Positive Reinforcement

N will never fail to wake me up for Asr after our naps. We have taken to forcing them to nap now because Isha is getting later and they also wake up at Fajr and do not go back to sleep afterwards.

H went with hubby to the Hayl meeting and a picnic afterwards so it was just us ladies in the house. We took a nap few hours after Zuhr and right when the azan was called, N came to my room and woke me up. It took me a while to wake up and I told them to pray first. They did. As I was trying to get up, I heard N reciting the Quran.

Today is Sunday. They didn't have any To Do Lists to abide by on the weekends. Sure, they have chores on Saturday, but Sundays they're usually free. Subhanallah! I suppose it has become a routine that it's so hard to shake off. Quran after Asr. They even resisted the urge to go and play outside before they read the Quran. S checked N's recitation. Right after N was done, they both left the house.

"What time should we come back?" shouted S before she closed the front door.

"6:30!" I croaked.

They came home around that time, while I was cooking and mopping the kitchen.

I felt bad for not offering them any praise when they did the above, because right when I went into the bathroom to shower, the bathtub was slippery with spilled shampoo: N's doing.

Of course she got some scolding. I told her to clean the bathtub after Maghrib. She did.

Sometimes I feel so evil. The times when they do praiseworthy acts are when I should have opened my mouth. The times when they do 'kid-expected' acts are when I should withhold my tongue and act with wisdom.

However, subhanallah, you can't help but love the purity and innocence Allah bestows in our children at such tender ages. You can't help but (yes, despite our faults and failure to abide by 'wise-parenting') feel blessed when the children behave in ways that just blow you away, in a nice way.

As I lay in bed and listened to N's halting recitation, corrected by S, I made dua in my heart,

"Oh Allah, please keep their purity and keep them away from bad influences and the path to the fire. Please make them among the saaliheen."

Now, I should make this dua,

"Oh Allah, please give me wisdom and insight that will brings us closer to You." Ameen.