Are you a paranoid parent who is always looking for answers to miscellaneous problems that you encounter on a daily basis, or are you someone who is soon going to embark on parenthood journey? Well, ‘Bundle of Joy’ is the book you need to grab to address all your queries.
Paediatrician Sanjay Wazir And Author Ambika Rikhye Launch Their Book ‘Bundle Of Joy’; A ‘Bible’ For Parenting
Paediatrician and neonatologist Dr Sanjay Wazir and content strategist with GurgaonMoms Ambika Rikhye launched their book ‘Bundle of Joy’ on Wednesday among an enthusiastic audience who made it to the event despite heavy rains. People cutting across age groups were present at the event and the energy was infectious indeed. From parents resonating with authors’ insights to grandparents regaling the audience with their anecdotes, it was an interactive session that was moderated by director of GurgaonMoms book club Shibani Sethi.
Published by Bloomsbury India, the book serves as a handbook for every parent out there who wants to find answers to their everyday, miscellaneous problems. After reading the book, Dr Wazir jokingly mentions how many parents would not need to come to him for trivial problems, as the book has detailed answers to most of them. Founder of GurgaonMoms Neela Kaushik also spoke about how the book is like a bible for parenting that covers wide-ranging aspects.
Book launch event of ‘Bundle of Joy’
Dr Wazir and Ambika share a long-standing relationship. They entertained their audience by telling them how paranoid Ambika would rush to Dr Wazir every time her son would sneeze, cough or not sleep at night. “I would go to the doctor in hopes that he would prescribe my son some medicines and all the minor problems would go away, but he would just tell me that there’s nothing wrong and everything will be fine. I would return home disappointed,” shares Ambika, whose son is now a teenager.
Realising that there are a lot of parents like Ambika out there who feel all panicky and hapless while navigating through different challenges that parenting throws at them, the two thought of collaborating together and penning down their experiences and science-backed insights in an endeavour to simplify parenting. The book also delves deeper into many unspoken issues that children go through like mental health issues, eating disorders, sleep issues, cyberbullying and so on.
Speaking about writing the most difficult chapter in the book, Ambika spoke about how the book also highlights the importance of parents knowing the right approach to deal with emergencies. “How many parents know how to administer CPR? In emergency situations like when a child suffers from electrocution or choking, most parents rush them to hospital, wasting precious time on commuting from one place to another. In the book, we’ve talked about how every parent should know how to administer CPR,” says Ambika.
Dr Wazir, who fundamentally believes that every parent should study and bear in mind science-backed guidelines when it comes to parenting a child, also shared how every mother out there should always trust her motherly instinct at the same time.
During the session, Ambika shared she is a huge believer of responsive parenting. On the other hand, Dr Wazir shared his mantra of parenting a child. “Children below 5 years of age should be showered with love and affection. From 5 to 15 years of age, a child should be disciplined and post 15 years of age, a parent should act like a friend to their child and not interfere too much into their life,” he said laughingly.
On being asked what are some of the parenting myths that the book debunks, the authors spoke about the irrelevance of following strict routine. “Each child is different. They may be smaller in frame, but they have emotions too and parents must respect them and embrace their imperfections,” shared Ambika.
Towards the end, there was a fun rapid fire round and the lovely audience concluded the session on an interactive note by sharing their experiences and asking a few pertinent questions from the authors.
