How do you like to spend your day off with Areeza?
Chhavi Mittal:
We love to go for coffee and talk. She loves talking about her friends and all her “growing up” stuff with me and takes my advice as a friend. We also learn calisthenics together and bonding for both of us.
You often seem to share an exceptional outdoor active routine with your daughter (on social media) to stay fit. Please describe how it has contributed to your and her physical, emotional & mental well-being.
Chhavi Mittal:
We do calisthenics together. I had taken her to join the class because of her love for gymnastics which she was learning before the lockdown. But when we reached the park, I did some things with her and we both decided to join together. We go twice a week and it’s a long drive and is time-consuming, I need to leave work early so I can take her and bring her back on time, but those are my favorite days of the week. We get to spend a lot of time together and I feel so proud to see her perform so well there. She is agile, full of energy and I think in the long run she will benefit a lot. If there is one regret, I have in my life it is not starting some form of physical activity in my own young days. So I don’t want to make that mistake with her. I also feel stronger as I learn to control my body in new ways.
What is Areeza’s way of celebrating a picnic and your birthday with her?
Chhavi Mittal:
Areeza celebrates mom’s birthday “by giving a gift.” Her message for her mumma “I like it when you are home with me on your birthday and I like it when we go out for lunch or dinner and I love making gifts for you and I always feel like making something bigger than what I made last year. And I really like it when you stay home on your birthday and celebrate it with me but I also want you to be happy on your birthday.”
As a mother what has been the most proud & memorable moment with her?
Chhavi Mittal:
The proud and memorable moments never cease. When she sings, or when she acts in school plays, or when she does handstands better than me or flies on the monkey bar, or she gives me advice on a matter that leaves me baffled, or takes care of Arham and pacifies him when he is not listening to anyone, these are all proud moments for me.