Listen to this episode HERE.

Krista Dykes [00:00:11]:

This is Secret Mom hacks episode number 29. My name is Krista and I am your host. It's August 23, 2023, and I'm back with another fun interview for you today, this time with my new friend Aditi Singh. Now, we've never met in person, but I feel like we became fast friends during our chat. Atiti is an author, editor, and publishing strategist, but in today's show, we're talking about her role as a mom. We had so much fun during our chat. I'm hoping she will agree to come back again soon so we can do a deeper dive on some of the various things that we got into. Near the end of our conversation, I want her to come back and talk about the books she's written, which, if you go to Raisingworldchildren.com, you will see the wide variety of books she's authored. Plus, near the end of our chat, we talked about meditations and manifestations, and I just feel like we could do a whole other episode on all of the above. But before we jump into my chat with Aditi today, I just want to say thanks for tuning in, mama. I started this podcast because babies don't come with instructions. As of this recording, I'm chasing around a five year old that no amount of googling mom groups or what to Expect When You're Expecting books were able to prepare me for. There's a lot of stuff people don't talk about when it comes to pre pregnancy, during pregnancy and postpartum. And as someone who was previously terrified of childbirth, parenthood and all that follows, I'm here to help you pull back the curtain on all of it. And every now and then it may get a little messy, we may share a little TMI, but that's why you're here, right? My goal is you will leave every episode feeling refreshed, inspired and hopeful, knowing you are not on this mom journey alone. Now, there's a lot of subject matter to cover when it comes to mom life, and we are covering it all. So let's jump into the interview. I've always loved social media because of the way it keeps us all in touch with friends and family and our different spheres of life, if you will, our different circles as we're going about our day. My favorite thing, though, is when it brings new people into your life, and that is the case for today's interview. I am so happy to have a new friend here on the podcast with us. We're going to get to know each other through this interview because this is actually the first time we have exchanged words. We've emailed back and forth a little bit. We've gone back and forth on Instagram. It was so exciting when she reached out to me, I guess a little over a month or so ago. It was now on Instagram and we've been in touch and here we are. The beauty of social media. So I have with us on today's episode atiti Singh. And please correct me, make sure I pronounce your name correctly. Is that right?

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:03:16]:

Yes. Perfect. Adity Vardhan Singh. Because is a very common name.

Krista Dykes [00:03:24]:

I love it. I love it. Well, I'm so happy you're here with us today, Atiti, and I'm going to do a quick rundown of your bio was so helpful on your website, giving a quick snapshot of who you are. But then we're going to get deeper into some mom topics, mom questions and thoughts and solving all of the world's problems, which is what moms do, right?

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:03:51]:

That is what we do, definitely.

Krista Dykes [00:03:54]:

So on your site it says you are the founder, chief editor, children's book editor, and end to end publishing coach, and that is for raising world children, right?

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:04:07]:

Yes.

Krista Dykes [00:04:08]:

And so you mentioned that you wear many hats as us moms do. But of course, first and foremost you are a mom, and you were raised on the borders of Kuwait and India, but you're now in is it virginia. Virginia, okay. Very, very exciting. I'm excited to get to know more about you today and about what you do with your business and again, hacking mom life, how we're getting through it in the trenches, day by day together. But your bio also says that you are raising children who are American by birth and Indian by heritage, and you identify as a global citizen.

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:04:53]:

Which has.

Krista Dykes [00:04:54]:

Led you to create various resources for multicultural families. So you have several books. You're a children's book editor, and I feel like we're going to have a really fun conversation. But that's a quick overview of your bio. Anything that I left out that you would like to share about and include before we get into the questions?

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:05:16]:

I think you covered pretty much everything. It's just that I recently moved into writing fiction for adults. So I just launched a book called within, which is a collection of short stories which have universal themes but are told from the Indo American perspective. So you might see a subtle things in the stories which are not your average experience. So I'm very excited about that. Of course, I've gone from 2007 to being a freelance writer to creating Raising World Children. And then now I'm hoping to do what I have done with the platform is help diverse voices come together, which is why I coach other writers to become authors as well.

Krista Dykes [00:06:03]:

Where can we find your books? Where can we find within?

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:06:05]:

For example amazon. Amazon? Barnes and Noble Target. Most, most places online would definitely have them. And of course you can always find signed copies@raisingworldchildren.com, which is my website.

Krista Dykes [00:06:20]:

Excellent. Okay, friends, so make sure you go check out raisingworldchildren.com so you can see everything that FET is up to. And we're going to jump into the questions. So tell us about your kiddos, how many you have and maybe your favorite thing about them.

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:06:40]:

Well, I have a ten year old who has always been a teenager and I have a seven year old who's pretty much 17. Yes, but that is what I love about them because they are very opinionated. They are basically exponential versions of myself as I say that. They show me the mirror constantly. They are quite I would say they're old souls in small bodies. Sometimes they'll say things which make me think about how to be a better person. And I love that because if anyone visits my articles or reads my books, there's always this balance of mindfulness and culture and heritage. I try to bring it to my children, but they bring it back to me. So that's what I love about them. They're super funny, so that's something I love about it. They say the most hilarious things at times.

Krista Dykes [00:07:35]:

Certainly something I am learning. So my daughter is well, she's three and a half, but she's a teenager, as I like to say. Three going on 13. And I mean brutal honesty, right. Like the funniest things.

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:07:50]:

And this whole generation of children, I feel they grew up, they are growing way too fast. So I feel like by the time they are in their 20s, they'll be as emotionally stable, hopefully, as it took me to get at 35.

Krista Dykes [00:08:09]:

Yeah, it's wild. It really is. And there's so much information at their fingertips.

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:08:16]:

Yes. Constant. Because they're constantly bombarded with information. Internet is at their fingertips. They're learning so many things. My son has an opinion on everything because he knows something about everything. So it's kind of like so I've been talking to him about how it's okay to say I don't know or I don't know enough and not have an opinion on something. So that's after giving him the confidence of having an opinion, now I'm trying to explain to him about how there are some rooms in which it's better to be quiet yes.

Krista Dykes [00:08:49]:

And to listen. And it's okay to say I am neutral on that.

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:08:57]:

Yes, exactly. Because I feel like I said, this generation, being a writer, I think I observe more. So I see a lot of kids have this thing where they feel that they need to have this persona, not themselves, a persona where they have to be either in a category, like knowing enough, they have to know a lot. And I feel like that's important for them to remember that they're children and there's a long road ahead of them and listening is an important skill to develop. And like I said, they need to understand that it's okay sometimes to be like, I'm not so sure. Yes.

Krista Dykes [00:09:41]:

That is a struggle of developing confident kids who can also be confident in saying, I'm just going to observe or I'm just going to take this in.

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:09:55]:

Or I need to learn more about the situation. Which is fine, because I think we all understand that. I feel we are so scared of bullying that so many children. We've empowered them. And that's beautiful that a lot of kids can stand up for themselves and be strong in most touchwood, most situations. But yet I feel somehow they're now losing that kindness and empathy. Because for empathy, you need to be a good listener. You need to be able to put yourself in that situation that if someone says something mean, you don't need to maybe reply back. You need to maybe listen and think about why are they saying that? Is there something going on? There is something going on in their home. And I think that's a great perspective to bring up after a certain age.

Krista Dykes [00:10:39]:

Of course I'm curious to hear about your birth stories with both of your kiddos.

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:10:44]:

I'm an oversharer, so you don't need to worry. With my son, he was quite big, so the doctor would always say, it's a big boy. And I was like one day I got irritated and I told my husband, I said, what is her problem? Is she fat? Shaving my child in my stomach? Why does she keep saying that? Because I'm a hefty person myself. So it was kind of like, of course I put on even more. So I was wondering, is she talking about the baby weight? Is she talking about me? Why is she saying that? He took three days to come out. And that is when I realized what a big baby means. Very cozy in there.

Krista Dykes [00:11:20]:

He was very cozy in there.

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:11:22]:

Oh my God. So he was supposed to come on the third night, but I started getting my pain third exactly on the third, which never happens with people, but it did. But then I was not dilated enough, so I had to come back home after some time and then go back again when I couldn't bear it. And then he still wouldn't come out. And the nurses were again going on at me like, don't you want to have a normal pregnancy? I said, I've been at this for 7 hours. I'm tired, get the doctor. And the doctor was nowhere to be seen, which is ridiculous now that with experience, having a second kid and having spoken to a lot of moms, but with their first kid, you have no idea what you're doing. And if nurses are nurses, you think of course they should be knowing what and there was no doctor there. And I was in extreme pain and he was almost like half in, half out kind of situation. So I was crying and I was like and the anesthesiologist had taken a few tries to get the needle into for my, what do you call the epidural. So it had been really excruciatingly bad pain for me. So when they told me, okay, now it's time to go for C section and my first concern was, are they going to put the epidural again inside? And they were like, yeah, they would have to. And I started crying I said, I don't know what to do. You need to figure it out. And I don't know. I'm crying for my mom. My mom wasn't there. And of course, with the first kid, you kind of have a rebirth and I can still feel it. I've had goosebumps and I was really scared of that person coming. And he would put the needle in my back again. And I still remember this amazing nurse. I will never know her face. I don't know her name. Of course, there are all kinds of people, and that's what the story is about, I think, is she had a mask on, so I have no idea who she was. But she hugged me and she held me and she kept whispering in my ear, it's okay, it's going to be fine, it's going to be fine. Don't worry about it. We'll make sure you're okay. You not feel anything. And they were done. Like, the needle had gone in and I did not come to know. And this person was, I'm sure, much better than the first person. So then my son came out at 130 in the afternoon, and so when my daughter was about to be born, the doctor was like, okay, fine, you know what? You had a C section if you want to do that. And I couldn't imagine going through that again. And I said, that's fine, whatever you say is fine. As long as we get her in our arms safe and sound, I am ready to go through stuff, but not as much as like, three days worth of pain. No, please. But yes. I had always dreamt of actually having a big family, especially living here, far away from family. I wanted my children to have more siblings, but I puked all my pregnancies. Both my pregnancies were really bad, nothing serious, but I was puking all nine months. And I was nauseous and heartburn and every symptom, hurt, cold, pains and everything. So when I told my husband, can we try for a third? And he said, no way, I can't see you going through that again. It's crazy. So when we finally adopted my dog, somehow that little bit of hole somehow got filled up. But yeah, I still get a lot of baby fever.

Krista Dykes [00:14:47]:

Yes, because they're just so sweet and little. I know you said your first was a big baby?

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:14:55]:

Yes, he was nine pounds. And my daughter, when she was born, she was four and half. Like, literally half. So when they put her in my hands, I had no idea what to do. Sorry, seven pounds. I'm sorry, but I had no idea what to do with her because I said when he was born, he had filled up my arms, quite literally and figuratively. Yeah, but my daughter, she has these tiny, small hands and she's still a very puny thing.

Krista Dykes [00:15:24]:

So little, and of course, helpless, needing you all the time. And those baby snuggles are just the best. Oh, my gosh, I feel like I've blinked. And she has gone from just a little gurgling baby to this rambunctious tornado of a toddler. Definitely that time goes by too quick. What is something that nobody told you about becoming a mom?

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:15:54]:

Gosh, I should have thought more about this. I think nothing. My mom showed me by example, I think, because my mom and I spoke a lot about things under the sun, like, she was always very verbal with me. But in Indian culture, we don't talk about issues, you talk about things. I mean, there's a lot of sharing about our day to day things, but there's a very few things like what does delivery feel like or what does sex feel like? Those are not things that you would ever discuss. And what becoming a mother feels like is also something she would, of course, have never spoken to me about. And I didn't have many friends who were moms at that time, so I honestly did not know a lot. And I was scared to read parenting books before my son came because I felt like I don't want to have an idea in my head about how it's going to be. Because I have always believed every person's experiences are very different. There could be a similar line to things like, of course they all grow up and things like that, but it's very different. Ironic that I ended up writing all about my experiences in my first parenting book, which was Strong Roots. Have no Fear, because I believe you need to parent by intuition. You need to understand your child first, and that's most important. So one thing that I wish someone had told me, I would rather say let's put it that way, is that you need to and drilled it into me. Rather, people told me, okay, I'm not kidding. People did tell me that sleep, when the baby sleeps your own time, have your me time. But the guilt, the guilt, it is constant and it never stops. And it influences every decision you make, which means you push yourself more and more, even though you should not and need not. But we do that even when I'm balancing my just yesterday, I've actually written an article about how sometimes people talk about balancing energies and balancing time where mompreneurship and motherhood is concerned, but no one talks about how emotionally taxing everything is. Like, I tell my son five times to move something from one place to the other, and by the fifth time, I feel like pulling my hair out. And I'm like, I cannot repeat the sentence more times because now I have to repeat the same thing for my daughter, and it's exhausting. And then they were like and just like, for example, on Saturday, my daughter said, let's go play in the snow. This is our third day of snow enrichment, so there's not really that much. So whenever it is like she's very excited to go out and play in the snow. And I said, can you see me? I'm sitting and reading a book. In the past two months, I've never done this, and I want to do this. So if one time you don't go play in the snow, it's okay, it's fine. I need this for me. So you need to understand that this may not happen today. And that's okay because mom needs this. Because I had just finished launching within, and it had been a hectic two months, and I really wanted, like, a few hours where I was not thinking about work and not thinking about motherhood and cooking and all the chores, all my clothes lying around, nothing. I just went up to the attic and I was, like, hiding in a chair and reading a book. And I said, Girl, if you want to go play in the snow, you just need to wait for the next snowstorm.

Krista Dykes [00:19:11]:

I think that's so healthy, though. And while in her youth she's not necessarily going to get it, she's going to be probably disappointed. But I think that's such an important model behavior to model for our kids so they can learn how to set healthy boundaries as they become adults and to say, I'm craving this, I'm missing this. I need to put myself first. I need to fill my cup because it's really hard to fill everyone else's cup. When your cup is empty, it's overflowing.

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:19:43]:

I think it's not even about empty, especially with the pandemic. I think none of us realize how hard it's hit us because there are things that need to get done and we are on our toes and on the treadmill constantly. But there is a finite amount of energy and finite amount of emotions you can feel, and we have felt everything. Every day I go from being homesick to angry to sad to ecstatic if someone gives me a good review or I have a good client experience, to just today I did like four trips to the store and I'm very happy because for me, that's a productive day. I think weeks, because I was at home for the launch. After weeks, I went to the store, I went browsing at Home Goods, and I was like, oh, spring stuff is out. And it makes me happy. There are so many emotions and there is no time to just sit with nothing. There's no time to just sit and be relaxed. We are constantly, I think, trying to find happiness, and in that we are constantly not having time to just be.

Krista Dykes [00:20:45]:

Which I hope I'm making sense, totally making sense. I find myself so often busy in the flurry of making to do lists that have to do with everyone else, that have to do with family or with something I'm involved with in the community or with work or business or whatever. Actually, this past weekend, I did this I sat down and I was actually looking at the podcast, and baby was asleep. Everyone else in the household was out doing something else. And I had 30, 40 minutes where I could just have uninterrupted time to focus, where nobody needed anything, and I could strictly focus on myself. Poured myself a glass of wine, sat down with a blank sheet of paper and a pen, and was like, I'm about to make a to do list of something for myself, like, take some notes, something I'm really excited about. And it's in those rare moments that it's like, okay, everything's going to be fine. Just feeling that optimism and hope for the week ahead of okay, because I got this 30 minutes to myself. Now I feel empowered to go do all of the other things that need to happen to keep the household up and running.

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:22:11]:

Because if you're a type A person like me, you're constantly thinking about, how is this going to work out? And my head is full of ideas and plans. Okay, so plan A has a backup to it, and plan B has a backup to it, which is kind of like, ridiculous. I don't know if you've seen that meme where there are like a million tabs open in your head and you need to shut them off. I need to do that credit to my husband, though. He kind of spoiled me because he's like, you need to just sit and do nothing. He loves it if I'm sitting and doing nothing or just like, even binge watching TV. Sometimes, though, he doesn't watch TV, but he likes me to do that, even to his credit. Last week, it really made me realize that sometimes we don't know what we need. The kids love going to this Japanese restaurant, and we had a half day, and he said, okay. I told him, I said, let's go take the kids. And he said, you know what? It's been ages. You haven't had the kids to yourself. Why don't you take them out without having to teach them, without having to just have fun? And it was fun. There was no agenda. We didn't have a class to go store. We had a relaxed lunch. Then we went to target. We roamed around. No one had to buy anything, and we had fun. It was incredible. And I realized that's something I really needed.

Krista Dykes [00:23:28]:

Just unstructured time. There is beauty in some unstructured time.

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:23:33]:

Yes. Those are the exact words I've used in my book, and I did not remember.

Krista Dykes [00:23:39]:

I feel like we are kindred spirits because my computer might have 34 tabs open on it now. And I too, am a person who will make a plan with a backup plan and a backup to the backup. So I totally relate. What's either a piece of gear that you had when maybe they were babies or even something now that has really been a lifesaver for you as a.

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:24:05]:

Mom two things, and I have made a lot of people buy these things because I am an advocate of them. One, a bouncer. When your baby is a baby, like less than a year, bouncers are incredible. Okay? Because my kids, I co slept with both my babies. Like not my daughter in the night, but during the day. Yes. And the bouncer, you can move with your leg and while watching TV. Or you actually get some time to yourself if you have a bouncer, which is incredible. And now my instant pot, my air fryer. I wish I had had them when I was breastfeeding because those days were miserable because my son never slept through the night till he was nine months old. I used to stay awake with him all night. He was borderline colicky, which I didn't realize till seven months. He would cry all night and then all morning he would sleep, which meant, of course he slept on me. And I also slept. So we practically ate out most of the time that time. So now I love my with the kids going for these multiple classes, it's great to put stuff in the air fryer. When I come back, I put some fries or there is some veggies in the air fryer. And the instant pot has rice and dal and we are good to go. So I love it. These three things I recommend to everyone.

Krista Dykes [00:25:23]:

What do you not recommend? Is there something that maybe you heard about or you were really excited about and then you got it, used it and you're like, this did not live up to the hype?

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:25:34]:

I think there's a lot of things that are perks that you don't need them, but they might make your life better. Those wipe warmers, I could never wrap my header. I feel a lot of things are gimmicky. For me, I had made a mobile just because I saw people having it. So I made a mobile by hand with pictures of our family. So that was nice. But a lot of things are just gimmicky. You don't really need them. We have been a one income family, so for us it's always been what is needed versus what would be fun to have. So yeah, I wouldn't say more.

Krista Dykes [00:26:12]:

The wipe warmer, I completely agree with you. And I kind of liken it to as an adult, we don't use warm towelets when we go to the bathroom, right? We use just plain old toilet paper. Or if you have some toilet wipes, they're not warm, they're going to be the room temp. And it's like, it's so unnecessary. Hey, would it be nice? Yes, but also a heated toilet seat would be nice. And we don't all have those.

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:26:42]:

Please. I will tell you, I was just telling a friend's daughter the other day, because she's twelve and we were in this conversation and I told them, you guys are so privileged in the sense that you have lot of things. I was in Mumbai, in India for my computer engineering and I used to live in a hostel and the hostel was being built that time. We used to get water once in a day for one and a half hours. That's it. And we used to fill two buckets of water and one bucket used to be like for washing clothes and then the remaining used to be for your whole day. And that's how the kind of life I have experienced. So I keep telling my kids, I said all of this could just pause or not be there and you would have to be okay. And I also lived through the Gulf War where we had to leave Kuwait to India forever. My mom had just taken her jewellery and one suitcase full of diapers because she didn't know whether she would get diapers in India. And she couldn't imagine living all we left with. That was all we had. So when you've lived life with so little, I think a lot of things are not really like I say, I understand that some things are perks and they're just fun to have, which is great. You said a seat warmer would be wonderful to have, but do we need it? No, we don't need it.

Krista Dykes [00:28:04]:

Well, I know one way you keep it all together is you carve out those moments for yourself. Like you were talking about with your daughter wanting to go out and play in the snow. But is there another example, maybe for those summer months when there's not snow? Or just a different example of a way that you as a mom keep it all together?

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:28:27]:

I think there are three ways. Those are one, carve out me time in the sense of being by yourself or being with your girlfriends without talking about kids. There has to be a space where you're spending time and recognizing yourself, learning unlearning things, accepting, listening. Because often what happens is when you're living our life every single day, we start living in our own head and our own problems. But there are so many other things that are happening in the world that in retrospect or in comparison to that, sometimes our life seems a little better. I'm not saying that you have to feel better about someone else's problems, but it kind of puts your life into perspective and I think that's important to do. Number two, I would say, is all your to do list. Write them down the night before. Don't do it the morning of, do it in the night before and in the morning's light. A lot of those things don't need to be done. And that's something I swear by. I make my list and I cut things out the next day. Because in the urgency of the moment you feel like oh, I have to do this, this. But not everything is required to get the product that you. Need at the end. Even if that's something as simple as getting your kids to learn math or in your work, sometimes it's not all that you need to do. I think this is very important, especially hustling moms, because I have grown from one space and come till here and I've seen that we tend to try a lot of things because the hustle has you trying to find out what works for you. So if you're like, okay, if that's working for that, let me try that as well. But try it for a little while and then let go of it. And number three is evolve. Evolve. Understand yourself and accept that this is not what you need. Like what has been working for you. Maybe reading is not working for you anymore. Maybe you need to now start painting. Maybe you need to learn a new skill to get yourself out of your own head. Because I draw these days. I'm a horrible drawer. I'm not good at it at all. I draw like a child. And people often comment like if I posted my stories out of fun and I always get comments like, oh, your kid drew that. That's so cute. But I tell you, it is so liberating to just sit and draw rubbish, not caring about the outcome. Because when you're a creative I am a multi creative person. I love dancing. I love drawing. I don't love drawing. I enjoy drawing, but I love writing. I love reading. But all of it is even when I'm reading, I'm reading as a writer. So it's all work for me at the end of the day and especially when your passion turns into your job, people say it's fun. I think people need to understand that it's not fun. It is actually torture because this is something you absolutely love and you put your heart and soul into it and then you let it go out in the world. And then people say amazing things most of the time, but then you need to first get those eyes on your work and sometimes people don't like it and then it's not that fun and it's a long journey. So yes, I think these three things evolve me time and trim down your to do list.

Krista Dykes [00:31:42]:

I'm the person who will make a to do list to fill the sheet of paper. And so I like that that in the morning's light, some of them just won't seem all that important. Great. What is a tip or trick or some piece of advice, any nugget of wisdom that you would share with another mom right now?

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:32:05]:

I think I would like to drill down on the guilt aspect that I was talking about is I mean, if you've done something wrong to someone, yes, please say sorry. But a lot of times we feel shame and guilt for things maybe we are not able to do and things that we are not able to reach. Because, like I said, our to do list is quite long, and sometimes some balls drop and some things get missed out and you mix up a date. It's okay. We all are doing it. And people call it mom brain. And I think it's a real thing because you as a mom are not just thinking about yourself. You're constantly thinking about your home, your family. And your family is not just one thing. Your family is every single member. What they eat, what they wear, what they need during the day, their classes. And you're constantly putting them not first, necessarily, but you are putting them in your brain and everything about them. And it is bound to be a lot for you. And it's okay if some things you want to let go of some things and someday you don't feel like cooking, and some days you don't feel like cleaning, and some days you just don't feel like working. I mean, if you have the option to say that, okay, fine. I need a me day of not working today as productive. I'm talking about mompreneurs here specifically because working moms, of course, cannot do that. And I understand that. But I'm sure there's another way that they could probably incorporate this in not letting the guilt get to them, because that is something I struggle with constantly. Because especially, I think, as women, and this is something I've realized this January, is we are constantly in halves, right? Especially moms like me, who have their family in India and who have their family here to take care of. And I am my mom and dad's, son and daughter, and they are getting old, and I want to be with them. I can't physically be with them, especially with the pandemic. It's been four years. I've seen my family, and here I have to take care of my family. I can't visit my family because what if things shut down again? And I think a part of us lives within everyone we take care of. And it's okay to sometimes just take care of yourself. Guilt free, shame free.

Krista Dykes [00:34:26]:

100% agree. If we heard our children saying the things that we will often tell ourselves in our own heads, we would lose it. We would be like, Why are you saying that to yourself?

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:34:42]:

That's actually beautiful. Because in my book, within, there's a story where a mother looks in the mirror and she says some things, and her daughter is listening. And then that equation of when her daughter perceives herself the same way, her mother talks to her and says that, no, you are beautiful and you're amazing. And the daughter says, But, Mama, why don't you realize you are beautiful as well? And that's, I think, an emotion that a lot of us feel, and I think you said it, that if children were saying those same things to themselves, it would break our hearts. But we say to ourselves constantly, you're not good enough. You've put on so much weight. You didn't do that right. You could have done better. And it's overwhelming. And I think with the world we are living in, we need to be kind to everyone, but we need to remember to be kind to ourselves as well.

Krista Dykes [00:35:33]:

Totally agree. Do you ever do affirmations? Are you an Affirmation type of person?

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:35:38]:

I do affirmations. I do manifestations. Not as often as I would like, but yes, I do them.

Krista Dykes [00:35:44]:

Oh, my goodness. We might just need to have a whole other podcast episode. I feel like certain topics have stemmed from just this initial interview that you just may have to come back.

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:35:55]:

Yes. Oh, listeners, please let Krista know that you want Aditi to come back and talk about how she left Kuwait just with that bag of diapers.

Krista Dykes [00:36:05]:

I'm intrigued.

Aditi Wardhan Singh [00:36:06]:

I'm hooked.

Krista Dykes [00:36:07]:

I'm ready to hear more. So I have no doubt it's a very inspiring story. Okay, well, we're going to put a pin in this conversation for now, but I just want to say please, listeners, let me know your favorite takeaway from this episode. Please hop over to raisingworldchildren.com and check out everything atiti offers and is bringing into this world. She is full of helpful resources and information to raise up this next generation of kiddos. So thank you for joining us for today's episode. And remember, Mamas, you can't take care of others if you're not taking care of you. So put a little moment of self care or a big moment of self care on the books for yourself today, tomorrow, and we will see you on the next episode. And until then, you've got this, momma.

[END OF EPISODE]

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