The ABCs of Life

Don’t be sad little darling,
this is just the way the world is;
bright sunny days will always have
a dark ending.
I know you hate seeing ‘adik’ sleep
and having to need to sleep yourself is boring
but nightime is just one of the things
to help you rest and energize
just like eating fruits and vegetables
and doing the running exercise.

Don’t be angry little child,
if you can’t finish building
towers with your blocks,
or winning the games you love,
tomorrow will come InshaAllah
for you to continue learning and trying.

Don’t be frustrated little angel,
if you trip or fall as you run,
and don’t worry if after many times
your towers can’t properly stand,
or if you can’t seem to get it right
all the times you tried to draw
an Ultraman.

I know it’s hard my little darling,
but there’ll always be a helping hand
and life is always about learning,
so try your best to enjoy
your wonderful efforts rather than just cry.

I know sometimes it’s confusing
to want but not able to do or have
for there are boundaries and limits
to even the finest body and mind.

This is how life is little sweetheart,
and may one day you’ll find
the wisdom and courage
to accept and understand His Might.

Love,
Ummi a.k.a k-e-w
Furze, May 16, 2008 156am

p/s: Especially to Mama and Loy, and to all other teachers, educators including those busy Moms and Dads who pay great attention to their children’s growth and care, those who might accidentally stumble upon this blog or read it everyday, Happy Teachers Day! Once a teacher, will always be one

I know it has been a while since the last update. I guess having to share a computer with three other persons in the house is no easy thing to do. Especially when the two little people are most interested in it while you’re at it! Therefore, to reduce tension so that everybody could live happily ever after; I choose to only use the computer if I have something important to do or when the two little people are not around (asleep).

The little boy is now three; that means triple energy, intelligence, love and sometimes…mischief! So does the little sister who is approximately 15 months now. Handzalah is a funny talkative kid but we’ve found out recently that Fidaa’ is even funnier at a younger age. I can’t believe how she could make funny faces, movements and so on and be a natural clown without a red nose and heavy make up all day long! What Handzalah will do in response to that then is imitating her silly acts and noises, trying to join in the fun.

Or is it jealousy? Handzalah loves copying her sister now. Seems as if he feels that doing so will gain him the attention she is getting (at that particular moment). Guess kids just love the attention so much when someone else’s having it. Be it another sibling, mummy’s friend or even husband! Whenever my husband and I have a long conversation about anything, that will be the time when our kids will need everything they could think of in this world. That’ll be the time when they’ll voluntarily ask for a nappy change, feel thirsty or hungry or even want to listen to a story. If the conversation seems like too fun, what these little people will do is…they’ll jump, sit or stand between us, physically (with great effort) trying to ‘remove’ the attention you’re getting from your partner. And usually, Ummi (me; my mom in Arabic) will be the one who can’t be talking to Abi (my hubby; my dad in Arabic) too long. It’s like they’re saying: “Ummi you’re mine, and mine ONLY! And Abi, time’s up ok?”. But the little boy now has learnt some manners, and have more patience to wait for ‘his turn’.

I remembered Handzalah having the same way of seeking attention with Fidaa’ now when he was much much younger. When they want us to pick them up, they will of course cry but if you simply try to comfort them from a bit of a distance (so that you won’t have to pick them up), they’ll cry and walk and suddenly, manja-ly fall! They do that every time we had ‘the crying test’, when there’s no reason to cry and they start crying we’ll wait for a while for them to come and see if the same drama happens and of course…the best actor and actress awards go to…MY KIDS!

Kids grow so fast and as time flies, I think I’ve also learnt to do many things and one of them is keeping my little boy ‘away’ from the PC in a more sensible manner now. A total ban won’t be good for something that has goodness in it but assuring he doesn’t spend all his time or most of his time just watching a flat screen is necessary. In exchange, he’ll just need simple but fun things to do and Ummi to accompany him too. I guess there’s a bit of addiction with all these techie accessories but it’ll be for a while InshaALlah. Though he still have a lot of interests in those things, I feel that given time and space, he actually prefers physical activities like playing football and running. He seems to love artwork too, always asking us to help him draw his ‘Ultraman’ (his current favourite character) or a computer. And of course, that computer must have a screen, keyboard and mouse! He loves scribbling on my little whiteboard with his sister and take every single marker I have of different colours to use. At the end of the day when it’s my turn to use those things for class, I’ll be writing on the whiteboard filled with patterns on its wooden frame and markers with a mixture of colours. It’s no longer blue or green, it’s like blue with a touch of red, and black green…or whatever.

Fidaa’ won’t only use the whiteboard but have this habit of drawing on her palm and arm! Worse, if you’re not fast enough to avoid the aftermath you’ll find marks of ink anywhere on her face and body, or if they’re doing group work you might find other abstract drawings around your household! I had a great laugh watching one of Joeprah’s video recently of her little gal who also did the same creative activity and turn out she even drew something on her belly! It’s funny enough to learn that kids are egocentric but their acts and imagination sometimes are without boundaries. I guess that’s why my parents never had the walls at home painted until most of us grew up ;).

All praise be to Allah, my little princess is now a toddler. She had her first birthday on January 15th 2008, 2 days ago. Well, we don’t really celebrate birthdays but Abuhandzalah made a special collage for all of us to remember the 12 wonderful months she has been with us.

Please pray that she’ll grow into a fine, responsible young lady that will benefit her Ummah and cherish her family.

Fidaa’, we love you!

:: Ummi, Abi & Abang Handzalah ::

That’s how it’s like for my kids when they first found the ‘window’. Once they discovered that behind those long clothing on the walls are windows; the eyes to the world outside, they’ll begin to seek ‘opportunities’ simply to get a little bird’s eye view especially from the bedroom’s window that’s easily reachable from the bed. They’ll even play some tricks to get themselves up on the bed and later climbing on the window and start ‘observing’ what’s life like outside. Once they started talking (that’s Handzalah for now), they’ll be describing what’s going on outside and even who’s out there - though apparently all persons mentioned are none but everyone else.

When Handzalah was into this window ‘thingy’, I was so paranoid and seeing him nearby the window was like watching a scary movie. But as time passes, I’ve come to realise that it’s one of those things in life that kids will learn to know, understand and might enjoy for a certain period or so. They’ll get over it after sometime but they’ll need your supervision until then. After all, the windows are securely closed and locked. Handzalah has lesser interest in viewing the world nowadays but since Fidaa’ had find her way to the window; it seems like they’ve found a new ‘hobby’ to enjoy together. I call it ‘the window session’ where both of them cheerfully climb up the window from the bed with Ummi (mommy) watching them calmly until they start to perform some heart-pounding stunts. Then the session will be cut short of course!

Negligence might lead to accidents therefore please do supervise your children ALL THE TIME if they need to have such sessions at home. Lest your windows aren’t safe enough to let a kid enjoy a view by it’s side, NEVER opt to hold the session. Mind you, I’ve fallen from a two storey building called home from my sister’s bedroom window when I was a toddler myself…all praise be to God, I fell hard but hurt not, miraculously.

Read the rest…

It’s the big boy’s turn with the flu.

He’s so unwell, yet trying his most just to be normal. You could see he’s unwell from his eyes. How they’re struggling to be opened wide. At times; busy building with his blocks and singing his favourite character’s song: “Bob the builder, can we fix it? Bob the builder, yes we can!”. And the mucus that flows down the River Nose once in a while; surely distracts and disturbs this normal busy boy from completing his work. Which usually leads to a cry for a good cleansing ply of wipes.

This lovely little soul though physically unwell, is still filled with empathy towards others in need of a smile.

And once the clingy little girl was sad and cried, and quickly came the big boy to her aid, leaving everything else behind.

He hold the little girl close to his heart, saying ‘O lil gal, please don’t cry. ‘Cos I’m here now to keep you safe, to make you smile’

“Fidaa’, jangan nangis. Abang ada ni. Kapa (kenapa) sedih?”

Even in his sleep, as he hears her cry, he’ll be calling her name with closed eyes: “Fidaa’, jangan nangis. Abang ada ni”

Please pray for my little boy, so that he’ll have his smiles again and loses the flu SOON.

The little girl has just recovered from her fever last weekend but poor little fella it switched to a runny nose and now she’s coughing a bit. Well, I think it’s simply the time of the year when flu and other sickness would be common. Even SMS had poor attendance last week because some of the children were ill. I’ve no idea what happened to CLS’s Award Day’s performance then - supposed to be on Sunday - since I myself am not feeling 100% well to ask around about it, yet.The little girl is now walking everywhere with better balancing skills and smiles all the way. Just call her name and she’ll come walking to you. She even know how ‘not to fall hard’; putting one hand on the ground to slow down the process and making it lesser tragic and painful.

She seems to want so much of independence when it comes to feeding and playing; “I want my own bowl, my own spoon!”, “Don’t feed me, I can do it on my own!”, “Don’t hold me back, I want to explore things on my own!”. She’s on easy to much family food and still on breast milk. She loves pointing out her finger to your face just like the way we’d point her nose and say “nose”, her eyes, mouth and so on. That might also came from the way we taught her to point objects on the reading touch pad. She’ll even point out the finger for an exchange; another pointing finger of yours to join hers and she’ll smile. One of the best time to see that is when we’re performing ‘tahiyyat’ during prayer, pointing out the forefinger. She thought she needs ‘to reply’ when she’s actually testing her parent’s concentrating skills…uhuh! Read the rest…

I know I’ve been delaying some posts on TAB and also SMS, there are just too much to tell I can’t find the time to sit and write them down properly for you guys. Sorry for that. The last post is in July and that means there’s a 3 months backlog! I hope I can make it NOT too long for a read, so here we go …

The little boy is now 31 months old. He talks a lot though he still struggles to re-pronounce the letter ‘L’ and ‘R’ everytime Ummi tries correcting his pronunciation. He’s very observant though he recently developed a new habit of trying to act as if he’s not really listening to me calling him. He’ll politely ask, “Apa dia? Tak dengarlah” (What? I can’t hear you) and repeats it on your every single call until you go to him and have an eye to eye chat. It’s like he’s saying “I’m hearing Ummi, but I want to play busy like everyone usually does”. Haiyah, this reminds me of a famous family motivator whom said something like this: “When the kids do something wrong and you’re cooking/frying things, don’t talk to the frying pan, especially in anger - you should always look at your children’s face, as eye contact is very important in communication. Don’t expect they’ll receive your message if you can’t bother to take sometime off your job and talk to them properly”. I guess you should always recognize and treat your children like an equal person and with some special attention to their special level of understanding and needs, and I do try to do just that as much as possible.

Handzalah’s current favourites are Muhammad The Last Prophet’s animation film. He’s now able to sing a long almost every favourite song of his and despite having a new Light Saber toy bought by Abi, he still at times, asks for a pot and ladle and a few things from the kitchen to cook ‘tomyam’, soup or ‘ayam goreng’ (fried chicken). Of course, everyone will be offered some of his cooking when it’s ready! He loves building with his new sets of blocks. He’ll be screaming asking for help whenever Fidaa’ comes to ‘demolish’ his towers.

Read the rest…

Hear ye! Hear ye!

This entry is dedicated to our “Kakak Aziya” (that’s Azila in Handzalah’s cute pronounciation) who’s faraway in Malaysia right now.

Dearest Kakak Aziya,

On Friday 19th October 2007, just a few days after my 9th month birthday, during one of those sleepless cold nights, where I kept Abi and Ummi awake, inhaling the mesmerizing autumn breeze to entertain us: their cute little darlings, me, your cute little comrade has finally took my first steps of walking. I walked that night without Ummi or Abi’s helping hand, and I smiled all the way through because I knew I’ve just achieved something new. Another milestone in my life, another memory for my dearest parents and of course, my lovely Kakak Aziya who has been giving me the walking drills. I would love to have you then, seeing me walk with these tiny two feet for the first time, but Allah Knows Best, it was not meant to be. I hope you would at least feel happy when Ummi told you I finally did. Don’t worry Kakak Aziya. I’ll walk with you one day and I’ll be very good at it then, so that we could walk together to the park and play with the swimming ducks InshaAllah.

Be back “home” soon Kakak Aziya, we miss you.

Love,

Just a quick one. UPDATED!

- Handzalah is now able to recite du’a (prayer) before eating and sleeping and say at least Bismillah before getting things into his mouth/drinking. I’ve recorded his eating du’a recitation but I don’t think I’d put it up here anyway … sorry! He’s reading the Qur’an together with me nowadays, immitating the end sounds for every ayah

- He’s telling me he needs the potty and successfully controlled his bowels before reaching the toilet … yeayyyyyy Alhamdulillah! He even asked for another go while he’s in the bathtub brushing his teeth. On the potty he said “we can’t poo/wee in there (the tub), we poo/wee here”…hehe pandaila anak ummi ni. But that’s just a start to a diaper free future .. there’s a long way to go, allahumma yassir