The Joy of Parenting

So many thoughts in my head, so many things to write about. But finally what am I going to type. There is always so many things to do, by the time I get to sit in front of the laptop (which is usually once a week when I visit my mom's house, and that too after 11.30pm), I just end up opening facebook :) I am staying for more than one night this time at mom's and hence the attempt at writing. 

It is 12.15 am, and the kids are sleeping. I don't know when my lil one will wake up. She needs her mom or dad in the middle of the night, and no one else can stop her from crying. 

Everyone knows that parenting changes one's life. Parenting one child changes a couple's life. Parenting 2 kids again changes the couple's life and the life of the first child. And mind you, 1 + 1 is definitely not = 2. I am a very happy mom of 2 angels now. And everyday I learn something new about parenting, either from a friend or a older relative or thru online resources or just from my own experience.  

As we all know, there is no set rule for parenting! And as the kids get older, there are new things to deal with. Children are very very sensitive. I am not referring to the sensitive nature here. They are like a huge sponge ball where they keep soaking more and more from the outside world. They observe everything they see and don't see. Everything is new to them, everything they see and hear, they believe to be true. There are sooo many theories about everything related to parenting. In the end, one has to choose their own style and do what they feel is the best for a child. 

I am tempted to write many posts about this topic called parenting. I would like to write how we are raising our kids. But I don't think it is necessary, mainly because, I feel each parent has to come up with their own style of parenting. As I mentioned before, there is no set rule for anything! 

One thing that every parent should realize is that from day 1, we have to treat our kid as an individual. Of course, they are dependent on us for certain things. But THEY ARE NOT OUR PROPERTY. He/she has likes/dislikes, interests/disinterests, strengths/weaknesses from a very young age before he/she even turns one. As parents, we should be able to identify these and help them grow, help them understand. We need to respect our kids. How long does scolding a child or forcing them to do something they don't want to, work, compared to reasoning out with them? Both the parent and the child will get tired of scolding and getting scolded after a while and the kid may start fearing the parent or stop trusting the parent eventually. Does any parent want their child to be scared of them? Reasoning out may not work the first time, second time or many times, but eventually the kid will understand if we are talking to them calmly every time. Our kids will share and come to us when they are in trouble if they consider us their friends. Of course, there will be times when as a parent we have to be firm about certain things, but making sure we explain to the kids will help. 

I always believed that for any relation to work, COMMUNICATION is the key. Having an open conversation can solve most problems between two individuals. The same holds good between a parent and a child. Honest communication! 

That was just my two cents :) Let us enjoy parenthood, let us sail thru this journey happily :) Kids grow up so fast, let us cherish every phase of their growth :) Let their innocence rub off on us and let us laugh and play with them.

Ten at Vivanta

Coorg has been our favorite place ever since we moved back to India, mainly due to its proximity to Bangalore and of course it being a beautiful hill station. So when we were deciding on a place to visit and especially for a special occasion, we unanimously voted for Taj Vivanta, which had been our dream destination for a long time.

We rarely go on a trip during weekdays. But this time, we headed out on a Tuesday morning from Bangalore. It was a nice feeling as there was very less traffic everywhere. We left home around 6 am, with our chirpy kids. We stopped at Kamat for a quick breakfast and resumed our journey. As usual, we took the bypass to Mysore after Srirangapatna and reached Hunsur. From Hunsur, we followed the Madikeri sign, and reached Madikeri town before stopping for a quick tea break at coffee day. From there we followed the sign boards from Taj. The property is located in the interiors, and is secluded. We had to pass the Madikeri golf club, and right after the club, we could see the gates of the Taj property.

At Kamat

Colorful flowers on our way

It was a 5 minute drive from the first gate to the reception area. They have a huge estate, with the built up area being - 30 acres in the total area of 120 acres.

After a 5 1/2 hours drive, we were all ready to explore the beautiful surroundings. As soon as we climbed the few steps near the reception area, we were taken in by the most scenic view of the mountains! It felt just PERFECT! 

 While we sat on the benches soaking in the beauty of the mountains in front of us, we were given fresh hot black coffee with jaggery. I fell in love with the place even more just by having this coffee :D It tasted soo gooooood :D Even our little one loved it.

 
A perfect start to our perfect holiday :)

Aaria, one of the staff members explained about the property. We realized that we had to use a buggy to go from one place to another inside the resort as it was widely spread out. We went to our room and freshened up. The room was amazing with the windows opening to the mountains and a separate room with a fire place. We were very hungry by then and so headed out to the healthy restaurant. There are 4 different kinds of restaurants at the property. Since it was a weekday, there were very few people staying at the resort. This restaurant was located below the reception area. Below the restaurant was the temperature controlled swimming pool. And the spa was located one level below the pool. We were the only people at the restaurant, we had a lovely anniversary lunch at the restaurant overlooking the pool and the mountains. We ordered whole wheat veggie pizza, a panini sandwich and  bruschetta along with beer and mojito. The food was super yummy!

Our room

View from the restaurant, the infinity pool below

After lunch, we explored the place for a little while before heading back to the room for a quick siesta. The weather was very pleasant during the day. Evenings were slightly cold. We were really glad for the temperature controlled pool. We were ready to jump into the pool around 4. It was an infinity pool with an amazing view of the ghats. Our kids had a blast in the water. As it started getting colder into the evening, we moved to the hot jaccuzzi :) 
 

After getting thoroughly tired, we had masala chai near the pool and headed back to the room. After a hot shower we were all ready to have dinner. We had booked a table at the grill restaurant for our anniversary dinner. This restaurant is located at the lowest level of the property which is right next to the second swimming pool. The place was candle-lit tables and a bonfire. We had a lovely candle light dinner consisting of grilled veggie platter, rotis dal and veggies along with beer and wine. The food was amazing. The kids enjoyed watching the fire sparks flying from the fire and we all enjoyed the warmth from the fire.

We got back to the room to see chocolate cake and flowers, complimentary from the hotel for our anniversary! The chocolate cake was one of the yummiest we have eaten. And now we were ready to hit the bed.

We got up early the next day to see that it was quite dark. We had Coorg coffee and tea in the room, watching the daylight break in and the mist taking various forms across the mountains. We sat near the window, sipping our cuppa and listening to the beautiful birds sing melodies. 

Breakfast started at 7.30 am. So we went to the restaurant  where the buffet breakfast was being served. We left the room around 7 and walked to the restaurant, which was a steep downhill walk. The spread was huge and each and every item was delicious. We are big eaters with a huge appetite for breakfast items. We really eat breakfast like KINGS and so we always enjoy buffet breakfasts :D Added to the variety of food was the location of our table. We sat outside and the view was perfect. We ended the meal with hot masala tea and walked back to our room which was a steep uphill.

Multigrain masala dosa

View from our table

A had an appointment at the Jive spa (voted as one of the best spas in Asia) in the morning, while I spent nice time playing with the kids.

After the spa, we were all ready to jump into the pool. We spent the morning in the pool.

The kids were super tired by afternoon. And since we all had a heavy breakfast we were not at all hungry. The kids and A took a nap while I escaped to the amazing spa. The entrance to the spa is thru a water path with stones that leads the way. The spa waiting area has a beautiful view. One tends to automatically relax sitting here. I was given hot lemon herbal tea. I need to write another post about my thoughts when I was sitting here :)

Entrance to the spa

Relaxing at the Jiva Grande Spa

After one of the most relaxing time at the spa, I was back in our room, the kids were up and we were again ready to eat something before venturing out. We ordered room service - a club sandwich, chole bature, chocolate milkshake - all very very tasty. After having masala tea, we were ready for our walk inside the resort, exploring the ups and downs. I think it was really adventurous of us to walk on those paths with two kids as it was insanely steep, but so much fun :)

We also spent a lot of time near the reception area where the kids also had fun running around. As I mentioned earlier, this was one of our most favorite spots and the most peaceful place in the resort.

 
By the time we reached the other end of the resort, the sun had started setting, the wind had become slightly chilly. It was a beautiful walk! All of us soaked in the nature :p

 

We called for a buggy and went back to the room to get ready for dinner. We had dinner at the central restaurant, a multi cuisine restaurant, and tho it was slightly cold, we preferred sitting outside. Our little one slept as soon as we ordered food. Our older one relished his pasta, pizza and juice. We had a nice relaxing dinner. And we were done for the day.

Fire place in our room

The next morning we were up before it was bright. We sat near the window, had coffee and listened to the waking birds and watched the rising sun and the misty hills.

 
We again had a hearty and heavy breakfast sitting outside. We walked around a bit after breakfast, and got back to the room to freshen up. We went to the reception area and spent sometime here. And we asked for the jaggery coffee again. We all had our cuppa enjoying the view and the quiet :)

We LOVED the Taj Vivanta resort. It is a perfect place if one wants to just stay at the resort and not venture out. We did not plan to sight-see as we had already seen Coorg many times. And the intention of our trip was to just chill and relax. So it was perfect and ideal to spend all the time at the resort. 

May be there is a reason brand names matter. The subtle things were so very well taken care of by every staff member at the resort. Each one of us (including our lil ones) were happy throughout our stay! It has been one GREAT holiday for us! Would love to go back there often.