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0·5 Oct 2026·on Which baby things are hard to get in a hurry once the baby is here?

In our house my amma and atha kept bringing things before the birth, mostly clothes and blankets, so we bought very little ourselves. If the grandparents are around, wait and see what arrives. You may end up with three of everything.

0·3 Oct 2026·on Both families want to come and stay after the baby, and we have a 2BHK

Stagger it. One side for the first two weeks, the other for the next two. Whoever comes first helps run the house; whoever comes second gets a slightly calmer baby. Agree it with both families on the same call, so nobody feels they got the second slot by accident.

0·25 Sept 2026·on inter first year and a test every sunday since june

My nephew went through the same at his college two years ago. He skipped the odd one when he was unwell and nobody said much, but the college did call home when it became a habit. Worth finding out whether yours tracks the Sunday tests as attendance.

0·22 Sept 2026·on somewhere near begumpet for an 8 year old to learn to ride without training wheels

Basement parking in a big gated community on a Sunday morning, if you know anyone in one. My son learnt going in circles around the pillars. Not glamorous but nobody drives in before 9.

1·21 Sept 2026·on First remark in the class 1 diary says he talks during lessons. Do I reply to it?

Sign it, write 'Will speak to him', done. Teachers write these for half the class some weeks. If it comes again, then ask for a meeting.

1·21 Sept 2026·on Two teenage boys, one bathroom, and the same fight at 6.15 every morning

Can one of them shower at night? My son has done night baths since the summer, it was the only way our mornings worked. He grumbled for a week. Now it's just brushing and out.

0·16 Sept 2026·on 6 month old's first cup: steel tumbler, sippy or straw? Every relative has a vote

One more thing I forgot earlier. Whatever you choose, let him hold it himself even if most of it spills. My son refused anything we held to his mouth but drank happily once he could grab the cup.

0·16 Sept 2026·on 6 month old's first cup: steel tumbler, sippy or straw? Every relative has a vote

We used a steel glass with a little spout, the kind my amma had for me. Messy for a month, then he got it. Keep a towel under the high chair.

0·2 Sept 2026·on Do tabla teachers really not take children before 8?

My son started keyboard at 7 and his teacher had a similar view about hand size for some pieces. She let him start anyway with simpler exercises. He stopped at 9, but that was more about cricket than the age. Maybe ask the teacher if your daughter can sit in and watch a class or two till then. Sometimes that keeps them hooked.

0·28 Aug 2026·on Rounding off in maths this week. Now everything at home is 'approximately'

Something to look forward to, then. I'll enjoy approximately while it lasts.

2·24 Aug 2026·on looking at a flat on the same lane as janapriya techno in miyapur. how bad is the school rush

Agree with the walking part. One thing to add from living near a school in Vanasthalipuram: the lane is also where the vans park and wait, sometimes with engines running. If the building gate opens onto that stretch, ask the neighbours how long it takes them to get a car out at 8.

4·23 Aug 2026·on Our toddler has posted two spoons and the TV remote through the balcony grill

Check what's under your balcony as well. Ours was over the parking, and one day a steel tumbler landed on a neighbour's car bonnet. That conversation cost more than the netting.

3·22 Aug 2026·on Watching the little ones walk into The King's High School every morning. When did yours start pre-nursery?

Not the person you asked, but we did that with my son. Pre-nursery till noon, then the daycare van picked him up from school. It worked only because the daycare already did pickups from his school, so check that first.

1·18 Aug 2026·on Pull our toddler out of daycare while I'm on maternity leave with the second, or keep her going?

Get the daycare's seat policy in writing before you decide. A colleague paused her son's place for her leave and was told in the third month that it had gone to someone on the waiting list. Some places hold it, some don't.

2·9 Aug 2026·on Son set up the new Wi-Fi router. Now I have to ask him for the password

The guest network expiring at 11 is the best parenting move I've seen this year, and it was made by the teenager.

1·17 Jul 2026·on Eight months and she now screams when her grandfather picks her up

This is what worked for my amma as well. The other half was me leaving the room. While I was in sight my son only wanted me, so I'd go and make tea and let the two of them sort it out.

3·7 Jul 2026·on she sneezes, scares herself awake, then glares at whoever is holding her

The wifi look never leaves them. My son saves his for when I sing along in the car. My ammamma used to say a sneezing baby means someone somewhere is remembering her, so at least it's a compliment.

1·27 Jun 2026·on Parent-meeting season at work means two evenings a week till 7.30. Our caregiver leaves at 6

When mine was small and customer demos ran late, I paid for the extra hour and also booked the caregiver a cab home on those evenings, since she'd be leaving after dark. The cab mattered more to her than the money.

2·24 Jun 2026·on Son wants to bring his girlfriend home to meet us. What do I cook, and what do I say?

Letting them leave early is a kind thing to do. When my nephew brought a girl home, my sister made biryani and three sweets and the poor child was too nervous to eat any of it. One good dish is plenty.

4·15 Jun 2026·on school banned smartwatches from this year. she handed hers in. she was the only one

Hold it a little longer. In the first weeks teachers often let things go, and then one day there's a round-up and the watches sit in the office till the PTM. If that happens she'll be glad hers was at home. If nothing happens in a month, rethink then.

3·4 Jun 2026·on Our toddler now 'helps' unload the washing machine. Everything goes back in.

Enjoy this stage. Ten years on, mine won't carry his clothes as far as the machine, never mind take them out.

4·2 Jun 2026·on What do people mean when they call Ryan International, Kondapur a good school for the small classes?

The notebook idea is good. I would add one thing: go at dispersal time if they let you stand outside. You see how tired the small ones look and how pickup works. We did that before choosing my son's school and it settled the matter for us.

3·23 May 2026·on School's optional trip to Himachal before class 10 begins. What should I ask before signing?

That's the one I'd push on too. When my son went on his first school day trip I tucked a card with two phone numbers into his bag pocket. The teacher told me afterwards that most parents hadn't, and that it helped.

0·21 May 2026·on When does class 9 really finish at SR Digi School in Alwal, and is there stay-back study?

Is he coming from a CBSE school? If you do go ahead, I'd be interested to hear how that change goes at this stage. We may look at state board schools for our son for class 7, and I have no real idea how big the jump is.

2·6 May 2026·on Paati is teaching my 12 year old rasam over the phone, and she wants everything in grams

My son tried this with his ammamma's pesarattu last summer. She measures the dal with the same steel tumbler she has used for forty years, so he wrote 'one ammamma tumbler'. It works as long as nobody loses the tumbler.