Being parents, the most precious treasure we have is our children. We can’t deny our love for them everyday no matter how hard it is. Every mother is majorly concerned for her child and she wants him/her to become responsible, mature, harmless and ready to face this world. But at the same time, we should keep in mind that children will not follow what they are listening but will surely do what they are observing. In this article, I would like to share some tips to improve your child’s behavior.

Be A Role Model

So first of all we as parents have to become a role model for them because contradiction between saying and doing will destroy your child’s behavior and trust over you. If you want to teach them discipline, discipline yourself first. Speak truth, keep promises even with children, be punctual, and be kind, loving, affectionate and polite. Your children will automatically become what you are.

You Time & Love- Most Important Ingredient

What matters the most in a child’s physical and mental growth is that one ingredient “Love” and that should be the most. According to a research, every toddler needs minimum eight touches from their parent’s side. Show your love and tell them that they are the most important people on earth for you but never side them in a wrong way. Be just as well

Keep Your Authority

Be friendly with your children but keep the authority in your hand. Respect should always be there and should not be compromised at any cost. If kids are disobeying you, give them bad consequences. E.g if kids came back from party late, they cannot attend the next party with your friends. If kids disobeyed their parents, they can’t go to park that day. Catch them with their weaknesses and stay stiff. Always implement the threats otherwise you will lose both obedience and respect.

Make Rules And Regulations

Children get disciplined at home. If home is based on rules and regulations and their proper implementation is done, children will be raised as organized individuals for sure.

Assign them Responsibilities

I once read a quotation

“if you want your children to stay on ground, assign them responsibilities”

Make them responsible by assigning them duties according to their age and prepare them to face the world. But make sure to keep a balance so that they would not be over burdened. For example, you can train toddlers to drink water on their own, eat on their own. School going kids should put lunch boxes in their bags themselves, take out copies for homework and put them back themselves. In the beginning, you can make deal to do these chores together to make them habitual and then later after few months, ask them to do it themselves.

Assign Days For Certain Tasks

There are certain things that your kid should not do every day and you can also not omit it completely. Like eating junk food, watching cartoons on you tube. Normally, I give junk food to my daughter once a week on Monday & she watches cartoons on you tube on Friday (under my supervision). This trick helped me a lot in limiting the things I did not want her to do every day.

Limit screen time                                                                                                       

As smart phones are everywhere, we cannot cut it completely but we can limit its usage. Tell your children that they can use smart phones for once in a day for 20 – 30 mins. In the same way, TV time should also be not more than 2 hours. Increased screen time results in increased aggression, poor communication, week eye sight and severe screen addiction. Electromagnetic radiations that are omitted from such devices can harm bones of children less than 12 years.

Keep Yourself Calm When They Show Extreme Behavior

Every time your child shows extreme behavior try to keep yourself calm. Tell him reason for once why this thing is not possible now and then ignore him. For example, you went to a toy store with your kid. Inform him before leaving the house that we are going to purchase toy for some kid who is having birthday soon and not going to buy toy for him. If he starts showing extreme behavior in the shop just ask politely that we came here to buy present for someone else and then ignore him for some time. He will settle soon after sometime.

Keep Rewards                                                                                                                                                               

There are certain tasks that you want your children to do independently and you do not know how to. For example, you want your child to get ready for school himself on time. You can keep some reward for task. If he gets ready on time, mark his points and then on weekend give him some reward based on his points. This will provide your kid with motivation for that certain task and that will later be turned into his habit.

Every human being wants to stay happy always without any fear in his mind. We all want to live in this perfect world where no one would hurt us. Where there would be no sorrow and no grief in our way but that perfect situation can only be wished and can never be experienced. The concept of ultimate happiness can not be found in this world. If poor are worried about their basic needs then rich are worried about their money or something else. A poor person thinks that the rich one is happy where as the rich person seeks for peace of mind. He has everything but still lacks peace that the poor has. People often think that only they are facing problems and the rest of the world is happy. That is not true. Every person in this world faces sorrows and grief. In fact, grief did not spare any one. If a person looks happy that does not mean he has no problems in his life. That shows that he is still keeping a happy face in all of his adversities.

Reasons for Adversities And Hardships

Nothing comes without a reason so as adversities in our life. Allah does not do anything

without purpose. Before we look into the causes of calamities and hardships, we need to make sure whether we have right perception about this life or not. This life is actually a test for the mankind. The purpose of man’s creation is to praise Allah as per our Holy 
book  Quran

“I have created the jinn and humankind only for My worship” (51:56)

Allah has given us choice and a free will and after that He has asked us to remember Him and follow His orders. Then He puts humans into troubles as well as into happy moments and checks the attitude of the person. If one person is happy today, he may not be happy tomorrow. These ups and downs require you to remember Allah and praise him in all circumstances. Seek help from him with prayers and have trust that your Allah will take you out of it. This belief makes you strong enough to ask Allah only for your needs. Put all of your legal efforts to solve the problem and keep on praying. Allah is actually observing that if you loved Allah in good times, did you remember Him in bad ones? This is the attitude that Allah wants you to adopt. As this world is a testing place, so you never find ultimate happiness over here. That is a reason why goods days are followed by bad ones. Every day and every moment, this exam is going on. So we must do what Allah wants us to do rather than what we want because by following the orders of our Allah, we will be successful in this life and the hereafter. If a person forgets Allah and does not worship and remember him till his death, he is failed in the test and will be going to hell where as the pious ones will go to heaven. Heaven is the reward from Allah’s side to His obedient creature. People will always stay happy there, they will have what they want, loads of tasty fruits and eatables and peace of mind. So the ultimate concept of happiness that every man carries does not lie in this world but in the next one as a reward, for remembering Allah in all circumstances.

I read a true story of a girl and she said that she did everything to make herself happy. She crossed every limit to do things the way she wanted to.  Habitual of taking drugs, not being loyal in relationships, she lived her life the way she wanted to but still she was unhappy and committed suicide. Her last words were

“I did everything right or wrong to make myself happy and now I realize that ultimate happiness does not lie in this life. So I don’t want to live it anymore”

That shows that we can not be successful in this world by following our will but by following Allah’s will. He has created us and he knows better what is good and bad for us. If we do not follow his commandments, how can we still stay happy when making a person happy is in his control as well?

In our holy book Quran, two reasons are provided for the occurrence of hardships.

i)                 Due to the person’s sins

One of the reasons for facing problems is actually our own sins that we have committed. We should not live a life with disobedience of Allah and doing things against his will. This way actually, we are moving towards hell with our deeds. Allah does not want us to choose the path that leads to hell so he afflicts the person with some adversity and calamity in order to draw his attention towards his bad acts and make them better by repentance. Problems in a person’s life bring him closer to his lord as he needs His help.

“Whatever misfortune happens to you is because of the things your hands have wrought and for many (of them) He grants forgiveness.”

Quran(42:30)

So, if you are facing unfavorable circumstances in your life, turn to Allah, look at the sins you are committing and ask for His forgiveness.

ii)                Elevation of ranks in front of Allah

Sometimes it happens that some people are pious and they remember Allah, worship him and leading their life according to Allah’s commandments, yet they are facing so many problems and tragedies in their lives. By observing such situation, people often wonder that why is this person facing all these calamities even when he does not forget Allah at all. The reason can be further explained in the below mentioned verse.

“The magnitude of the reward goes along with the magnitude of the affliction. When Allah, who is great and glorious, loves people He afflicts them, and those who receive it gladly receive Allah’s pleasure, but those who are displeased receive Allah’s displeasure” (Hadith:Tirmidhi)

The reason for putting a pious person into adversities is Allah’s giving a chance to a person to prove his obedience and love for His Lord. When a person reacts in a positive way in his problems, he becomes more patient, grateful, courageous and a strong person. Consequently, ranks of the person are elevated near Allah and it is one of the major factors to be successful in the hereafter. And of coarse, this life is a test for all mankind so facing problems and things you dislike are part of the test.

“It might be that you dislike a thing and Allah brings about a great deal of good through it” (Quran 4:19)

The Cure for Grief

Grief and sorrows are a part of every human’s life. The cure for grief is to accept the decisions of Allah, keep an attitude of gratefulness, be patient, repenting on our sins, be sure that we are not alone as Allah is there for us and keep up the trust in Allah. Let’s look into the detail to understand well.

An Attitude Of Gratefulness

No matter what happens, we should be thankful to Allah for what we have rather than 

what we don’t have. Sitting in your room, if you look around at the things you have in it, you should be thankful to Allah as He has given you everything. If you look at your body, you should be grateful for a healthy body, two eyes that help you to see, ears, nose, mouth, arms, legs and for all of the systems working correctly inside your body without your consent. These are all the gifts of Allah. Normally humans realize their importance when they lose any one of them.

“In worldly matter, look at the one who is inferior to you and do not look at the one who is superior to you. In this way, you will not look down upon the bounties that Allah has bestowed upon you” (Hadith: Tirmidhi)

Moreover, there are also a lot of benefits for being grateful which are as follows
#1

·        Allah gives more to grateful people
#   #2

·        Being grateful in this world in all circumstances pleases Allah and leads towards heaven.

·      #3
     Being grateful saves from becoming hopeless and depressed in our bad times.

Patience

Patience is the ability to face a negative situation with positive attitude. Patience is the

key to success in this world and the hereafter.  To achieve success in our lives, we must use the key of patience. For example, to get education we wake up daily in the morning, spend hours in the educational institution, prepare test and give exams. All these things seem difficult for us but patience is the main factor that helps us pass through this journey successfully. In many situations especially relationships, patience work as a binding glue between the husband and the wife. Without showing tolerance to the bad qualities of your spouse, you can not carry it on as no human is perfect.

Apart from the worldly benefits, patience is the favorite attitude of a person that Allah wants him to adopt. Apparently, it seems that we are losing the game with patience but we actually win in the end because Allah helps those who are patient. Allahs says

“O you who believe! Seek help with patience perseverance and prayer: for Allah is with those who patiently presevere” (Quran 2:153)

So if you are worried about some matter, be patient, put in your best without being negative and pray to Allah, he will surely solve your problems.

Repentance

Repenting from the mistakes you made in the past, brings you closer to Allah and lifts up

the burden of sins from your soul. It often happens that the guilt of some sin does not let you sleep or makes you feel depressed. If you truly repent over what you did and do not repeat it, Allah forgives you and you feel quite relaxed.

Belief in the here after

Belief in the hereafter is such a strong factor that reduces the intensity of grief and sorrows. When you are sure about the fact that these painful moments are temporary belonging to this life only and you will be rewarded by Allah for your patience in the hereafter, it relaxes your mind and departs your depression.

Trust in Allah

Our religion teaches us to submit our will to Allah’s will. Once we will do that, our soul will automatically be relaxed. Trust in Allah demands to put all of our positive efforts to solve our problem, pray, do what Allah has asked us to do and leave the rest over him.  If you are facing pain, be patient and pray for the relief. Allah helps for sure. It may take sometime but He does not disappoint those who trust him. Pains and sorrows are from Allah’s side as a test for us in this life whether we still obey Allah or not. So trusting in Allah makes you successful in the exam. And there are also certain things that you dislike but they are good for you as you learn a lot from your bad experiences. Allah says in the Holy book Quran

“It might be that you dislike a thing and Allah brings about a great deal of good through it” (4:19)

The meaning of unconditional love is truly understood by parents because God has dwelled love in their hearts for their children. No matter you treat them with good attitude or a bad one, they will love you in all circumstances and this quality differentiates them from the rest of the world. The basic problem with a child-parent relationship is that God has planted love in the heart of the parents but not all children love their parents the way they should love. In all Holy books, there is a certain point to be noted. God has always asked children to obey and look after their parents but there is not even a single statement that asks the parents to take care of their children because God knows that He does not need to tell them to do so as they’ve already being programmed to love their children unconditionally.

Children do love their parents as well but not as much as parents do. They often do not know the ways to make parents happy the way they should and in many ways they hurt their parents.  Hurting parents in this world will never make you successful in this life and the hereafter as their prayers always accompany you and ease your difficulties in the ways we do not understand. God has given them high ranks because mothers keep you in her womb for nine months with pain and then takes care of you when you needed care the most as a baby. Your father worked day and night just to feed you and his wife setting his own priorities behind. Many children think that it’s the duty of parents to take care of their children. Never take the efforts of your parents for granted. Many times they sacrificed the things they loved just for their children. Their life is full of sacrifices so they deserve your care and respect. Many children realize the real contribution of parents in their lives when they themselves become parents. I want you to realize this earlier especially in your teens when children often think their parents to be their rivals. This perception is wrong. If you do not understand why are they stopping you to do things independently and keeping you in limits, you should know that you are too immature to understand the significance. Still obey them and within few years, you will know the reason and will be satisfied.

The realization of how children should treat their parents is very important and the purpose of writing this article is an effort to do so.

Time then money

The most important thing that you, as a child, should give your parents is your time. As soon as parents get old, they need your time more and become more sensitive. Realizing responsibilities, many children think that they should look after their parents by sending them money only. Money is important for them as well but your attention is of more priority than money. So, you should give them both. Even if you’re too busy, spend at least 1 hour with them and find out which any problems they have or anything they need for which they are dependent over you. Sort out their issues if any and this is the best way they will feel that you care for them.

Obedience

Obedient children are always loved and appreciated by parents. You should try to obey your parents as much as you could unless they ask you to do something unethical. It might be possible that you disagree with them several times on many issues. In that case convey them politely that you think about it this way. If they do not understand, do not try to win the argument with them. Be quiet and do not shout even if you do not agree but never do anything that God does not want you to do for them. You should always try to maintain respect in this relationship because your parents look after you when you were a baby. They do not feel good emotionally if you argue with them rudely on any matter.

Care

If any deserve your maximum care in this world then those are your parents. They look after you and sacrificed many things for your happiness through out your life so you should try to take care of them to the most. Help them in their daily chores, make up their cupboard, bring the things that they need from market, look after them if they are ill and give them food on proper timings if they are old. If you are going somewhere meet them before leaving and let them know if you’re travelling somewhere that you reached them safely. Call them daily if you’re away from them. Take care of their friends and relatives as this makes them happy when you have a positive attitude with their loved ones.

Be Grateful

One of the most important things is that you must make your parents realize how much you are grateful for their efforts that they put in to make you a person you are today. Expressing feelings is difficult but as far as you’re dealing with humans it is an essential ingredient in informing them how much you love them. Be thankful to them for the care they give you and never show them that you get irritated when they are concerned about your well-being.

Gifts

Surprise them with gifts and do not wait for a particular occasion. Always keep track of their needs and likes and meet them by gifting them things that they need the most. For example, if your mother likes roses, bring her a bunch of roses someday. She will feel herself very special and will be happy to have it from her child. Make their favorite dish as a surprise.

Patience

As soon as parents are getting older, you have to show them more patience. Old age itself is a disease and people get more difficult and bitter as they are getting older. Always treat them with patience and never scold them or speak rude to them. If they scold you, listen them carefully and convey your point politely. Many problems arise when you’re dealing with old people. Sometimes they can not listen to you because of the malfunctioning of the ears and sometimes they forget things and start scolding their children even when they did not make mistake. Do not take it serious and be patient. You should always know that you heaven and hell lies in their happiness and sorrow. Make them happy and God will make you a successful person in this world and the hereafter.

Pray for them

Being a good child, you should pray for your parents’ everyday for their good health and a better life in both worlds. If they are ill or facing problems in their life, pray for the ease of their pains. God listens to the prayers of children for their parents and the prayers of parents for their children.

Good deeds

Be a good human being and a do good deeds. Never do anything that makes them feel embarrassed. You should work hard to get good grades in school and word hard in your job. No one becomes as happy as your parents on your success. Always avoid bad acts such as crimes, cheating anyone, taking drugs, being dishonest etc. Your good attitude and good character are the two things that make your parents feel proud of you because they played a major role in making you a person you are today.

Old homes

Never ever send your parents to old homes. Always keep them with you once they are old and take care of them no matter how difficult it is for you. Relations are more important than time and money. Never sacrifice your relations for these two things. All of the Holy Books advise humans to take care of their parents. By leaving to old homes you are getting rid of their responsibility but make sure not to do something with your parents that you do not like for yourself. They took good care of you when you were a child and now they do not deserve this and whatever you do will be returned back to you. This is the rule of the world.

Balance between your spouse and parents

Your parents and your spouse both are important in your lives. While dealing with both, there is more responsibility on your shoulders to keep justice between both of them. Give time to parents and a separate time to your spouse as well. If you are sitting with everyone do not consider it to be giving time to your spouse too. If you want that your spouse would love your parents too and do not take them as a burden, give him/her separate time in room as well. When you are giving him/her privacy, he/she will not feel you parents to be a hurdle in your relationship and will respect and love them more. At least once a week you should go out with your spouse alone to give him/her space to enjoy time with you. Never ever side your parents or your spouse when your spouse or parents talks about some problem regarding each other respectively and be just. Admitting their mistakes cools down the person who has problem where as taking wrong side inducts hatred in their hearts for the other party. If you keep a good balance between your parents and your spouse, they both will go along better with each other resulting peace and happiness in your home.

Marriage is a relationship in which a man and a woman are tied together to spend their lives together as a team. It is extremely important to understand the word “team” before getting into the relationship. It is lifestyle that has been prescribed by God for humans to live a satisfied life emotionally and physically. But as we see nowadays, marriage is now a good subject for jokes and disliked relationship by singles. Most of the jokes shared interpret wives as the most silly person and husbands as an innocent person loaded with a number of responsibilities of his wife and children. Unmarried people normally take marriage as a big responsibility that will be imposed on them and they’ll be tied together in a relationship sacrificing their independence in return.

Living this life is not a joke whether job seeking is concerned or saving a marriage. Always remember life never offer you success by following short cuts or by sitting idle. One has to work hard with consistency to achieve something good in life and many times it happens that to achieve a fruitful result, you keep on working hard regardless of how hard the circumstances are around you. Same is the case with marriage. To live a happy married life, you’ll have to work hard with full devotion. You should first focus on performing your duties and then asking for your rights. Even if your spouse is not giving you your rights, your good attitude will do the magic with time. Your efforts will one day be successful and you will be rewarded with a happy married life. Before we move on to how to keep your spouse happy, it is very necessary to understand the nature or built-in programming of both partners to tackle them accordingly.

Man’s nature

As far as relationship is concerned, it is in men’s instinct to dominate. God has put the

responsibility to feed their families and look after them. To do so, God has made them the head of the family. Likewise, any organization is led by a single boss; this world is governed by one God so a family can be headed by one person. Any organization that is led by two people can not be successful but it will often happen that both of them will disagree at many stages resulting in a catastrophe. Moreover, men do not like to work at home because they have been designed to work outside the house. Men always admire and love a woman who obeys them. To keep a man happy, the first and the foremost quality that a woman should posses is obedience. That does not mean that the wife will live like slaves. She can talk to her husband politely where she disagrees and can give her suggestions but once a man has taken a decision, she should accept it as long as it is not against the orders of God. By nature, men are not expressive and they always try to pose they are fine even if they are not.

Woman’s nature

Women are delicate by nature and are designed by God to look after their house and the

children. God has not put the responsibility of earning on women because many times it happens that women undergo some particular physical conditions like periods, pregnancy in which she does not find her in a stable condition. They can willingly do job but it is not compulsory for them to earn. As they had to look after house, children and their husband so doing job is an additional work over them. Women are emotional because they had to take care of children and husband. Only an emotional person can look after the little things you need to take care of your baby unlike men. Because of this emotional aspect, women have been given the beautiful responsibility to take care of the kids who require extreme attention and care. Men can not handle children like women can. Women are physically weak and they always need the support and protection of a man. Women need attention everyday. It is their nature to speak out what they feel. Men normally do not talk much but to keep your wife happy, you must give her a quality time everyday. If you do not talk to her, she’ll find someone else to speak out her feelings like friend or family. Women love to be praised and expressed so men should speak out what they like in the wives.

Though the aspects given in men and women’s nature are much against the concept of modern woman, but this is the way things are designed by God. You may make a person do what is not in his/her nature but this will not result in a satisfactory relationship as you can not change the nature of the person.

Fear of God

Marriage is a relationship designed by God and before entering into it, both spouses should consider the rights of each other that God has set. Being humans, they should respect each other and try not to do things that would disturb or hurt your spouse because in the here after, you will be questioned for each and every bad act you did with anyone intentionally. Accepting men as the head of the family does not mean women are inferior. Men are superior in their role of responsibilities. They’ll be questioned about their family and women will be questioned about their children and house. How did they look after them? Near God, pious person will be superior no matter a man or a woman. We should be good with our spouses for God’s sake because we’ll be careful about giving them their rights regardless of their attitude. A day will come they will realize their responsibilities. All humans make mistake. With forgiveness and patience, we should solve problems. As humans are imperfect and they always make mistakes. They can not make God happy who has given them so many blessings so how can they make you 100% happy.

Ways to save your marriage

#1

Communication is the first and the foremost tool in a successful marriage. Both partners should share everyday experiences with each other and give quality time of minimum one hour to each other. Many relationships are killed by the silence between the partners that emerge by not giving attention to their spouses and with the passage of time, they do not have anything to talk about.

#2

While giving quality time, make sure to remove anything in surroundings that is diverting your attention e.g TV, internet, telephone. Listen to each other carefully

#3

Both partners should care for each other ranging from large matters to small ones because if something is little for you and disturbing your spouse, soon it will emerge as a big problem.

#4

Express your feelings often and let the other partner know how important he/she is for you. Women are often expressive but men take things many things for granted after marriage. If you want to keep your wife happy, you should admire her; express your feelings for her everyday otherwise she will wither like a flower.

#5

Wife should obey her husband as far as it is not against the orders of God because the first thing men want in their relationship is the obedience of their wives.

#6

Both husband and wife should take care of each other relatives and friends.

#7

Both partners should admit the faults of their relatives and should not favor them unjustly.

#8

Women feel themselves secure if their husband listens to their problems. If your wife is telling you some problem, you should not ignore her otherwise she will feel lonely and you should tackle it justly even if it is your mistake or your relative’s. Never feel ashamed in accepting your mistake. Otherwise, it will result in increasing hatred in your wife’s heart as you are not acting justly.

#9

Give surprises to each other e.g leaving a romantic note while leaving for the other partner, giving gifts, flowers or making a good dish.

#10

If you have any problem, talk to each other politely. Politeness works best as far as problem solving is concerned.

#11

Never feel ashamed in admitting your fault. It solves the matter sooner.

#12

Every human has positive and negative points. Always keep an eye on the positive ones and ignore the negatives.

#13

Do not take a moment to forgive your partner. Always remember every relationship needs forgiveness to carry on otherwise it can not carry on.

#14

Never take your partner for granted. It’s human nature to take things for granted that come in our possession but your partner is a human not a thing. Always treasure his/her presence and your love should increase rather than decreasing with the passage of time.

#15

Help each other in every matter.

#16

If your spouse is feeling not well, leave everything and take care of him as he needs you the most at that time.

#17

Respect each other’s feelings and never make fun.

#18

Give unconditional love to each other. Give what you want from the other person. Soon you’ll have it.

#19

Remember each others birthdays and anniversaries.

#20

Respect each other specially in front of other people. If you disagree with your partner in a gathering, never point out in front of everyone. Discuss it later privately.

#21

Keep each others secrets. It will develop trust and do not talk negatively about your spouse with anyone else.

#22

Never support each others in bad acts.

#23

If you’ll be late from office, inform your spouse.

#24

If you are out of city for a day or more, give a phone call.

#25

Do activities together like playing a game, walking or cleaning house together.

#26

Always share light jokes with each other and keep alive a good sense of humor. Making someone smile is the best charity.

#27

Always remember the promises you make to each other and try to keep them.

#28

Help each other in cleaning your house.

#29

Always speak truth to each other. Lies can never save your relationship no matter how easy they seem.

#30

Never keep a physical relation without love like animals. It will make your relationship more worse than before.

Being pregnant is one of the biggest blessings of God over us. Our God is giving us an honor to experience the pleasures and charms of motherhood. Every pregnancy should be started by saying a big thank to God who decided to bless the mother with a cute baby. Like health, every pregnancy needs a lot of care and attention as it is highly dependent over the diet that you are taking in. A good diet not only helps in making up a healthy baby but is great in keeping the mother fit as well.

Pregnancy does not require you to eat some special and expensive foods but a variety of foods that should contain a good ratio of all the nutrients required. You should take a balanced diet and there are also certain foods that should be avoided. So it is necessary for you to understand which foods are good for the pregnant women and in which amount.

With the start of pregnancy, mothers often think that they need to eat more. Yes you should eat a bit more but not equal to the food of the two persons. After all, the baby is not a person but a tiny little being. Use your body as an indicator to judge the amount of food you should take. You will feel hungry for sure if your body needs some food. Moreover, you need to consult your nutritionist or a naturopathic doctor if you think you are eating more or less than the requirement. It often happens that some women are less hungry but they eat more after knowing that they are pregnant and then they get habitual of eating more than required. Make sure you would not cross that line.

 I think all pregnant women should have a good idea of which foods they should take. If the mother is lacking any basic nutrient in her body, it will affect her baby for sure. The aim of writing this post is make people aware of the healthy food requirements of the pregnant women. She should know whether she is taking food from all different food groups or not making up a good balance. Let us look at some of the foods that are very much necessary, beneficial and healthy for a “Mom-To-Be”

Fruits and Vegetables

The significance of fruits and vegetables cannot be ignored in pregnancy as they contain

fibers and all nutrients that are required by body. Oranges are the great sources of vitamin C, folic acid and potassium known for keeping the blood pressure in control. Apples are rich in iron. Your daily intake of fruits and vegetables should be three vegetables and two fruit. One glass of apple or orange juice being rich in vitamin C should be taken every day. Vegetables especially green leafy play a vital role in providing necessary nutrients required in pregnancy. Yellow vegetables, yellow fruits and green leafy vegetables contain vitamin A which is important for healthy bones, eyes, skin and cell growth. Apart from that, figs and dates are also a rich source of iron and should be taken in every pregnancy.

Red Meat

Being a rich source of iron, protein, vitamins and nutrients, red meat should be a high

priority meat in pregnancy. Some people say that red meat is not good for health. All you need to do is to search for organic meat which is leaner and contains omega-3. Omega-3 is good for the fetus nervous system and brain development. Red meat contains the following nutrients:-

·       Protein: Good for the growth and development of a baby. Provides the structure and function of many systems of human body. Pregnant women need 75 and 100 grams of protein every day.

·       Iron: Red meat provides 3 milligram of iron per serving. It is recommended by the American Pregnancy Association that a pregnant woman should take meat two to three times daily. 3 ounces of meat make up 1 serving.

Yogurt

Yogurt is a really healthy food for pregnancy recommended by all medical experts. Just

like other daily products, you just need to make sure whether it is pasteurized or not and prefer the pasteurized one. Yogurt contains more calcium than milk and a great source of protein as well. Three containers of yogurt per day should be a reasonable intake. Yogurt also reduces the risk of yeast infections with active cultures. Its daily intake reduces the risk of suffering from preeclampsia. Women suffering from preeclampsia have high blood pressure and high amount of protein in urine. In short, yogurt is really essential for the health of all pregnant mothers and their babies and should not be missed at any cost.

Milk

Daily products are really good for pregnant mothers especially milk. All dairy products are

good for the bones and teeth of the fetus as long as they are pasteurized. Pasteurized milk is produced without artificial hormones, pesticides and antibodies and contains extra omega-3. Milk is a good source of calcium, protein, riboflavin and vitamin D. Vitamin D good for the development of fetus skeleton bones and is also needed to transport calcium to fetus through the umbilical cord. Milk also helps in digestion and increases the appetite of a pregnant woman. Every pregnant woman should take about 4 cups of milk everyday to meet the requirements of calcium in both the baby and the mother.

Beans

"Beans, beans, and good for the heart /the more you eat”

Beans are one of the best foods in pregnancy because they contain fewer calories and

more nutrients, meeting the needs of a pregnant mom without making her fat. This was acknowledged by Dr. Miriam Stoppard in her book "Conception, Pregnancy and Birth” .Kidney beans contain carbohydrates and low-fat proteins making them a perfect food to choice during pregnancy.

Beans are rich in iron, fiber, protein, folate calcium and zinc. Black beans, pinto beans, white beans, lentils, black-eyed peas, and kidney, garbanzo, or soy beans contains a large amount of protein and fiber. As baby grows in a mother’s womb, it needs more nutrients that may not be fulfilled by mother’s body. Beans contain the major nutrients that are good for your baby growth with minimal amount of calories. So if you are pregnant, you must not miss beans at all.

Being the most loving and polite pet, cat has always been preferred by pet lovers. Though many people are fond of keeping dogs as well, but there are certain characteristics that indicate cats as a better choice to keep when compared with dogs. Cats are much cleaner than dogs and they treat your guests politely. Cats provide less harm to babies in the house and are not noisy as compared to dogs. Moreover, cats are less demanding as compared to dogs and can be kept alone all day long. Unlike dogs, you don’t have to take them out everyday and they can spend time alone at home as they do not need your constant attention.

Keeping a cat should not only be taken as fun only but it’s a big responsibility. We should always look for ways through which we can keep our cat happy. I have seen many people who keep pets, feed them but they do not give them what they need the most that is your quality attention. A research shows that cats strive to stay happy.

Although you don’t have to do much to keep your cat happy but there are certain things you need to do on regular basis. Always be careful in giving moderate attention to cats and give them space as well. Do not over do things and always keep a balance.

1.      Pay Quality Attention

Although cats are less demanding as compared to dogs still they need their part of attention to stay  happy. Everyday take out sometime and schedule play with your cat. Once the cat will be habitual, next time it will remind you itself by jumping in front of you at the specified time. This will result in 

assuring cat that its owner care for it, gives it time and will make it happy. Apart from all this, playing games with indoor cat everyday will provide it a good exercise and is good for its health too. Love your cat often. It will not only relax you but your cat as well and will make your bonding strong with the passage of time.

2.      Enrich your house with cat toys

Make sure that you keep a number of cat toys in your house for cat’s entertainment. Cats love to play 

everyday. Your cat will be less demanding with you this way and even if you could not manage to give it time, it can spend much time playing with those toys alone. It will not only keep the cat happy but also provides a good physical activity without any effort of the owner. A number of cat toys are available in the market these days such as balls containing catnip and fluffy balls on a string. Hang toys on shelves with string or elastic so that cat would have to jump to reach up to them. Scatter toys in different places in the house so that cat would find and play with them. Keep different type of balls in the house as cats love to play with balls many times in a day.

3.      Understand cat’s Nature (Arrange a scratching post, eats insects, do not train punish it for licking)

There are many things that are in the nature of cats. Scratching is one such habit that  you can not stop a cat to do so. Many people that lack knowledge regarding cat’s nature punish cats for scratching which is unfair to them. No matter, how badly you punish but still you can not stop the cat from scratching that God made it to learn. To save your sofas, curtains from scratching you should always keep a scratching post that is available in the markets easily. While training a cat, every time it starts scratching, place the cat on the scratching post. Within few days it will be trained. Another thing that lies in cat’s nature and you should mind it is eating insects including flies.

4.      Keep the litter box cleaned

Another important thing that should never be ignored is keep the litter box cleaned. The  best way to do is to change the clay everyday. Cleaning the litter box everyday is as important for cats as for humans to clean their toilets. Research has proved that cats have the same bitter feelings after finding the dirty litter box as .humans have when they see a dirty toilet. Like humans, cats also want a clean toilet every time they have to use it but this seems quite difficult for the owner so, at least the clay should be changed daily. Moreover, Cat’s food should also not be kept near the litter box. Cats have a bad feeling this way. Whatever you like for yourself should be preferred for cats as well.

5.      Feed her well

You should be well aware of the food needs of your cat specially its likings and disliking.

In order to keep your cat happy, you should not always feed it with one type of food. Minimum two different foods should be given to it every day for example, cat food and biscuits as well. Same type of food every day bore them. Moreover, food container should contain at least some food so that every time it gets hungry, it will not have to wait for its owner to give food but make sure the food quantity should not exceed its maximum limit. Keep the containers cleaned once they are dirty to make your cat happy.

6.      Give cat Independence

For cats, attention is as important as independence is. You have to make sure to keep a balance between the attention and independence you are giving to your cat. Do not over do when giving attention is concerned. Cats should be given a separate room if possible or a separate cat house where no one should disturb them once they want to enjoy independence and sleep. I’ve seen many cat owners who do not consider giving a separate place to a cat and children often do not let cats take rest when they really want to. It is really quite disturbing for the cats. Obviously, once you let the cat enjoy independence, it will surely return back to you with a better mood.

7.      Vaccination

Cat owners should be in contact with a veterinary doctor to give it vaccination at a proper time. Any

negligence shown in this aspect can be life threatening to the health and of course the happiness of your cat.

8.      Protection

Whichever pet you’re keeping becomes your responsibility and you

should perform it fully. Indoor cats should be provided sufficient protection so that no one could harm them physically and emotionally. Doors and windows should not be left open as cats can go out or a wild cat can get in and harm your cat. Wild cats are much stronger than indoor cats and if your cat goes out, there are great chances of its return with an injury. Moreover, cats should be saved from kids in the house as they do not know how to treat them carefully. I’ve seen many kids snatching cat’s hairs, disturbing them while sleeping and torturing them psychologically by making them do the things they do not want. Elders at home should play their role and stop their children to treat their cats this way because cats are very sensitive animals and they keep grudges for those who tease them.