I have a very special reason to write this post today. And the reason is Blogchatter’s birthday and of course my love for blogging.

#BlogchatterTurns3

What is Blogchatter? It is the most amazing online community of bloggers, writers, and authors. The team at Blogchatter is just brilliant, they work day in day out to make things happen for their community. Any blogger will become a fan of their innovative campaigns like A2Z challenge & My Friend Alexa which promises to take your blog to the next level. Blogchatter is most famous for its trending twitter chat sessions around blogging. Yes, you must check these out!

If you are a newbie in the field of blogging or an oldie with a passion & love for blogging, this community will accept you with open arms. I am proud to be a member of this community & ever thankful for all their love.

If you are a regular on my blog, you might not have seen any post on the love for blogging for more than a year now. I have written only 2 posts in 2017, on what motivated me to start blogging, that too when I just started my blog. And I am sure except my family and friends, no one else has ever read it. So, I thought why not write another post which will help you to understand me better.

My love for writing – Since childhood!

Even though I started writing & maintaining a dairy when I was 10, I had never imagined in my whole life that I would be writing articles one day. Simply because I never planned for it neither I had a qualification which could justify blogging as a career choice. I started my blog just like that, in July 2017 when my son turned 18 months old, I gifted myself a blog!

My diary was my best companion, I would write when I had a build up of emotions & needed to vent out. I would feel really light after writing down everything in my diary. But soon, life took over and I stopped writing. Maybe, I learned how to handle emotions and deal with situations.

However, the biggest emotional wave hit me when I entered the ocean of motherhood in 2016. And, it almost made me drown. My husband tried to pull me out & supported me by being an equal partner in our journey. But, that was not enough!

I joined a parenting community, Babychakra!

It felt good to know that I was not the only one struggling with motherhood. I soon made friends & became active in the group. I also tried my best to help new moms with my experience. Babychakra offered me many opportunities to express myself & help other parents. I did a soul-satisfying AMA session on their app, just after a month of joining Babychakra. Aah, that was amazing!

Later, I got an opportunity to contribute to Johnson’s campaign – Embrace the mess. And, soon after I was asked to write articles on their app. That was the game changer. Once again, I found solace in writing.

It was around that time when I came to know about the word Blogging. And, I started my research to understand it better. I wanted to try it out and ta-da, I got my own blog (thanks to my husband & brother-in-law for helping me with all the technicalities).

The only thing that was in my mind when I started blogging, was to reach a bigger audience. And, learn more about it.

I started my blog, Growing With Nemit!

I was totally in love with my baby blog & would spend hours reading and learning about blogging. In a day, I used to read around 30-40 articles on how to run a blog. And, the love for blogging kept me going.

The first few months of blogging gave me an adrenaline rush every time I would publish a post. My friends would message me saying how much they love my articles and I was doing a great job. All the love & support I was getting, made me work even harder. And, one day while reading an article, I got to know about the blogging communities.

I joined a blogging community, Blogchatter!

So, in Dec 2017, I joined Blogchatter & other blogging communities but being a novice, I couldn’t figure out how to proceed further. It was around the same time, I was approached by a brand to write a sponsored post for them. I was on cloud nine to get my first ever paid work. And, I got busy with more work.

With time, I forgot about the communities I had joined except for one i.e Blogchatter. I was getting regular mails from them which I enjoyed reading. But I was still not confident to go out & explore more.

Around Feb, I saw a mail in my inbox regarding A2Z challenge from Blogchatter which intrigued me to learn more about it. I wanted to participate but I had no idea how I would write 26 posts in a month. I soon realized that I was not yet ready for such a challenge but promised myself that I’ll participate in 2019.

Register for #BlogchatterA2Z  2019 here.

Suddenly, one day I got a call from the Blogchatter team to check my mail. I was pleasantly surprised to see their invitation for a collab. I just couldn’t believe myself that it was happening with me.

The community which I was trying to be a part of, bowled me over with their love & acceptance even before I could ask for it. The month of March is special for Blogchatter since it’s their Birthday month. And, it is special for me, since it’s the month I got associated with them. Exactly a year ago, I became a part of this amazing community.

My journey with Blogchatter had been a memorable one which I will cherish forever.

And, the Journey Continues…

I have come a long way in the last 1.5 years and the journey had been so beautiful & mesmerizing. And, I wish to keep writing helpful content and share my experience with my friends and readers. Keep showering your love and blessings on us.

I hope you liked reading my journey from a mommy to mommy blogger. Stay tuned as April is going to be super exciting. Here’s my theme for A2Z challenge.

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The post My Journey from Mommy to Mommy Blogger & the Love for Blogging appeared first on Growing With Nemit.

This post dates back to July 2017, that’s when I started my blog. There was learning at each and every step. I had ideas and had already visualized how I wanted my blog to look like.

Isn’t it an amazing feeling when your ideas turn into reality and that too in such a short span of time? For me, learning to design a website was so much fun; don’t know why I bunked so many computer classes in college.

Read- My Life, My Rules!

I used to think that behind every website there is a team of highly qualified and experienced web designing professionals and it is quite impossible to make your own website/blog without involving one.

But for a novice like me getting a website up and working is a big achievement. How simple things can give you great satisfaction in life.

Read- What motivated me to start my blog?

I am lucky to have my husband and brother (in law) who are constantly helping me in understanding things from a developer’s point of view and tolerating my nonsensical questions and answering them in the easiest possible way for me to get the point.

I was never a blogging person neither a tech-savvy but what’s the harm in knowing things better. There is nothing to lose but so much to gain.

“If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.”

Most of the credit goes to WordPress also for providing detailed information on their blog related to all the services which a newbie can avail & would find really helpful while designing their own blog.

So, now after a year, I can say I have come too far in this journey of learning and blogging. And for the most part, it was an overwhelming experience.

I am happy with my blog’s design, it’s simple, organized and easy to navigate, just like the way I wanted.

Anyone who wants to know how to go about making a small website or start a blog, feel free to ping us. We will be happy to share whatever little we know. I was too shy in asking for help thinking why would anyone help a person like me who doesn’t know ABC of blogging, who has zero writing skills and nil information about website designing but I assure you, there is no judging at our end. Happy Learning!

Don’t stop until you are insanely fuc*ing proud of yourself!!

The post Learning to Design My Blog – Ideas to Reality appeared first on Growing With Nemit.

Hello Friends and Readers,

As many of you know, and many others who don’t know, let me announce that Growing with Nemit – A Mother’s Experience & Expedition, (yes this Blog), has been nominated for Indian Blogger Awards, 2017.

I waited for 15 days to get nominated on Indiblogger as my blog was lacking the minimum number of posts required to get approved. Now that the blog is up there, how could I miss submitting links to my best posts in various categories? A blog can be nominated under a maximum of 5 categories.

The categories for which this blog has been nominated are –

• Fitness and Health (Lifestyle)

• Parenting (Lifestyle)

• Self Improvement (Lifestyle)

• Memoirs (Literature & Personal)

• Personal (Literature & Personal)

#IBA2017

All the entries will be judged on quality, and on the testimonials received from the readers and the followers on the NOMINATION PAGE. However, the weight-age is different for both, 80% for Blog’s Creativity, Originality and Quality and 20% for Testimonials.

This Blog post is especially dedicated to all my lovely readers, without your constant motivation and love, it was impossible for me to take such a big step. It’s time to shower some more love and show a little more support by leaving a testimonial/comment on the Nomination Page.

You can click here to leave a comment.

Guys, please share this post with your friends and family. I really appreciate the overwhelming response I get from you all. Love!

The post We are nominated for IB Awards, 2017 appeared first on Growing With Nemit.

Travelling to new destinations is what our family is most fond of; we try to make sure that we take at least 2 vacations in a year, more the merrier. After Nemit’s birth we have started linking vacations to special occasions, so we prefer travelling around our birthdays and anniversary dates. We have already taken this year’s 2 trips, Malaysia on Nemit’s 1^st birthday and the Maldives on our anniversary.

I was quite sure that we are already done with this year but surprisingly hubby started giving hints of planning another trip for my Birthday and who can say ‘NO’ to a vacation offer? Not me, for sure.

So, as many of you know that recently we made a trip to Kerala (India) with our 19-month-old boy to celebrate my Birthday, it was Nemit’s 6^th trip and just like the other 5, it came out to be super fun as he had an amazing time in God’s own country and highlight of the trip was he had the company of his Nani and Dadi (Nemit’s grandmothers) to pamper him with all the care and love in the world.

I always take a lot of time planning our vacations just to make sure we have a smooth experience throughout. Since this vacation was 9 days long and included lots of travelling by road, ranging from hills to beaches, I had to make sure that Nemit stays happy and engaged in the car as that’s the most difficult part of traveling with a toddler, they simply refuse to stay seated for long.

You may also read – Plan a trip to Meghalaya with your toddler!

From checking comfortable and child-friendly hotels and resorts to arranging toys and activities to keep him happily busy I did all just to make sure we do not have a cranky child ruining the trip for everyone. Nobody likes to enjoy or relax when there is a crying baby hanging around. Now that we were 4 adults, I can say it was a plus for us as whenever he got bored with one he would hop on to the other one.

Most of the times, it was Nani/Dadi he would go to, and Papa if he wants to take a nap or just to have some dude talk and Me if he wanted to do some Dudu business or simply when getting bored!

I want to share what actually worked for us during the whole trip. I prepared a bag of toys for Nemit and kept it with us wherever we went to, the beach, the restaurant, poolside, in the car, during the flight, almost everywhere. Made it as a separate bag to be taken along as cabin baggage.

This minion backpack was gifted to us by a dear friend on Nemit’s birthday; it has 2 compartments, front one with more space and back with little lesser space. So, I used the back one to keep books and at the front, I placed another small bag containing toys and few more things separately. You can check the images below to get an idea.

Books

1. Picture Books –

I bought these super light, small size bright lively books from a local market under 50 Rs each. The eye-catching illustrations help in the fun way of learning. I kept-

• 1 animals book (as he like animals)
• 1 Vegetable’s book (as that was new to him)

You can keep any number of books you like as per your child’s liking. These 2 books were enough for us for 9 days and were the first ones to come out of the bag whenever there were no other activities to do, Nemit just loved these books; he now recognizes all the animals and vegetables from the book.

2. Colouring Book with 2 crayons –

This book is quite light too with just 8 pages of simple shapes & objects and came under 50 Rs. I kept 2 different colored crayons in case one gets broken or lost. Whenever Nemit used to get irritated, we would hand him this coloring book and he would happily scribble away his frustration.

3. Learning Colours Book –

Now this one is my favorite, I like the illustrations and bright colors. Each page has a color and 3 different objects of the same color so it was fun pointing at objects, naming them and linking them to the specific color. This one I bought for 75 Rs.

Doodle with Pen & Stamps

Apart from these books I also kept a Doodle, everyone knows one can never go wrong with a doodle and kids can never get bored of using a pen. During the trip, Nemit learned to draw a circle on his doodle and calls it a ball, Amazing, right! I got this one for 100 Rs, again from the same local market, there are many varieties available but for travelling, I liked this one, quite sturdy and served our purpose too.

The last and the best thing which I kept in the back pocket was an-

E-Book

This worked best for us at times when everything else failed. It’s a sound book with interesting activities & games and learning content. Use of screen media was on my mind while planning the trip as we can avoid mobiles, tablets, and television at home but almost impossible to avoid during the long travels and that too when you have elders accompanying you. Just because we had this book to our rescue our use of digital devices was limited for Nemit.

This is a 10-page interactive entertainment and learning book, the right side of the book has everything from alphabets, numbers, fruits, animals, vehicles, and characters to literature, short stories and classic rhymes and is operated with underlying touch buttons. Left side is full of games and activities like matching and counting games, there is a writing pad too. I bought it for 500 Rs and trust me it is my best buy among sound toys till now.

Now coming to the front pocket, more space meant we could take his toys along too, but as we all know kids get easily bored with old toys so I had to find some small and engaging new toys for Nemit.

These 3 toys were a savior–

• Sliceable Vegetables
• Building block pipes
• Building blocks

I didn’t keep the whole box of these toys, just a few of each in a separate bag and would give one at a time to Nemit, these kept him busy during the times when he was full of energy but has limited space to move around, so he would put all his excess energy and imagination into working with these, building and breaking. All these were new to him as I hadn’t introduced any of these blocks and vegetables earlier so that was also a plus point to keep him interested and engaged for long.

Apart from these toys, I kept a small bowl and 2 spoons in the same compartment of the bag and gave them to him with some dry snacks to eat on his own, that also kept him engaged for a stretch. Mostly helped at the restaurant when he was clearly not hungry or not interested in eating the regular stuff and we were rushing to finish ours.

These toys and books are what I found apt for my boy as per his age, interests, and liking. One thing I can assure all you parents is if the vacations are planned to keep in mind the interests of our kids then we can never go wrong if our kids are happy we can enjoy even at the wackiest of places.

You may also read – Explore the caves at Nainital with your toddler!

Few tips to make travelling, a fun family affair

1- Always try to be a part of your child’s play. If you hand over a book to the child, don’t expect him to go through the pages and enjoy on his own. He would appreciate your engagement.

2- Always try to relate items in the book to items in real. That will help him in understanding things better and could relate to real things.

3- For travelling purpose try to carry ‘not too costly’ new toys. As these will generate more interest and low cost will fall light on your travelling budget.

4- Never leave your toddler unattended with toys. They may take the small parts in their mouth like crayons or stamps of doodle. Even the small plastic parts that can result in choking hazard.

5- If possible, book flights and plan road journey around your little one’s nap time.

6- Avoid using devices to keep your child busy. That will keep him engaged but will have only negative effects. Also, you will lose on your bonding time, rather save them for the worst scenarios.

7- If possible ditch your devices for a certain period during the trip. Messages and Facebook updates can wait.

8- Pack a lot of snacks for kids. They love to munch anywhere anytime especially while travelling. Do keep a check on the salt and sugar content as too much of anything is bad.

9- During long road journeys, take little breaks after every 1-2 hrs. Let your kid move around a bit, change in environment helps a lot.

10- Lastly, what I always say, capture all the beautiful moments in your camera to preserve them forever.

Here’s a post where I have shared travel essentials while travelling with a toddler >>Check it out<<

Thanks for going through this post; I hope you found it good and helpful. Please do comment below, I would love to read your experience of travelling with a toddler too.

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The post Travelling with Toddler – Must have Toys and Activity Books appeared first on Growing With Nemit.