Celebrate a healthy, fun Pongal & Makar Sakranti with your kids!

The Christmas and New Year’s festivities have finally come to an end, and after all the merriment, feasting and gifts, the days of post-holiday blues are here. But fortunately, I live in India, a beautiful country, rich with different cultures and traditions; and we always have something or the other every month!

January for my family is full of festivities because of my dad’s birthday, brother’s birthday, Makar Sakranti and also Pongal which is celebrated in our society. Which means, January is full of sweets again! The best part is that my kiddo is a sweet-tooth too, just like me.

 

We often forget why do we celebrate these festivals and meaninglessly follow the society. But just to remind you, these are all harvest festivals, celebrated in the joy of a good harvest by the farmers.

So when Makar Sakranti or Kite Flying Day are approaching near, me and my mother-in-law start preparing Til Laddoos, Til Chikki; which are made using sesame seeds and jaggery or sugar. You must have heard the popular saying “Til-Gud ghya, god god bola” or to translate, eat sweet and speak sweet. With my toddler teething, he absolutely loves biting and gnawing on the til laddoos, but that also means he’s making a mess with the crumbs in the entire house.

We also happen to have a lot of South Indian neighbours and friends and colleagues who join the celebration as they celebrate Pongal too. And they always make it a point to send some of the delicacies like the Sweet Pongal rice, milk and jaggery. Yummy! We also make puran puri (sweet parathas made from gram flour and jaggery) along with curry and pickle. When served hot during the cold winter days, these are all just pure bliss!

But along with us, unknowingly, other (not-so-welcome) “guests” are also feasting on these savouries. All the laddoo crumbs dropped by my kiddo (which if he finds later on, he will pick up and eat), all the left-over dumped in the kitchen dustbin overnight, all the other food send by relatives kept in the kitchen; are all devoured by cockroaches. These cockroaches not only look disgusting and make the hair on the back of my neck stand, but also spread disease-causing bacteria all over the food and kitchen. And when we negligently eat using the same dishes or unprotected food, we’re prone to food poisoning. The thought of my baby getting a tummy bug is just too scary, and didn’t we learn that prevention is better than cure?

That’s why, after cleaning up the kitchen at night before sleeping, we spray LAL HIT - The red one. It helps me get rid of cockroaches completely, even the hidden ones as it comes with a unique Deep Reach Nozzle. I can sleep at peace that those menacing cockroaches will be taken care of, and I can let my kiddo nibble and eat whatever he likes. And not just him, everyone is away from diseases during the festivities, as festivals are the worst time one can fall ill, whether it is Pongal or Diwali.

 

#SayNoToFoodPoisoning and have a Happy Makar Sakranti! Don’t forget to take your little one kite flying and see the joy on his face. And eat a lot of sesame, it’s really good for healthy, especially during the winters. Plus, it’s yummy too!