I was pretty excited to be invited to attend Bindis and Bangles, a special South Asian themed baby shower hosted by my friends at Masalamommas and sponsored by Huggies Canada. The event was held at Swagat Banquet Hall and when I walked in I was touched by the amount of effort that was put in to decorate the room with South Asian flair. There was a bangle bar, a bindi bar, a candy bar and a photo booth where I got a great photo of my son and I with a funky Indian background.
The event was hosted by national TV personality Karen Johnson and featured some terrific speakers. Nanny Robina, a leading Parenting Expert, shared her tips to help babies sleep and settle. As a new mom, one of the best tips I took away was to hold the baby close to you while doing squats, which is meant to help to settle a crying baby. I’ve tried it several times now and it’s been working like a charm!
Rishma Malik Scott, Baby and Prenatal Yoga Instructor and Actress, conducted a prenatal/baby yoga demo and provided tips on making yoga work for anyone by sharing simple moves with the guests. She stressed the importance of being in the moment with your baby, something that seems simple in theory but difficult in practice.
Lisa Caron, Postpartum and Birth Doula and Author spoke to moms about the importance of bonding in the first year with baby. She suggested that we take a few moments to look into our baby’s eyes every day to build a strong connection with our children. Overall, there was a strong theme that parents need to explore different ways to connect with your baby early on in the relationship. By being present and mindful, using yoga and meditation and really by just taking time to try to understand baby’s cries and cues, we could help to strengthen the bond and improve communication with our babies.
It wouldn’t have been a South Asian event without delicious food and drink. We were treated to a tasty buffet of hot snacks including vegetable and paneer pakoras, samosas, tikka and spring rolls, along with delicious chutneys.
The fabulous folks from Lemon Lily tea gave us a chance to try their delicious teas at their tea bar. I tried their Canadian Maple and Peppermint Chai teas and I really loved them both. OMG the Canadian Maple tea….wow.
A baby shower isn’t complete without a few games. There was a diaper changing competition where guests had to change as many diapers as possible within a time frame. The winner left with the perfect prize, a Diaper Genie.
Each table featured a “diaper cake” center piece and the guests had to answer trivia questions to win one. Here are a few of the questions:
True or false – a baby’s weight should be double their birth weight by the time they are 6 months old. The answer = true!
What is the average cost of raising a child until their 18th birthday? $242,070
What is the average diaper changing speed for dads? 1 minute and 36 seconds for dads vs. 2 minutes and 5 seconds for moms!
Kudos to Masalamommas and Huggies Canada for hosting a fun event tailored to the South Asian community, it was clear that a lot of work was put into it. If you would like to check out more photos from the Bindis and Bangles event, please head to Huggies’ Time To Hug Facebook page at www.facebook.com/timetohug and while you’re there, upload a photo of yourself hugging someone special in your life with the hashtag #TimeToHug – for every photo uploaded to the page, Huggies will donate $1 to the South Asian Women’s Centre.
milk & eggs 