By Melissa Meehan
For many first-time mums, parenthood can become a very isolating time.
You become wrapped up in the feed, play, sleep routine and with the lack of sleep it’s hard to find yourself within the initial fog of it all.
Kew mum Josynta Singh knows this feeling all too well.
A lawyer by trade, she (like many others) found it difficult to turn
her mind to anything different than nappies, milk and baby talk.
But after reading numerous baby books to her daughter Zara
she noticed something was missing.
Josynta, of Indian background, realised there were very few
baby and toddler books that depicted the way she grew up. Or the way she was raising her daughter.
So the mum-of-two started writing her own children’s books about three years ago.
“I just didn’t see anything that showed how I was raising my daughter – and by that I mean, a bit of Indian culture in a western background,” she said.
“And there’s a lot of people in the same boat as me – migrants living in a western country and there’s no books for babies and toddlers that reflect the little bits and pieces of our culture that we take on ourselves as we grow up.”
This includes cultural clothing and different foods.
And, as she was preparing to welcome her second child into the world,
Josynta (who has lived in Australia for 20 years) was putting the final touches on her book called Zara likes to…
“It’s very important that kids can identify themselves in books – so for
instance when Zara saw the character in the book eating Dal – she said ‘I like to do that’,” she said.
“And we call grandmother Nani in the book – which is just like Italians have Nonna and Greeks have Yia Yia.”
Josynta said finishing the book was “really rewarding” and has begun
work on her second.
“My husband comes in and out, doing exciting things at work and you sort of tend to lose yourself, sacrificing much in motherhood,” she said.
“I found that going for a walk in park, or going out with friends, or buying something – they are great when on maternity leave.
“But what I found more fulfilling, or what brought me back to who I was is this book – it challenged my brain and gave me something to be passionate about outside of nappies.”
To buy your copy check out Zaralikesto_ on instagram or email
josyntasingh@gmail.com
