Two celebrity moms – Hira Tareen & Momal Sheikh – tell our readers how they keep their kids engaged during lockdown period...
mothers & children
The lockdown is a necessary measure to curb the spread of the virus. As children are the most vulnerable along with the elderly to contract COVID-19, the first of the places to shut down were schools. Not only are school out, but children can’t even indulge in outdoor activities or have any social interaction. This puts a lot of burden on parents – especially mothers – to make sure that their children don’t get behind in their studies and have a productive time at home during the lockdown. Moreover, it is very important how parents keep themselves sane and positive during this time because if they don’t feel happy and healthy in every way possible, it will become difficult for their children as well to survive in the crisis.
There are many parents taking measures to create a fun environment at home so that their kids don’t get bored or complain about not going out anymore. In the midst of that, we are also very curious how our celebrity moms coping up with this time and are utilising the days with their kids when they aren’t working too much. “As a family we always really enjoyed spending time at home anyway. However, not being able to go for the occasional outdoor activities has been a little challenging right now... but we are able to work around it for the time being,” says model and actress Hira Tareen.
Make sure your children don’t feel bored or annoyed at home and have sufficient activities to make this time productive and fun. However, it’s important to have a routine of activities so that they don’t have a tough time getting back to the swing of things when the lockdown is over and they have to go back to school. The routine can include different things such as time slots for fun interactive activities and rest time. Based on the age interests of your child, you can design this daily routine, have them help you out so that they know they selected most of what is on their time table. “We do a lot of productive and fun activities like painting, drawing, reading books, playing hide and seek, disco freeze, baking and creating new games as we go along. But my daughter is also enjoying having both her parents at home with her so much that she isn’t exactly noticing that much of a change. In fact, I think she’s enjoying it quite a bit,” shares Hira.
When asked how she keeps herself stress free during this, Hira reveals, “I have started to cook a lot more, do a lot of learning activities with my daughter, as well as organise the home and work on my YouTube channel content which keeps me busy and distracted from the current situation.”
As Hira expresses, many moms are happy that their children are getting more time to bond with family members and that’s one of the best parts about self-quarantining these days, another celebrity mum backs the idea... “In the beginning, it was very difficult for my son but now he is keeping himself entertained by spending his time with each and every one at home,” says actress Momal Sheikh. “The good part is that I live with my in-laws so he has his dada, dadi, phuppo, me and his dad and he is pretty busy with us while doing his worksheets, play and Quran sessions,” adds Momal. While sharing the activities, the actress lists down a number of them so that other mommies can also take notes. “Yes, we do plan them more often and we plan them in the garden mostly because we also get a kind of breather this way. We do experiments in our garden area along with gardening. Indoors are for art work, cooking and baking which he loves! It is not necessary that we do these every day, but after every two to three days I have to plan something or the other to get him busy as he misses his routine like going to school and meeting friends,” she explains.
For her, Momal believes in keeping up with the current scenario by having a proper routine. “For mothers and housewives, there is always a lot to do. We are never free as we have to run the house, take care of the kids and parents. We do lots of cleaning and cooking which keeps the day going and helps us a lot. As a matter of fact, it does get to you sometimes, but you have to stay positive and for that it is important to pray to Allah to get away with the stress. So, talk to God because it keeps you in peace,” she enthuses.
Momal Sheikh concludes by saying, “Hope for the best. This tough time is going to go by so be positive and don’t put any negativity in your heads. Allah is with us so stay home, stay safe and even if you have to step out, take precautions and make them your habit as it is not the matter of days or months, it is going to go on for a while.”
