Jidda's Here!

The last time they saw their grandmother was in 2002 when we went back to Malaysia for a visit. It's almost four years now and it seems that it's high time Jidda comes here to see them.

So, after a much awaited wait, Jidda arrived yesterday with much celebration.

"Does Jidda still look the same?" I asked them.

S shook her head. From an excited bunch of kids, they had suddenly turned into diffident, head-hanging, downcast-eyes, coy-smiles wearing kids. Gathered into the embrace of their grandmother, all their excitement were subdued by the excitement of their grandmother.

While Jidda prattled on old memories of catching the bus with toddler S and baby N, they listened quietly, probably trying to remember any of the stuff. Jidda also did a little quick quiz on Malay on them. Of course, all of them understood the word 'tido' which means sleep, in Malay. That's the infamous word I use to tell them to shut their eyes and give me some peace of mind every night, so I can recover some of my sanity, if any is left at all.

The time when Jidda brought them to the mall in Ames. The time when they rushed to catch the bus. The time when they actually missed the bus or got on the wrong bus. The time when Jidda gave S and N a taste of fast food. All of those I don't remember because I was laden with a baby H, still in post partum condition.

"Oh, N! You're so beautiful now! So slim!" Jidda exclaimed.

Well, she said that to me too, except, she left the beautiful part out. ((LOL))

Which struck me into realization. N , when she was smaller, was chubby with dark skin and very little hair. Jidda had actually favored fair skinned S, much to our dismay. So from then on, hubby had always paid more attention to N to compensate for the lack of attention from her Jidda. In her own time, N had flourished as if a light has emanated from the inside out and with it, her skin had lightened in tone, and with all her uniqueness, she had grown into a 'beautiful girl' as her Jidda said. S on the other hand, had entered the ugly duckling stage when her new teeth emerged.

So it was the realization that years had passed such that the little grandchildren she had tended to with great difficulty the two times she was here, that we drove back home, where the kids finally found their voices and lung capacity.

I had been having some difficulty figuring out a way to get S to start wearing hijab, when Jidda indirectly solved the problem. Unpacking her bags, she heaped upon us hijabs, of many kinds and colors, one after the other, much to S's, N's and my delight. S practically has a different hijab for each day. No more excuses, and i just hope I remember to remind her the reason why she has to wear it when she reaches puberty. For now, she just has to get used to having it on and getting comfortable with it. Insyaallah.