I could not spend much time with my daughter when she was a toddler. The Primetime I spent with her was only in the evenings that is after 6 pm. This was the time of the day I most cherished. Little MM and I would go for a walk or to the park. Sometimes to her nearby friend's house. After we were back, we watched multiple Rhymes CDs and sang and danced with them. There were no smartphones or smart TVs to watch from youtube. Hence the CDs!
After dinner it was my favorite time again! that was the storytime. I had to read a complete Children's book. We read Tulika books, Pratham books, Amar Chitra Katha, Little Golden Books, The Berenstain Bears etc.
Calls in the evenings meant missing most of the evening fun. It disturbed her a lot and LittleMM would scream and interrupt by calling Amma..Amma..Amma....constantly.
With this background noise, I had to struggle during meetings as I was not able to communicate with her.
I came up with an idea to use Toastmasters Timer Cards with a twist as a way of communication during these meetings. I gave her one each of green, yellow, and red colored foam sheets and put across a few guidelines to use the cards.
She had to flash Red card vigorously if she felt like crying or screaming. That meant I had to drop from the meeting and listen to her immediately.
Else she can show a yellow or green card if she had to just say something and she just wants to be around.
This system worked well with both of us. LittleMM would step into the room and would flash the Green or the Yellow card to say that she is just around and I can listen to her after a while.
After she was got hold of language and was able to understand it, we did not have to use this system!
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