The World of Pop Ups

It was almost Eid Al Adha, in the year 2003. Frantically, I sought for a project to do to make the Eid more meaningful for the kids. Back home in Malaysia, one would feel the air bristling with the anticipation of Eid, but here in the United States, despite preparations for the upcoming Eid, I still felt obligated to make more of Eid for the kids' sake.

An idea 'popped up' (no pun intended) in my head. I have been browsing through the book 'Tell Me About Hajj' so much so that the image of the Arabian Peninsula lingered in my mind. Why not make a pop up map of the Arabian Peninsula? I thought to myself. I had never made a pop up of anything before, so this was obviously my first attempt.

I observed models of pop up books, and after a while, I began to believe I had mastered the art of creating pop ups. Using the poster board we had lying around unused, I began planning, sketching, drawing, assessing, experimenting, and came up with a pop up map of the Arabian Peninsula.

Being a perfectionist, I stubbornly hogged the coloring and outlining of the pop ups on the map, letting the kids work only on the zigurat and the pyramid. Suffice it to say, they left me to my own 'project' after a while. Sure, I was satisfied with the result, but I had failed to employ full involvement of the kids.

So I plunged into another pop up project: the visual aid for the retelling of Hajr and Ismail.


This time I let them do most of the coloring, though I couldn't resist commenting on the lack of 'blending' and evenness of the desert's color. After a while, they began to resent the arduous task of coloring my desert and pleaded to be let go. I coaxed them to continue and they finally finished it. Child labor? Hmm...


Then came show time. I had arranged for the kids to do a 'show and tell' to the Malaysian uncles and aunties during Eid. We are one of the two families in the Malaysian community here, so I had to make sure our Eid celebration was kid-geared. It was not easy. Alhamdulillah, the Malaysian girls were obliging.

I had always enjoyed our international Muslim community in Ames, Iowa and Athens, Georgia. Here, since we are one of the only families, the task of cooking fell upon us, so every Eid, we had to attend the Malay functions almost full time. That, however changed after some depression and stress on my part. I didn't feel it was right to attend the Malay functions to the exclusions of other Muslims. We have always attended the International functions and it just felt wrong to stick to our own kind. Furthermore, I had these invitations from my Muslim sisters which resulted in time conflicts, especially with regard to whipping up potluck pleasers. We feel the obligation to the Malaysians, but I also badly wanted to hang out with my other Muslim sisters. By and by, alhamdulillah, this conflict seems to have been resolved by making the Malaysians understand (I hope).

We still have these pop ups securely tucked between the computer desk and the wall. Every now and then, when learning seerah, I would pull the map out as a visual aid. As for the Safa Marwa pop up, we seldom use it anymore. Maybe it's time I test their memory of the story of Hajr and Ismail.

Lest you think I'm a selfish mom who insists on hogging the coloring, I have outgrown my perfectionism by learning to 'let go'. Now, the kids do their own pop ups. Every now and then I would peek at what they're doing, and fight the battle within myself to jump in and grab the crayons from their hands. It wasn't easy, and it still isn't, but as I reach my thirties, I hope I'll 'get over it'.