No TV

Enjoying sliced almonds on the balcony

On the swing

Barira pushing her brother

Aariz resting on the park bench with his bottle of water

We're on a TV curfew at home for the kids. Its been five days so far that the kids weren't allowed to watch any cartoon on TV. The only thing we watch is the daily NTV evening news and that's all. They're being pretty creative in finding new ways to keep themselves busy. They had a picnic on the balcony on their favorite "Kathas". Aariz's red one and Barira's purple. Barira's favorite color has changed from green to purple after coming here. She loves everything purple now. When we read books together she notices even the tiny things that are in purple! They play hide and seek, running after each other and enjoy diving from the sofa. So no tv is getting a little dangerous at times too. I've introduced them to an alphabet learning tool on the internet. This is a program for teaching kindergarten kids. Barira's JKG teacher also used this program in her class. Barira and Aariz both enjoy playing the alphabet games. I plan to introduce the TV back for them in moderate doses. I want to allow them to watch tv for maximum an hour a day. That's what we had when were growing up. We take them to the park everyday now that its summer. So they're getting to do a lot of physical activity. Aariz walks to the big park at the end of our road which is a good ten minute walk from our apartment. After playing and running around he walks half the way back home. They love going on the swing. Both have graduated to the adult's swing. There's also a sand pit at the park with sand toys such as trucks, spades, shovels and pails. They love playing in the sand. Most days we meet with our neighbors/friends Enis, Georgie and their kids are the park. They kids are the same age as Barira and Aariz. The oldest Ema went to JKG with Barira. So they have a good friendship. Barira and Aariz are always happy to meet Ema and Ille at the park.