A version of this post first appeared on Indian Moms Connect

Every day is a battle and half or at least that is how it seems. I am usually a bundle of nerves and emotions and stress a couple of times on a  normal week (let us not even talk about abnormal weeks). Somehow on the days when I feel the worst are the days when kuttyma is at her crankiest. She doesn’t want to read or do her homework. She is ready to have a tantrum and I am ready to have a yelling match.

To make life easier and joyous for both of us on such days, I pull out my “COOL Jar.” I let my kuttyma pick one of many small pieces of paper in the jar and we go crazy. I can always predict how it will end –  hugs and giggles and declarations of love. “You are the best mom”, she will squeal in delight and collapse on the floor forgetting her crankiness. I will find myself strangely recharged after a minute of our crazy cool jar routine. To be the cool mom, is generally never a high priority for many.

So what is in my Mommy Cool Jar?

Here are some of my favorite cool jar activities.

• Tickle Fest
• Chocolate Stash Raid
• Pillow Fight
• Moon Watch
• Sing Old MacDonald (or other rhymes) in different speeds. The pathos version is bound to be a hit.
• Silly Face Contest
• Selfie Booth
• Dance Party
• Yoga time – Take deep breathes together
• Read a magazine together. We both enjoy drooling over recipes and DIY articles.
• Pull out the colours – we colour a picture together and abandon it in minutes.
• Tea Party – Herbal tea with honey and biscuits.
• Make a milkshake – we usually toss bananas, strawberries and milk along with some ice cubes into the blender for a delicious treat.
• Hide and Seek
• Bubble Fun (there is something liberating about blowing bubbles isn’t it?)
• Piggy back ride (backbreaking fun.)
• Read the news together. We usually gravitate to one of the kids news websites and read something together.
• Count and organise the coins. There is something absolutely relaxing about this activity. I open my purse and take out all the loose change. We both divide them into groups and add them up.
• Arm wrestling
• Silly Jokes and Pun time – we love those. We pull out our joke books and bombard torture each other with jokes.

What will you put in your cool jar?