Creativity is important

My daughter had just started having solids. And like any other infant, she refused to sit at one place. High-chair is not a common object in India. So, it was really tough making her sit at one place and feed.

One day, I forcefully picked up my crawling daughter and rightfully placed her on a chair. I conveniently placed myself in front of her with a spoon in one hand. The moment she started getting down I started acting and singing to her. Feeding her with one hand and dancing with the other; motherhood had already started making me do yoga. Heartily enjoying my drama with a toothless grin she sat on the chair. When she was done with her meals, I stopped. Likewise I taught her the famous Twinkle Twinkle little star, the catchy Johnny Johnny yes papa, the evergreen Machlalee jal ki rani and the marathi Nach ga ghuma. Daily 3-4 times all the poems would be repeated.

With the increase in her intake of solids I needed more poems. So my creative self created the following creation for her:
Sanavi ki motor chali pam pam pam (Sanavi's car started with a sound pam pam pam)
Signal aya signal aya (signal came)
red signal pe ruk jaao (stop on a red signal)
yellow pe bhoom bhomm chalu karo (start the engine with a sound bhoom bhoom on yellow signal)
and green pe bhooooooooooooo (on green signal start driving with a sound bhoooooooooo)
Sanavi ki motor chali pam pam pam.
Sanavi is the name of my daughter. Her smile showed an instant gratification and a fresh thought was visible on her face. I kept on taking her pam pam (car) every where and added paragraphs to elongate the song.

After that, I made many more songs and poems for her. They introduced her to different shapes, colors and objects. And importantly, kept her engaged while I fed her on the chair.

Creativity is an under valued quality which is essential for all age groups. I am finding it extremely useful to overcome the mundane concerns of day to day life. Whether its talking or associating with toddlers, engaging conversations with adults, cooking, decorating my home or simply thinking. A sense of creating has surely given a new high to my spirits.