Jess and then we were shown how they retrieve items finally followed by an obstacle course. Shannon our instructor was really lovely and again so patient.

As mentioned, the hotel is most famously known for its golf course. Though we didn’t play golf on the PGA course (we did long walks through it though!), we did play Pitch and Putt on the smaller golf course. It’s complimentary and on the hotel grounds. The boys also enjoyed playing. I am definitely in need of practice! Haha!

When residing at Gleneagles, you are offered a complimentary one hour session per child in Little Glen (age 2-8 years), the kids club, daily. On previous holidays, Arjun has always been hesitant to go to kids club but here he asked to go daily. They loved being there! There is also Little Den which is for older children. Saajan asked to go to kids club every day too. The staff are so kind and welcoming.

The heated swimming pool is a great size and currently they allow a maximum of 46 people in at any time. Our first trip was great as the pool wasn’t too busy but the subsequent trips were a little busy. Nevertheless the kids had a great time. It is also wheelchair friendly. They have done extremely well to manage the current covid situation. You are asked to come in your swimwear with your hotel gown and slippers on for your allocated slot. You are given a basket to remove your items by the pool and once done, you pop your robe and slippers back on and return back to your rooms. It worked really well and reduced the traffic.

There is also an arcade and small shopping area within the hotel offering clothing and other items. There is a “corner shop” which includes items such as basic toiletries and sweeties. On the lawn, there is also a tuck shop offering ice cream sundaes and iced drinks – a nice touch located right by the lawn garden games.

All in all, we had an absolutely fantastic stay at The Gleneagles and are already planning our next trip! As well as the stunning grounds, impressive architecture and decor, the staff are truly what make this a magical stay. They were all incredibly friendly, warm and welcoming and always offering to help!

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My Sister’s Surprise 30th Birthday! | Review

You guys know how fussy I am where it comes to decor! I’ve always loved decorating and throwing a good party and while Arjun was younger, I enjoyed doing this myself … from his first jungle themed party, to his construction themed party but as the boys have gotten older and time has become even tighter as life has gotten busier, I simply don’t have the time anymore. That’s where Party Giant come in! Sabrina has exactly the same eye for detail as me and because of this I trust her wholeheartedly.

When we decided to work together on throwing an intimate surprise birthday get together for my sister Harv’s 30th, I knew Sabrina would work her magic and it would be breath-taking.

Sabrina works very closely with her clients and really gets to know them – her friendly and personable demeanour makes it an absolute pleasure to work with her. When we spoke, I told Sabrina that I trusted her to create a vision and to execute that – for those of you that know me, you’ll know what a HUGE deal this is. But it demonstrates just how much faith I have in her.

We decided to go for a boho theme low picnic seating option for an afternoon tea followed by a cinema igloo experience provided by their sister company, London Igloos.

Sabrina and her team are very professional, efficient and the care and love they put in to the set up is Crystal clear. They go that extra mile to really personalise your experience so no two set ups are the same.

I knew Sabrina was talented, I knew she dreamt BIG but my goodness, it was the most spectacularly gorgeous set up I’ve seen! The pastel coloured balloons were adorned with gorgeous dried boho bouquets. The wooden picnic table dressed with straw mats, rustic wooden disks and stunning golden cutlery housed beautiful mini cork bottles filled with chocolate buttons and a personalised message. My personal favourite were the hanging rope swings – I loved them!

Harv was absolutely blown away as were her friends! The set up was so dreamy and it was such a special treat for everyone there.

I sourced the afternoon tea from the lovely Miss JCP Tea’s who provides afternoon tea crockery hire as well as food. Jas created a beautiful set up to display the food making it almost too good to eat! The food was divine! Jas makes the food herself – the Oreo cheesecake and scones were a huge hit with the ladies! I’d highly recommend Miss JCP Tea for a one stop shop for your afternoon tea needs. It took the stress out of the event and meant I could also really enjoy myself.

The birthday cake was by Delicacies by M. It was delicious in taste and looked beautiful too. Manpreet ensured the dried florals on top matched the theme perfectly.

After our delicious afternoon tea and a bit of a boogie, we headed out to the igloo provied by Party Giant’s sister company, London Igloos.

The igloo experience was brilliant! The personalisation and attention to detail to ensure the boho theme continued was second to none! Sabrina also checked what Harv’s favourite snacks were prior to the event and the snack trolley included inside was full of her favourites which everyone enjoyed feasting on during the movie. The igloo itself comes with cute decor to enhance the experience as well as a cosy futon filled with beautiful cushions, blankets and a heater to ensure you’re kept toasty!

The team took us through the projector set up beforehand and it was really simple to use.

We enjoyed being cosy, snacking and having a right ol’ giggle!

Party Giant and London Igloos provide a beautiful immersive experience for those milestone celebrations. It was definitely one we’ll all remember!

The next day, we headed to the igloo with some of the boys’ toys, snacks and a drink and we enjoyed a family day in there! I even managed to get a two-hour nap!

It was such a special weekend. Thank you Sabrina and the team!

I’ll leave the beautiful pictures below for you to admire!! Pictures by Sach Devgon Photography.

Disclosure: for transparency, we were gifted the decor and igloo experience however all opinions expressed are my own.

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Potty Training Our Son … Who Happens to Have Additional Needs (Down’s Syndrome)

Potty training is something that’s been a big mental hurdle for me to cross with Saajan. Where with Arjun it was pretty straight forward (admittedly it’s when I was pregnant with Saajan and temporarily living with my parents while we had building work done which meant I had an extra 4 pair of hands!), I had assumed that it would be a lot more challenging with Saajan. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a doddle, but I did overcomplicate it massively! Sometimes the fear and anxiety of something is far greater than the reality. We have mastered day time toilet training and next need to tackle the nights – he’s had a few dry nights but I want to wait a little while before tackling nights.

I’m just putting it out there incase the potty training police come for me – I am by no means a professional potty trainer nor am I am expert in kids with Down’s syndrome/additional needs. I’m merely sharing our journey and what worked for us.

How did I know Saajan was “ready”? To be honest, I didn’t. He would sometimes randomly say “poo poo” if he felt a sensation in his nappy. That was my only real cue.  

Before you begin

1. Where’s your head at?

Whether you have a typically developing chid or not, a lot of the success around potty training (I believe) comes from “where your head is at”. I’ll explain why … during the first lockdown, Saajan learnt to walk at 3 years and 4 months. At around 3 years and 6 months, I decided it was time to tackle potty training. It happened to coincide with mounting stress and mental health challenges I was facing at the time – i.e. my head and heart were not there. I remember removing his nappy and placing him in pants while ensuring I had ample of nappies around “just in case” (the fact that I was “just in case’ing” meant that I wasn’t whole heartedly in). The first day was a disaster – 18 wet pairs of pants and a poo explosion wasn’t my idea of fun. I quit. I gave up because I thought “he didn’t get it” – I had no patience.

Back went the nappy and we cracked on with life. To be honest, I just couldn’t be bothered at that time as much as I would have loved for it to have happened – my desire wasn’t greater than the effort/patience that I was prepared to put in.

A week before schools were due to close for the Christmas break, Saajan’s nursery had a coronavirus case and he was asked to self-isolate. With having a week off where I could focus solely on Saajan, I decided to go for it. This time, there were no extra pull ups added to my shopping basket and my mindset was “I’m removing the pull ups and there is no going back, whether it takes me a month or a year!”. And that was that. And here we are a month later, potty trained! Where your head is at makes all the difference to a) your patience b) your perseverance c) your desire.

So, the first thing, ensure you are absolutely wholeheartedly in the right headspace.

If you’re not, the likelihood is that you’ll end up like me in lockdown one! It’s absolutely ok to not be in the right headspace right now – there is SO much going on and remind yourself that your child will be potty trained one day! Go easy on yourself. It isn’t a race 😊

2. Be realistic

There will be some really really good days and there’ll be some not so good days. It’s rare to whip your child’s nappy off and for them to automatically know what to do. It takes time, patience and perseverance.

What works for you may not work for me and vice versa. That’s why number 1 is really important.

3. Don’t overcomplicate it … break it down

I mean mentally don’t over complicate it. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Break it down and keep it simple. For us, we had several hurdles to cross before actually getting to the peeing on a potty stage which I’ve outlined later on in this post.

4. Don’t go overkill, be sensible

Back to lockdown one, I had tried putting Saajan on the toilet every 30 minutes. Of course, he wasn’t able to make an association as we were putting him on too often. Do you pee every 30 minutes?! Putting him on the toilet every 30 minutes was also really stressful for me. I found myself getting agitated and as a result giving up pretty quick.

When we re-started in December, I started with hourly. He doesn’t have a clear pee/poo pattern. Once he started sitting himself on the toilet, I changed it to every 2 hours and 15 minutes after meal times. 5 weeks later, we no longer need to remind him.

5. No excuses

Ok I’m perhaps braving it by putting this one up here because we are in lockdown at the moment and let’s face it, with a national lockdown right now, there aren’t many places to go! Have no excuses for putting a pull up on once you switch to pants whilst training. When we have been for a car drive (for a cheeky McDs or ice cream as our lockdown treat), I refuse to put Saajan in a pull up even then. Once I had decided that we were going to do this, we were going to do it. I place a toilet training mat at the bottom of his car seat and we crack on. What’s the worst that’ll happen? He’ll wet himself (not going to lie, I do feel slightly nervous when he hasn’t already had a no2!)? It really isn’t the end of the world! In my experience, by switching between pull ups and pants when they’re potty training leads to confusion.

6. YOU know your child best

Despite the various theories you’ll find about potty training, don’t be fooled in to believing “one size fits all” – this is true of even potty training a child with additional needs. YOU know your child best, follow your gut, follow your instinct and TRUST it.

Right, now that we’ve covered the mindset and mental bits, let me share the practical things we did:

  • Ditch the pull ups:  As mentioned above, the sole purpose of the pull up for us was for Saajan to learn to pull his pants up and down. Once he could do this and we were ready to go for it, we ditched the pull ups during the day entirely. I also ditched his bottoms and ensured the heating was on nice and warm. This just saved on extra washing (nd frustration!).
  • Potty: we were given a Heathfield chair by occupational therapy which is like a baby commode. He was given this to ensure his feet are planted on the ground when sitting to help with his posture. We placed this in our lounge so Saajan had access to it at all times. Our bathroom downstairs isn’t easily accessible for him and because he is still a little unsteady on his feet, we didn’t want the added worry of him trying to climb up on to a seat. Upstairs we used a toilet trainer seat in the main bathroom and we place him on it each morning when he wakes up. Whilst training, I’d definitely recommend having the main potty accessible so the child is able to sit on it when they feel to – even if it’s just for the sake of sitting!
  • Caddy: keep a caddy with all the essentials right by your potty/toilet training area. Mine includes plenty of pants, a spare pair of bottoms, socks, wipes, antibac wipes, toilet paper and anti bac spray. Have everything close by and accessible – it reduces the stress!
  • Keep a grid type diary: it’s easy to get fixated on the accidents, focus on the wins! I drew a simple table in a notepad (as shown below) and would complete it daily. Some days where I felt like I was changing pants multiple times a day, the diary gave me a good visual of all the successes we had! Maintain perspective. Don’t let one bad day mean you write the entire thing off (this goes back to the mindset point!). Each time he had a successful trip to the toilet, I would shade the third column in – having a visual really helped and encouraged me to carry on.
  • Reward jar/chart: though pricey compared to the standard reward charts you can get, we went for a wooden poo and potty jar which was recommended by a friend. It was such a brilliant investment as having a clear visual really helped Saajan. He was always excited to place a poo or wee shaped emoji in the jar when he had a successful trip. This jar also helped him with the words “wee wee” (he already knew “poo poo”).
  • A treat: Use an iPad/a phone whatever the heck you need to distract them!
  • Siblings:  Get them involved! There were times where Saajan was more willing to listen to Arjun than us where it came to sitting on the potty. Arjun was very much a part of our potty training journey with Saajan – both in helping and encouraging him but also by celebrating his brother.
  • Role play: There were times where Saajan quite frankly couldn’t be bothered to sit on the potty. What really helped here was the use of role play – we’d get his Peppa Pig figurine or a teddy he liked to play with and ask if they’d like to go to the toilet. He’d get distracted by the toys and taking them and would always sit on the toilet after “taking them” (the antibac wipes come in handy here too!).
  • Alexa: ok, I laughed when lots of you suggested this but my goodness was it a huge help. It helped with point 4 above. I set routines to remind Saajan to go to the toilet every hour – some people may choose to play a song but we chose the option of Alexa saying “Saajan it’s time to go to the toilet now. Good boy”. It meant that I was able to remove one of the stresses from my own head and leave it to Alexa. We use our Alexa for many things but I’ll forever be grateful to her for walking this journey with me!
  • Celebrate:  I mean really celebrate. For Saajan, we’d ask Alexa to play Baby Shark and we’d dance with him. He absolutely loved it.
  • Reward: Saajan loves yoghurt pouches so we stocked up on those and any time he’d ask for one, he was reminded to sit on the toilet. Throughout our potty training stages, he was rewarded with a pouch for whatever we were focusing on at that moment. E.g. when we were getting him used to sitting on his potty, if he sat, he got the reward.

So, here is our timeline for how things went down for us (remember every parent and child is different):

  1. [4 weeks] Learn to independently pull his pants up and down. Due to Saajan’s lower muscle tone, he wasn’t able to pull his bottoms off for a while. From October – mid December Saajan was in pull ups at nursery to practice pulling his pants up and down. That was the sole focus for that duration. The purpose of the pull ups was not for him to learn to use the toilet, it was solely for him to learn how to pull up and down.
  2. [2-3 consistent days] Learn to sit on the potty/toilet for a few moments and learn to flush and wash hands after. Mid December when we decided to whole heartedly go for it, we removed Saajan’s pull up all together and replaced with pants and for the first few days, we simply got Saajan used to sitting on the Heathfield chair. He had been sporadically sat on the Heathfield sometimes but it wasn’t consistent.
  3. [3 weeks] Learn to relieve on the potty: Saajan began getting used to associating Alexa’s reminder to sitting on the toilet. He’d excitedly rush over and sit. The bonus was he’d have his tablet by the toilet to play for a few minutes. When Saajan was distracted, he did his first wee on the toilet a day after removing his pull up. We celebrated so so much and he was ecstatic at our reaction. After this, Saajan began urinating and pooing more frequently but it wasn’t without accidents! When we initially started, Saajan wasn’t overly bothered about being in wet pants – that worried me as I couldn’t help but panic about whether he’d “ever get it”. We had our first accident-free day about 8/9 days after removing his pull up. It wasn’t linear though, we had some days where he’d have several accidents and the odd day where he’d have none. As time went on, and the repetition of what we were doing set in, he became more familiar with the cues from his own body and responding to them. It really helped that the Heathfield chair was accessible. When he was having the odd accident, he’d quickly take himself to his potty, remove his own pants and try and swap them with a new pair before we saw LOL.
  4. [2 days] Returning to nursery: we decided to send Saajan back to nursery in January as he is unable to access the curriculum from home. I was so nervous about how he’d get on as he was still having the odd accident at home. I packed his nursery bag with EIGHT pairs of spare pants! The first day, he had two accidents. But he was fine once he got back home. The second day he also had a couple of accidents but since then he’s not had a single accident! It’s now been 5 weeks since he returned to nursery. This has really helped cement his learning and potty training journey. I replicated a potty jar for him there for them to also use.

It took us approximately 4 weeks to successfully potty train Saajan and we no longer require Alexa’s reminders as Saajan is now able to identify when he needs to use the toilet himself. I was fully focused on the task and once the penny dropped, he did remarkably. It took lots of patience, perseverance and effort but it’s been so worth it! In the last few weeks, he’s perhaps had 2/3 accidents where he’s been distracted or hasn’t quite made it on time but we’re really really pleased with his progress. Next stop … nights!

I hope you found this helpful! Feel free to share with anyone else that may benefit!

Other resources: A really great Facebook group called DSUK Going Potty!

Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links where I make a teeny tiny commission from any purchases.

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Keeping Holiday Dreams Alive with Desenio | AD

Dressing my home is one of my favourite things to do (almost on par with party planning!). We renovated our home 4 years ago now and I’ve taken my time in getting each area set up exactly how I’d like. Downstairs, for the front section of our open plan living room, we went for beige and brown shades to provide warmth. It features a beautiful natural tree stump coffee table, and various ornaments that remind us of our travels.

While I’ve nailed the front section, for the last few years, I’ve struggled with dressing the big blank white space in the back section of our open plan lounge which houses a cosy seating area and our kitchen.  We’ve gone for shades of greys and creams and the room has a shabby chic feel to it.

Before

For a while, I’ve had my eye on some gorgeous prints from Desenio to place on the wall. As you all know, we absolutely love our holidays and this year we’ve missed travelling so much. I decided to use this beautiful blank space to bring some of our holiday memories alive through Desenio.  It was so important to pick something that bought us joy and happiness through evoking some of our happiest travel memories and to also provide us with hope that someday soon we will be able to travel again. There are thousands of prints to choose from and I shortlisted ours by first selecting my favourites and I then used the gallery wall tool to decide on the ones I loved most together. I absolutely loved this feature – it made it so easy to visualise how the prints would look in our space.

I absolutely LOVE our newly dressed corner. The prints really do bring the space alive. It’s quickly become my favourite space for a bit of relaxation and to run away with my happy thoughts reminiscing about our incredible holidays. I recently read an article about dealing with the current climate and challenging times and one of the suggestions was to give a space in your home a revamp as an act of self love. This has definitely worked for me – it’s given me a refreshed new space which in turn gives me a fresh feeling too! Why not gift yourself the same?

Desenio are offering our lovely followers 25% off on prints using discount code BABYBRAINMEMOIRS. The voucher is valid till midnight on 28th January.*

* Code does not apply on frames nor handpicked/personalised prints.

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Desenio but all views and opinions expressed are my own.

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Guru Nanak Dev Jee, My Nana Jee & Me | Kid’s Book

I’ve mentioned previously in passing that I’ve been working on a kid’s Sikh story book … I’m so excited to share that it’s almost here! 

Introducing, “Guru Nanak Dev Jee, My Nana Jee and Me” … A short book for children to learn about Guru Nanak Dev Jee’s basic teachings.

I wanted to share a little bit more about why I decided to write this book … From a young age, our father has always been such an invaluable source of knowledge for us on Gurbani. He often shares sakhia (stories) with us about the Gurus and their teachings and make them relevant to situations we may be in. His wisdom and love for Sikhi has always shone through for us girls. He will often lovingly share stories with Arjun and this ignited Arjun’s desire to know more.

When I began to search for books about Guru Nanak Dev Jee and their basic and beautiful message, I wasn’t able to find one that shared it in a language that Arjun understood and could relate to. And that is where “Guru Nanak Dev Jee, My Nana Jee and Me” was born.  A simple book sharing the basic principles that our beloved first Guru taught us. Not only was this book to share Guru Jee’s message to children of Arjun’s age but it was also important for us to depict those that are differently abled, like my Saajan. Guru Nanak Dev Jee said we are all the children of God – their message has carried me through some of my darkest times.

We wanted to create something that could pass on Guru Jee’s beautiful message to the younger generation in a simple and relatable way.

This book is a tribute to my dad who has shared countless stories with us and for keeping the flame of Sikhi ignited in his children and grandchildren.

A huge thank you to everyone that has made this possible – especially my dad, Sukhmani Kaur and @mighty_khalsa. And of course, never forgetting Guru Nanak Dev Jee Maharaj 🙏🏾

The book is now available to purchase over at Mighty Khalsa – link included below. A huge Thank you to everyone that has supported and purchased already! x