Bindis and Bangles, A South Asian Baby Shower #TimeToHug

We had a busy weekend and there was one thing I was looking forward to…. the Bindis and Bangles Baby Shower hosted by Masalamommas. Why did I look forward to this free eventt? Mainly because the hubs was looking after Baby Boy and Little Monkey as I was working at the event – that’s a whole Sunday afternoon, just for me! Ironically it was a South Asian Baby Shower with plenty of babies 🙂

The event MC’d by national media personality Karen Johnson and presented by Huggies, was a mix of fun and education. Things kicked off with a game (of course) where three moms went against each other  to see who could put on the most diapers on a baby doll. Not only was it funny watching a high school friend of mine (and new mom) compete but we also learned that dads are much faster at diaper changes. Who’d have thought eh?

No baby shower is complete without good eats and sure enough we enjoyed some delicious pakoras, samosas, chicken Tikkas and spring rolls at the Swagat Banquet Hall as we chatted with the speakers. Lemon Lily Tea was also on hand keeping us warm on the snowy day and here’s a little secret.. GO TASTE THEIR CANADIAN MAPLE!!! I only had that tea but it was delicious! I plan to stock up soon for the cold winter months ahead.

Parenting expert Nanny Robina kicked off the afternoon by offering tips and advice on schedules and sleep patterns. I’m lucky that both Little Monkey and Baby Boy were decent sleepers in the early stages…it’s once they get older than the sleep gets tough! Robina touched on this topic and highlighted that older kids (aged 4) may be waking up due to being over stimulated before bed time. Something for us think about with Little Monkey who hates going to sleep and no longer takes day time naps.

Yoga Intructor Rishma Malik-Scott got us all energized with her short (but much appreciated) yoga lesson. Memories of massaging gassy Little Monkey flooded back as Rishma took new moms and their babies through a quick yoga class. She offers yoga birthday classes for kids… how fun would that be? Well…I think it sounds fun. Perhaps the kids would too.

We also heard from Lisa Caron, a doula who has years of experience in helping moms recuperate post delivery. I’m still wrapping my head around the doula role but for those without extra support post delivery, I see a doula being immensely helpful. As the afternoon wound down, we filled our bellies from the candy station and everyone was eyeing the cutest elephant cookies from Branded Bites (yes the very same company who made our birthday chocolate pops!) and the Huggies diaper cake.

A friend of mine who I’ve known since my high school days in Dubai also attended the baby shower and we decided to fool around with the green screen where I pretended to pet an elephant. Oh come on, you would have done the same! On a more serious note, check out the Time To Hug facebook page and if you can, do upload pictures of a ‘hug’ with the TimeToHug hashtag. For every picture uploaded, Huggies will donate $1 towards the South Asian Women’s Centre here in Ontario.

I may not be a new mom (when did that happen!!) but my friend is and she was thrilled at the opportunity to attend this free event and said she gained some new ideas on how to soothe and satisfy her three month old (hello baby yoga!) and more over, the chance to connect with other moms going through similar issues and milestones is what made this event one to remember.