To begin with purchase a good book with colourful illustrated alphabets. Ensure that the letters are big enough and not very tiny.  Begin by pointing to the alphabet and repeating it again and again. Initially your toddler may not pay attention but with regular repetition you will surely catch his fancy and he would like to try it out himself. Don’t scold him if he points to a wrong alphabet or don’t force him to focus. Rather when he points to a wrong alphabet then gently place his finger on the correct one. Clap and show appreciation when he points to the correct alphabet. This will be very helpful to get him hooked onto doing better.

Use large cutouts of the alphabets and let him play with them. This will help him to identify them even more.

Practicing this activity at regular intervals multiple times in the day will surely give your fruitful results. But remember that the learning pace of every child is different. Therefore as a mother you should never compare his or her progress with that of their peers. Never pressurize the child and ensure that he enjoys the process of learning rather than dreading it.

On this occasion, the city of Chandigarh celebrated 13th April 2012 as “Safe Motherhood Day”. This was a move which drew more than hundred expecting mothers and lactating mothers.  Statistics show that more than two hundred pregnant women per lack die. And research has also shown that 90% of these deaths are preventable. According to Dr. Madhu Gupta, who is an assistant professor of community medicine stated that bleeding post delivery was the most common cause of deaths. Therefore it is very essential that all the delivers be conducted under professional guidance and in the sterile conditions in hospitals. Some of the signs which are a sign of alarm are high fever, sudden bursting of the water bag, bleeding and convulsions. These signs should not be ignored. They should be taken seriously and immediately reported to the doctor in charge. This will be detrimental to save the life. If ignored this may be a threat to the life of the mother or in some cases the baby also.

Being a mother is a fulltime job, and indeed a very demanding one. The new mother is often intimidated by the enormity of the work load and additional responsibility. Sitting and having a proper meal becomes a luxury. Often these factors lead to postpartum depression. In order to combat this, the new mother must try to spare some time for herself and take care of her diet. Having a healthy meal and taking rest when the baby is sleeping gives the mother a much needed break. Drinking adequate amounts of water will also ensure that there is no excess water retention. Water also will help to keep you hydrated and fresh. Try to go for a quick walk alone if possible. In case there is no one to relieve you of your motherly responsibilities then try to stretch and do some simple bending exercises in the house itself when your baby is in the crib. This will make your body feel better.

Speak your heart out to someone who is close to you. In case you know other new mothers it is best to keep in touch with them. This will make you feel that you are not alone. But remember that everyone’s responses are not the same and for some parenting may be an easy affair. In case required, do not hesitate to take professional help. There are several medicines available to combat this problem. But they should not be taken without first consulting your physician. Having adequate rest is the most essential to combat postpartum blues. Therefore the new mother must take all efforts to rest and sleep. For this to happen the family members especially the spouse should co operate and assist in looking after the baby. If that is not possible then they should at least try to take up the responsibilities of small chores in and around the house to help the mother in resting.

Praise a child more for being than for doing:
Parents generally react favorably to a good report card or to a thoughtful act on a child’s part. This is all well and good as long as these accomplishments are not the child’s some or major source of praise and love. In fact, a child should receive a greater share of cuddling or praise when he is producing nothing, is daydreaming, or in fact has recently done something that had to be criticized.

Communicate your love:
It is not enough to feel love; you must make the recipient aware of your feeling. This can be done by a thousand little actas and gestures. Tucking a child into bed at night, while forbearing to review his misdeeds of the day. Offering a comforting arm or a lap even though he’s not jurt badly. Being visibly proud of him when he has given you no earthly reason even to admit that he’s yours.

Perhaps the most elegant way of all to communicate your love is to praise a child out loud to strangers, to relatives, to your mate, in the child’s presence.

All these boost the morale of the child and make him feel loved and wanted. This makes him more secure and confident.

One of the reasons of this could be the increasing number of females who undergo fertility treatment. Women undergo treatment as they face a lot of obstacles in conceiving post thirty years of age. Therefore they opt for fertility treatment. Fertility treatment is said to be one of the main cause of multiple births.

Delayed maternity is also due to women’s liberation movements where a woman wants to attain her career goals before thinking of matrimony and being tied down by the duties of motherhood. Therefore women do not think about marriage till the age of late twenties. At times this is even later. Post marriage also the couple often wishes to delay starting the family as they need time to get along and know each other. All these factors have led to delayed maternity.

But the biological clock of the woman is ticking at a rapid speed and so after the age of thirty the woman sometimes develops complications and finds it difficult to conceive. This is when they opt for treatment. But many a times this treatment results in twins or at times even triplets.

Under this law doctors can be convicted for violation of this law if proved that the diagnosis have been carried out to predetermine the sex of the new born baby. The doctors could be fined up to Rs. 3,000 and sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment.

Under this law even advertising regarding this diagnostics is a crime and is punishable under the act, and due to strict implementation of this law the 2011 census shows that the general child sex ratio has improved from 922 to 925 females for every 1000 males.

In many cases sting operations were carried out with decoy customers to expose the doctors who carried out these tests and many doctors have been convicted under this act.

Even not maintaining the records of the patients treated, improper filling of forms, and non registration of sex determination machines is also an offence.

This law has been a boon for females’ infants as they were the victims of this diagnostics as in our country some people still consider female child as a burden.

To increase the efficiency in all these responsibilities she feels blessed if she manages to find a maid servant who can coordinate, organize, assist her in all the ways possible and play the role akin to an anchor in her life, but the vital factor in all this is that it is imperative that your maid is affordable according to the services rendered by her. As you know in most developing countries with cheap labor costs, having a maid is not a luxury any more but more of a necessity of life and has to be valued rightly. Many times the maid helps out a lot during the post pregnancy days when the infant is very small.

To keep your life away from the day to day hassles use these tips while employing a maid.

Make very clear all the roles and responsibilities your maid has to take and then stick to the same and never increase her work load, and don’t ignore sloppiness.

Give her specific instructions on how do you want your house to run, well maintained, clean and tidy, and then give her space to work  and never keep on repeating your instructions as that may irritate her and she may perform half baked jobs. Don’t hesitate from demanding quality work.

• Make sure she follows her working hours and be strict about discipline.
• Don’t haggle for a small sum if the maid falls sick.
• Pay her on time and give her increments regularly to gain her loyalty.
• Try to contribute to her family emergencies, share food with her, and take her out for an outing if possible.
• Always be polite but strict in talking so that she knows you mean business.
• Pay her all her dues even if you are on a vacation.

The nature of maids work is very intimate as it touches your house, clothing, life style, food habits, hygiene, and in turn gives you a quality time to devote to other activities in your life.

While handing your baby, ensure that the maid is very cautious and treats the baby with care. See to it that the maid does not take the baby out for long durations of time. Avoid sending the baby out with the maid who is new as it may pose to be a threat to security. It is imperative that you do not hand over the baby completely to the maid, as it is not healthy for the emotional and mental growth of the child. Therefore a healthy balance should be maintained so that you too get some time for yourself while your child is attended to and is in safe hands.

Always remember that the maid too is human and is here to earn her livelihood with dignity and therefore never hurt her dignity come what may.

It is a give and take relation with maids and it has to be handled with care to ensure loyalty and happy hours of services.

As a parent, it is your duty to ensure that you reprimand your child whenever necessary, even though you may seem that he or she is too small to understand what is being done. It is essential that the distinction between right and wrong be made at the right age and appropriate time before it is too late.

Imagine that your little one has begun to crawl and is constantly pushing, pulling and tugging at things, then it is imperative that you firmly say “No”. Initially the child may not comprehend, but with constant effort, the child will surely get the message. Casually turn her attention towards other safe activities and reward her with a smile if he or she listens to you. Your tone should be very clear and should send a proper signal to the child. But do not over do this as this may scare your child who is too small to be treated harshly. Never resort to spanking as this hampers the spiritual and psychological growth of the child. Rather have a talk, even if the child is too young to understand. The main aim should be to have discipline deeply rooted into the personality of the child right from the formative phase.

As your child is very delicate, therefore spanking or shaking the baby in a bid to scare him may accidentally cause irreparable damage to the bones and skull. Therefore it is imperative not to raise your hand on the child in a fit of rage. Parenting is a skill which cannot be learnt in a day. It is an ongoing learning process where sometimes things have to learnt as well as unlearnt.