#Bestforbaby - a Question that only a Mom can answer

What is best for my child? Which style of Parenting shall I practise? How do I model the best behaviour for my child to emulate? How do I ensure that my child is getting the best of nutrition? How I know which baby products are best suited for my Child's health & skin? How do I sift through myths & facts? 

Mind boggling to say the least is what parenting has come to be with endless access to information & opinions. Judging parenting methods has become an international pass time as one parenting book mentions. In this entire gamut, one often seeks genuine facts, not advisory but plain cold facts for one to comprehend & arrive at an informed conclusion which suits us.

BabyChakra has often been instrumental  in facilitating presentation of facts, honest discussions, fiery Q & As to cast away a mom's concerns & help her be the mom that she wants to be. It is a platform which brings together moms & crowd sources all their knowledge! I find it a beautiful way to preserve the Indian Mother's Parenting Style. This month, the BabyChakra team decided to bring Johnsons & Johnsons, India to interact with moms in Mumbai & allay away their fears of using J&J products for their babies under the current shadow of  the suits filed in other parts of the world & allegations of containing carcinogenic ingredients in its line of baby products. This was organised under the #BestforBaby campaign. 

On a Monday morning, 25 moms got together at a fun venue where representatives of J&J via Team games, fun ways & anecdotes explained what goes into a J&J product, the clinical testing & proving its raw materials go through followed by the final product testing & approvals. The team further confidently fielded queries regarding the carcinogenic ingredients & assured the audience of how safe the products were & that they have also won certain suits. The day ended with moms being reassured & introduced to their yet to be launched baby liquid detergent for clothes & a really loaded goody bag thanks to J&J & the BabyChakra team.

In my honest opinion, J&J has been in India, like forever! However now other brands, Indian & Imported seem to have become more popular. Additionally, disposable income in the hands of the millennial parents convinces them that premium products are better. The world being a global marketplace today, products influenced by American or European culture are being perceived as better quality. Unfortunately J&J did not adopt these new product expectations into their existing products & probably assumed that what has been accepted will continue to be accepted for a long time. To add to it, the law suits, deterred the new age parents from its products. This being a wake up call, they have modified their products to have lower fragrance levels, removal of certain ingredients & an aggressive outreach program. Questions that come to me are simple: Reducing the fragrance level now implies J&J probably had not been listening to what new parents were seeking. Parents have always wanted to have a dialogue with companies that make products for their babies but it is only now that we can speak to you. Is it too late for you to convince the mom in me that you are perfectly safe? Yes, you have placed facts before me, Am I convinced 100% ?

As a mom, I want to trust with all my heart any product or service I use for my child. It is heart breaking when one's trust is broken. Even with facts around me, a part of me feels unsettled because I always assumed with blind faith that one could never go wrong with a certain product or service and when that happens, yes it takes time to process facts & data. As a mom, I am emotional about everything associated with my child. My brain may tell me, its all good however how do I convince my mommy emotions? May be trying to gradually use your products for instance, the liquid detergent that I quite liked. However the constant nagging feel is what I am not comfortable with. Am sure, you as a brand have always kept the best interest of children as your focus & are constantly working towards it. At the end of the day, it is this that makes you who you are & I truly appreciate the genuine passionate efforts that the team has taken to convince us that it is all safe. I am extremely glad that officially the premium range of your brand will be available in India & we wont need to seek the same from either the grey market or relatives abroad.

If you are reading this blog, I earnestly request you to, access & understand all facts, ingredients & products of different brands and make an informed decision. What you use is always your choice coz you always know what is #BestforBaby.

PS: Aveeno is also a J&J product. ;)

Look what we did! :)

Take a Break, Dear Dad.

Dear Mommy, You are enough! You are doing good! You need Me Time! Take a Break! - Yes, One will often come across stories/posts with the above title & theme and fairly so. Moms indeed break their backs with child rearing & house keeping. More so when they are also walking the rope between home & aspirations of a professional career. Its killing yet at the end of the day worth it. 

But what about Dear daddy? Dear Husband? The Man of the House? Does he not need a break? Some Me time? Some Alone time? Ever give a thought? 

I did...for my #Hujband #Jaan #BooBaba...so here it is for him & many more men who strive each day for making it better for their families... 

Dear Father, Husband, 

 As you continue to stay in the washroom for those extra minutes, each morning, catching up on news & sport scores, 

 As you smile & walk through the door at the fag end of the day with a burst of energy & smile even though all you want to do is just crash in, 

As you start to dance & play & wrestle with the kids, make funny noises and hear the gurgling sound of sweetest laughter, all the while ignoring the rumbling in your empty tummy, 

 As you get the kids to wrap up dinner, splash in the tub for a while, get a running naked baby into a night suit, just so your lady can have those 30 minutes of "me time", 

 As you smile at your lady & lead her to the room so she can put the lil one to sleep while you set the dinner table, waiting for her... 

 As you clean up the living room & bring order into chaos just so everyone has a clean home to wake up to, 

 As you prep the dinner plate for her & sit next to her while she eats & catches up with on the day, 

As you scour the TV Guide to pick a movie for her for to view just until midnight, 

 As you hold her hand & seek solace in its warmth, giving a warm rub to her tired shoulders, knowing that the lil one will cuddle in & not you, 

As you bid her a good night & step out to clear the dinner table, Know that in the room, she is thanking You, Thanking her Life for you. She Loves You. Know that the happy faces in the house are coz of YOU! Your efforts to sustain & improve their Life. Its YOU who makes it happen. If the Wife is glad she has had pasta for dinner, its You who somewhere is behind it. 

 So, here is my Thank you to my Jaan. For being Mr. Mukherjee to his Mrs. Mukherjee.