Washington

Washington

He played by the river when he was young.
He raced with rabbits along the hills,
He fished for minnows, and climbed and swung,
And hooted back at the whippoorwills.
Stronger and slender, and tall he grew--
And then, one morning, the bugles blew.

Over the hills the summons came,
Over the rivers shining rim.
He said that the bugle called his name,
He knew his country needed him,
And he answered, Coming! and marched away
For many a night and many a day.

Perhaps when the marches were hot and long
He'd think of the river flowing by
Or, camping under the winter sky,
Would hear the whippoorwills far-off song.
Working or playing, in peace or strife,
He loved America all his life!

Nancy Byrd Turner

This is the poem H had to read today for Language Arts. As usual, we did a little comprehension session after he finished reading it.

In his usual chattering mode, he answered my questions with a lot of gibberish in between the answers.

So when I asked him,

"What does the line Washington said about the bugles calling his name mean?"

He replied almost immediately with an exaggerated expression and a chipmunk-like voice,

"Washingtonnn! Washingtonnn!"

and then just as immediately as he responded with that little bit of entertainment for my listening pleasure, his eyes widened and a look of "Aha!" dawned on his face.

"Oh yeah! Calling him to war!"

I didn't expect him to come up with the answer, and was rather anticipating having to explain it to him, but the transition between him making it into a joke and actually arriving at the correct answer tickled me. I burst out laughing. It was contagious indeed and we both ended up laughing.

The jolly mood continued on as I asked more questions.

"How do you think the poet feels about Washington?"

"She likes him," he replied.

"What in the poem shows how the poet feels about Washington?"

He paused for a while. Then a glint of mischief crept into his eyes and I could see it coming from behind those dirty lenses of his glasses.

"She wrote a poem about him!" he exclaimed, proud to have come up with his own sassy response.

I couldn't help but burst out laughing again.

This Big Shake is truly something to contend with. With his blue overall, blue shirt and blue-rimmed glasses, he is anything but a carrier of the blues today, as he turns seven.

The Big Shake

Hubby has a meeting at the masjid once a week almost every week. Since H tags along, he's always running into the uncles. He came home one night and said to me,

"I calls me Big Sheikh, but because he's American he says Big Shake."

That truly cracked me up.

Then tonight, H and I had dinner, just the two of us, because the girls and hubby went to the masjid. We have started sending the girls to AM at the masjid for their tarteeel. We stopped dugsi because we didn't see any improvements in their tarteel, and like a big flashing neon sign, AM one night grabbed hubby and told him that he's starting a girls' Quran program next month (February). Hubby and I have been discussing about this and that just made our decision making easier alhamdulillah.

I am still impressed with how AM is able to give one-on-one attention to his students and correct their recitation. One living proof is H. I am still blown away by the improvement in his recitation.

Anyway, tonight, H told me, as we were eating,

"I now says sheikh, not shake anymore."

A chuckle escaped me.

"I told Sg about it," I said.

"She told him?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"When?"

"I don't know," I replied.

It tickles me how H seems to be enjoying his masjid trips with hubby. Alhamdulillah. When hubby has the meeting, hubby would be sure to have H bring a book to read.

One night I spied the book Blind Mountain turned upside down, page open on the couch.

"Who was reading this?" I asked.

"H," said hubby.

"He understands?" I asked, and unbelieving, I began to read the book.

The character is 12 years old and it is a story for middle graders.

The next day, I asked him if he liked the book.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because he made his dad blind from that branch."

It appears that the Big Shake understood the overall plot, but not the complete details.

Another Flyer Assignment

Another assignment for a flyer. Done by H, but not without my meddling, to the point that he said to me,

"If you want to change it, why don't you make it yourself?"

"If you change it then it's not mine anymore!"

"R's picky!" he said when I told him that the previous photo he put in there looked like a church according to R, who was the one who assigned him to the do the flyer in the first place.

I had to explain to him that when he is doing something for someone else, he has to accept criticism. Only then did I realize the differences between him and S, who was ready to accept any criticism from F when she did the Leadership Conference flyer.

H finally understood, or at least I think he did.

To compromise, when I moved things here and there and added stuff, I kept asking him,

"H, is this okay?"

"Where do you think I should put it?"

"How about this color?"

"What do you think?"

He managed to insist that the flags have poles, and that they should be placed where they are in the flyer. I complied. In the end, I have to admit, it does look really good. All this is helping me battle my own perfectionism, or is it?

Tasu'aa & Ashoora

"Do you know that Ashoora is coming up soon? Listen to this," I said, as I read to them the hadith that mentions the reward of fasting the day of Ashoora.

Three sets of eyes looked at me.

"Do you remember, we fasted this last year?"

"Oh yeaaahhh! I weemembeww," exclaimed H, eyes lit with enthusiasm.

"Do you want to fast?" I asked.

"Yes!" they chorused.

When Hubby came back, he told them about it and added,

"You don't have to fast, ok. This is not Ramadan, it's just extra."

"But we get rewarded, right?" asked N.

Hubby nodded.

For some reason, these kids love fasting. I even thought one reason might be that they hate drinking because I've never seen kids so enthusiastic to fast at every possible chance they can get. Alhamdulillah. I'm not complaining.

The night before they played in their newly bought tent (which H stumbled upon as we were in Marshall's, looking around.)

"Look! Ten dollars! Let's buy this!" he had said, eyes beaming with hope.

"If you guys don't sleep, we're not going to wake you up for suhoor!" hubby hollered.

They quitened down at that.

On Tasu'aa, they all fasted. It was a pretty hectic day because the girls had dugsi, and right after that both hubby and I had to attend the Hayl meeting, which meant that we had to drag the kids along.

Well, H came to me in the middle of the meeting and whispered,

"I'm so hungry, I'm dead!"

I told him to hold it off a little bit longer.

Minutes later, he came back to me and burst out crying. It took two people to offer him a donut from the donut box the sisters had brought.

However, N and S continued their fast and completed it.

The next day, Ashoora, both S & N fasted with hubby. H didn't however.

First days are always difficult.

The Bee

The awaited event: the OHVA Spelling Bee.

The Pee Wee Bee was first. N and H did an excellent performance of refusing to say their names in the microphone. To top it off, MOM had to come forward and convince N to budge from her book amidst the microphone wires and step forward in order to utter something. After about 5 -10 minutes of an attempt, which inluded a choice of not participating in the bee or speaking up, MOM had to walk back to her seat leaving stubborn N with tightly zipped lips standing firmly in her place.

H refused too, but at least after all the other kids had had their turn, he stepped forward and gave off his radiant smile, yet shook his head when asked to say his name and grade. The teacher had to do it for him. N was more insistent on being stubborn, hence why MOM was called forward to tend to the situation. It wasn't a pleasant experience, but one MOM will never forget.

"Especially, especially," said Ms. E.

"Especially. E. S. P. E. C. I," he paused.

I winced in my seat.

"L.L.Y. Especially," ended H.

"That is not correct," said Ms. E.

I guess for a first grader and first Bee, H did pretty good. He walked back to me with his wide grin.

Right while he was walking back towards me, N spelled her word,

"Necessary. N.E.S.E.S.S.A.R.Y. Necessary."

"That is not correct," said Ms. Ebie.

Like two dead flies, they were both dropped from that round. I have to give it to them though. They did pretty good.

Meanwhile, S was sitting next to me saying nothing. Apparently, she was nervous. I did warn her to not behave like N did. Alhamdulillah she didn't.

Break time. Snack time. Then the 4th to 8th graders turn to have their spelling bee.

Alhamdulillah, S said her name albeit a little too softly in the microphone. I sighed with relief.

The round started and went by pretty quickly. One by one participants were kicked out of the rounds as they misspelled their words. I held my breath, expecting S to misspell and drop out of the rounds, but she kept on going until there was only three people left. Could she be champion again? There was an 8th grader, a very tall African American boy, and a cute smiling 4th grader along with her. She was the only girl left.

I kept telling myself, Were I that 8th grader, I would fight to death to be champion, because to do otherwise would be to admit defeat to the younger kids. Nevertheless, S seemed to be doing a very good job that I had that sliver of hope that she would be champion.

"Saxophone. Saxophone," said Ms. E.

"Saxophone. S.A.X.......A.P.H.O.N.E. Saxophone," said S.

Oh....that was it. I snapped her photo as she walked back towards me.

Alhamdulillah, all three kids did a marvelous job today. I was actually pleasantly surprised S stayed on until the last three, defeating the 5th, 6th and 7th graders. Masyaallah!

And now, I think I will take my nap as I have the house to myself while they all went to the recreational center for basketball pratice and pottery class. Ahh...no screaming children to contend with today. Bliss!

H's writing

Rain Poem

I hate rain
Rain is really a pain
It loves to make people mad
Totally not rad


Personal Narrative
I like soccer. I like it because I like kicking goals. I like to fake too. SWISH!!

Meddling Husband & Tied Up

Assalamualaikum,

I just want to apologize for the previous post that I just deleted. My meddling husband actually posted that as a joke and I never got around to deleting it. I'm kind of tied up right now with a lot of stuff especially the upcoming Leadership Conference, which S did the binder cover for also.

After that I'm going to be busy with Seats of Scholars and some halaqa presentations. The kids' spelling bee is coming up, and we are right now contemplating whethere the girls should contiue going to the dugsi or not.

The thing is, it seems that they are mainly doing memorization and reading and writing Arabic (without being told what it means). H on the other hand is improving a lot under the tutelage of the masjid's Imam alhamdulillah. Hubby was thinking of stopping sending the girls to dugsi and sending them to H's teacher instead. It's closer too. We'll see. The way the girls are memorizing right now, it is the same as us doing it at home by ourselves.

Other than that we are also speeding up the rate at which we are learning the lessons that need to be done before the baby comes insyaallah.

Now, everyday, I make their To Do list on a portable white board, which they will use as a guide. Once they are done with each item, they will erase it. This way I make sure they do what they're supposed to do without having to remind them everytime. Time and voice saver, though not totally a voice saver because I find myself having to tell them to finish off their To Do list for the day. The word chore is also included as one of the items on their To Do list.

So basically, everyday now, they have to cross off items on their To Do list while also crossing off things on their chore chart. As for me, I'm doing way too many juggling especially with the conference coming up, and after this Seats of Scholars. Nevertheless it's all good alhamdulillah. May the baby be born with excellent work ethics insyaallah. Ameen.

S's note binder cover for the Leadership Conference. She figured out that the picture can be flipped.

I Hate Writing! ~S~

Today's poem from her literature exercise based on Ogden Nash's poem, Adventures of Isabel:

Isabel met a talking fish
It talked so much, that she made a wish
His scales glimmered
And his eyes shimmered
Then he took a nap
And woke up with a snap
Isabel, Isabel didn't worry
Isabel didn't scream or scurry
She whispered and talked until May
And the fish just simply walked away

The day before, a poem on Roses on a lesson on imagery:

Roses

Red like a shiny red balloon
smelling sweeter than sugar
feeling softer than cotton
And thornier than swords
Ouch!

Another one written maybe months ago, grudgingly though, as you can very well see once you read it:

ALL BECAUSE OF LITERATURE

The room is so still you could hear a pin drop
The room is cold and windy
Paper feels like cement
My hand is swelling like a balloon
My head is throbbing so hard you can see it move
All because of literature

I had a good laugh reading it. She had meant it as a silent protest, as she claims to hate writing and was so sullen when I told her to write a poem using the power of the five senses. After she handed this poem in, I laughed and said,

"Masyaallah! This is a great poem! You really conveyed how you felt!"

Her sulk and frown turned to a shy smile with a look that asked, "Really?"

She really did. She claims she hates writing. I can't fathom this. Is it because I keep telling her to? She recently also received an A+ and VERY GOOD from her writing teacher when not many other students received an A. She didn't seem too happy about it to me, though she might have been hiding it well. I hope it's something where you hate something just because you're told to do it, but when left to your own vices, you'll actually embrace it willingly. Oh well, never mind. She just said,

"I hate writing reports, essays and stuff, not stories and poems."

H constantly announces that he hates math, when he actually excels in it. I think S excels in writing too. Teaching H math is quite a breeze for now masyaallah, because his grasp on the concepts is pretty immediate, unlike N, who needs more patience and repetition. N never claims to hate anything, so far, not yet anyway, and she patiently does her work despite being very slow about it. Hmm...

Picking on H

Hubby loves to pick on the kids, but especially H.

"H, your bus!" he would yell as the familiar beep hails from outside.

"It's not my bus!" H would retort, jugular veins taut and ready to burst.

It's the yellow garbage truck of course.

"Are you guys farting?" hubby would holler whenever we hear the kids starting to raise their voices with each other, or sharp slaps and cries of "Ouch!" and "Owwwww!" travel to our auditory territories.

"No!" they would sometimes answer.

Of course, in hubby lingo, farting means fighting, I think intended to make the kids stop fighting and laugh instead.

"H, please don't fart this early in the morning," hubby would say if they start quarreling during breakfast.

H used to take these teasings badly, stomping and crying, but he has been seasoned by it, I think. Now, H simply grins and retorts back with his own 'lingo', that never fails to make me chuckle or shake my head. Together, hubby and H are the house clowns.

I just hope the baby won't start gurgling and laughing at the sound of the word "fart."

Written in Stone: Tips on memorizing the Qurân

This article is meant those who have taken their first steps, not those who are still waiting for motivation. It is dedicated to all our young brothers and sisters in Qu’ran Hifdh schools (and all the wanna bes J). In sha Allah, I will discuss how you can become more effective in your memorization of the Qur’an. Let me ask this question, “Who wants to memorize the Qur’an?” No doubt, the hands initially will rise slowly, but then almost everyone should have their hand raised. But, most truthfully, is that desire a sincere, heartfelt desire? If it was, then action would follow. If I said, “Who wants to lose weight?” Most people would raise their hands and upon being asked would mention the steps they are taking to achieve their goal. What steps are we taking to memorize the Qur’an if indeed our intentions are passionate?

The Safari

This boy's imagination sometimes troubles me. From the stories of Yusuf, and seerah he seems to take away the gory part of it and concoct his own 'killing' stories. This was submitted to the contest too along with S's and N's, but didn't win. They all just received certificates.

The Girl Who Didn't Like Spinach

Hmm, I wonder why S concocted this story. Battles over her eating her greens sparked this, maybe?

I sent this one to the Reading Rainbow contest too but it didn't win.

Flyer Activities

As usual, I had H made our next Seats of Scholars flyer. Of course I had to do some finishing touches, but this is way better than having them do mock flyers for school projects or anything of the like.


He did make another one but we had to choose one. This is the unfinished version. He was adamant that techniques is actually spelled techquneics.

Oh and by the way, for those of you who do read this post, you are very much invited to join us for our next Seats of Scholars. It's 7 am Est US time, which is 8 pm Malaysian time.

Chore Chart

I spent quite some time making the kids' chore chart. I was up to my neck in the mess their room kept falling back to and it was literally driving me insane. Plus, I was and am worried that they will grow up to be sloppy people, nauzubillah. It was time to lay down some very strict rules, which I should have done ages ago, yet my own lack of will power and discipline hindered that.




At first it took me such a long time to come up with this table, even after browsing the net for ideas. Then, I looked back to my meager experience with Flylady and listed the chores that need to be done and that can be realistically done by the kids. After that, it was easier to come up with this table. The next hurdle was figuring out the method of putting up the chart. Do I print this weekly? Do I spend some money on buying a whit-board type chore chart? The idea is to have them mark off each chore as they do it each day and if I print the chart, I would have to do it weekly or have extra charts to be put up each week. We don't even have a working printer at home since hubby refused to buy the cartridge because it's too costly, so I racked my brains trying to come up with a more economical way to do this.

We went to Target and I did find a cute chore chart especially for kids. It was made exactly like the one I concocted. Surprise! Surprise! I asked hubby if we could buy it, or print the sheets every week. He opted for the former, as I guess, he would be the one printing those sheets at his office. Saved by the lack of cartridge? Hmm..maybe. Anyway, I got the chore chart.

How it works is that for every chore done, each child will put a magnetic star (according to his/her color) on the box corresponding to the chore for that particular day. We have been doing it for about 3 weeks now (they say it takes 21 days to form a habit) and alhamdulillah, so far it has been working. H especially would start his morning standing at my door looking at the chore chart.

"Trained like a soldier," said hubby.

As for me, instead of yelling, "Put the clean spoons away!" or "Somebody please dust the stairs!", I only need to say, "Done your chores yet?"

and they scamper off to do them. At least for now. I hope this lasts, I PRAY this lasts. Ameen. I NEED this to last.

Nevertheless, I noticed the chore 'sweep kitchen floor'was smudged and erased by a mischievous finger one day as I was checking the chart. They had complained about the difficulty of sweeping the floor into our stubborn dustpan. For now, I am ignoring the complaints, until I find a better solution. The idea is to get these kids to be responsible and carry their own weight around the house, of course, on top of cutting down some housework for moi.

"Why do I need to clean the sink? It's already clean!" complained one little smart mouth in the beginning.

"Well, would you rather be scrubbing a dirty sink or a clean one?" I asked in return.

"A clean one," the mouth replied.

S was the first to comprehend the hikmah of consistently cleaning a 'clean' something so it will stay clean, rather than waiting for it to look dirty before rushing to rescue it from dirt and grime. I have heard no more complaints so far regarding cleaning a clean mirror or bathtub.

Flylady taught me that to have a house that cleans itself, you have to clean it before it gets dirty. My constant obsession is the toilet bowl. I have never been able to tolerate cleaning bathrooms growing up, though I have cleaned worse toilets at boarding school. Solution: clean it before it looks vomit-inducing.

Coupled with decluttering, the house looks more presentable now and my mind is at peace alhamdulillah. You never realize how much a clean house really does clear your mind and boost your mood, until your house is clean, and when I say clean, I mean it's also clean under the rugs. I can tolerate untidiness, but I can't tolerate grimy kitchens or moldy bathrooms. I began to develop a habit of scrutinizing people's bathroom years ago, after I discovered how difficult it was to keep a clean bathroom, especially tiled walls. I actually rendered our shower walls in need or replacement before we moved out of our apartment in Ames, due to overscrubbing, with knives!
It was only quite recently that I discovered the wonderful tip of baking soda and clorox on bathroom mildew and mold. Amazing! Though I could have done away with the smell of clorox. No scrubbing needed. Just apply the paste of baking soda and clorox to the mildew, wait a few minutes (or hours, depending in how bad it is) and voila! You have yourself a mildew-free
bathroom.

Yes, for now, this is my daily obsession. I figured I might as well do everything now before I get too big to walk around the house telling the kids to pick things up.

So, chore chart: you are my sunshine, my lovely sunshine, you make me happy, throughout the day!

Homemade Stories

I couldn't help but adore this story. Masters of Paint, the kids spend some of their waking time doodling on it, sometimes to the chagrin of their parents, especially when the hard drive is almost filled to capacity with their files.

N composed this story quite a while ago. I submitted it to the Reading Rainbow Story Contest, but it didn't win. However, the illustrations really caught me (though I would love for the kids to stay away from drawing animate beings in the future) by surprise. I recently put the individual image files into a Powerpoint presentation, complete with sound effects. It was fantastic! I also taught the girls how to make a Powerpoint presentation (one more thing to occupy their time with the lack of TV). N also composed some other chapters, or should I say, series of Fatty the Big Bug. Seems like their avid reading has led to some creative sparks of their own. H is not too patient to carve out his stories on Paint, but he uses a lot of paper for his stories. I'm thinking that I should probably start collecting those and bind them for long term archiving. S is still secretive with regards to her writing, but when she does let me in on what she writes, I am always blown away. Masyaallah! Alhamdulillah.

Yaumul Arafah

Alhamdulillaah, the kids all fasted yaumul Arafah today.

Alhamdulillaah, the house is over 60% decluttered and I can walk around the house with peace on my mind.

Alhamdulillaah the baby is alive and kicking.

Tomorrow is Eid and tonight H has a presentation at the masjid after Isya for his AlFurqaan Quran program. (I just found out he is in a program that actually has a name)

Alhamdulillaah we got ourselves a chore chart and the house is much much cleaner and organized than it was weeks ago!

Our sheets are now being washed every week, the stairs dusted every day, bathtub, and sink scrubbed every day, laundry done thrice a week and most amazingly, the bookshelves in the living room have nothing on them for two weeks now! (when they used to piled up with junk before). Flylady is again welcome in our house. Ironic that I dropped her when I was pregnant with J and I'm picking her up again when I'm pregnant now.

May this continue for good insyaallah. This house (translate into kids and I & hubby) needs to run like a well-oiled machine especially with a new member of our family coming insyaAllah.

S made a newsletter cover and H made our next Seats of Scholars flyer. N's designs are still pretty kiddish, and I had to tell her she would make a great children's newsletter/magazine cover designer.

Starting January, H will be taking a hand sewing class, S continue her machine sewing class and a cake decorating class, H is in a basketball league and will be taking a pottery class with N. Hubby's driving schedule is full and that is not even including the dugsi yet.

January 25 is their Spelling Bee, for which they haven't actually studied. I am thinking of finishing up their school as fast as we can and then just focus on Quran memorization, insyaAllah.

Well, I guess with all that coming, we had maybe better focus on the Eid tomorrow for now.

Eid Mubarak everyone!

Dua After Azan

"Dua, dua!" I hollered. The azan was just called.

"H made dua to memorize the Quran before he's 10," said S after they were done.

"Masyaallah, and since that's one of the best times to make dua, you just might get it insyaallah," I said.

"Yeah, but I still want candy and everything," H added.

"Sure," I said.

He's currently working on Surah Luqman after finishing his Ar-Rahman. I was just telling him yesterday about Imam Ahmad Hanbal memorising the Quran before the age of 10. Never thought he would take it to heart and make it his own aspiration. This time though, he chose Bukhaatir instead of our usual Saad Al-Ghamidee.

Flyer Frenzy

The kids have been in a flyer frenzy recently, with the Leadership Conference coming up in January. In my attempt to introduce them to new skills I volunteered them to make posters/flyers for the event.

H already made one for our Seats of Scholars most recent class: Profile of Courage; Story of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hambal.

Next in line was S, and she made 5 flyers by herself, with some final finishing touches by me.

N did one too.

Unplanned, the event coordinator made a poster competition out of it all. The poll was closed this morning, and one of S's flyer won. Suffice it to say she's happy about it.

The Winning Poster by S

At least now, the kids have somewhat acquired poster-making skills, and found a way to fill their time, alhamdulillah.

Quran Milestones passed:
H finished memorizing his Surah Ar-Rahman last weekend.
S finished her Al Mursalat last weekend and is now working on Al Insaan.
N finished her Al Balad and is now working on Al Fajr.

S's other posters:













H's poster:



N's poster:

Laundering by hand

I scrunched up the dirty tablecloth and proceeded to dunk it in the washer for washing. Then it struck me how uneconomical that is; to use the electricity and water just for washing a meager tablecloth by itself.

I decided to wash it by hand myself and climbed the stairs. It had occurred to me as I was trudging up the stairs that I probably am not in the best condition to bend down, squat and scrub away at the tablecloth in the bathtub. I saw H and motioned him to come near.

"I'm going to teach you how to wash this ok?"

He nodded, excited. Apparently, he wasn't aware of the elbow grease involved in laundering by hand, as I had encountered growing up in a boarding school.

"When I was younger I had to do this," I told him.

I turned on the faucet and soaked the tablecloth, handed him the red brush (which we had brought from Malaysia since we couldn't find any here) and told him to scrub it.

"Do I put soap?" he asked.

I nodded.

I soon left him with his 'chore'.

A few minutes later, we heard him chattering away to himself.

"...and then you wash all the soap off..."

"This is COOL!"

"This is COOL!"

I popped in and saw that he had gone in the bathtub, water runnning, and soap suds all over the place. What do you expect when you give a child soap and water in the bathroom? I chuckled and told him to make sure the bathrugs stay dry.

He closed the shower curtain and I told the girls to close the bathroom door so his chattering won't distract our salat.

I checked on him again, and voila! He had changed from his long sleeved shirt and long pants to his sleeveless shirt and denim shorts. To top it off, he was completely drenched! He looked at me with a big happy grin on his face, both arms up in the air like a V, and white soap suds dotting his crown. I couldn't help but exhale a surprised "Ya Allah!"

"Did you rinse the tablecloth?" I asked. (At least the job was done, what do you expect from a six year old?)

"Yeah!"

"Here, let me show you how to rinse it really dry," I said.

"But I did rinse it," came his answer, his expected answer to every correction I give him, be it in Quran recitation or secular stuff.

I showed him anyway, while he tried to brush the soap suds on his spiky hair away.

"So you think you can wash the tablecloth from now on?" I asked him when everything was done and cleaned. (The tablecloth was really clean, by the way. He did a good job!)

He nodded.

"Good," I said, and shooed him off for his Seerah lesson with HH, who was already waiting in their room.

So I guess I got myself a chatty launderer! It's good entertainment too. Two in one.

Starting with the Quran

Ever since the girls started going to dugsi, our lives have really changed, in the sense that I am learning more about the different people around me. Again I have to stress that this enriching experience is one that I will treasure for the rest of my life. That is why I love staying here in the midst of a multitude of different cultures. However, the difference between living here and in Malaysia, is the fact that the Muslims here are in a melting pot of their own, but in Malaysia we're all basically from the same mold. That variety in the Muslim world itself, is what makes these experiences so rich and it only increases my love for our Muslims sisters and brothers as a whole, alhamdulillah. I would love for my children to continue growing up in this environment, though it does render us both, parents and children in a continuous learning process. Nevertheless, I do believe it opens our eyes and widens our perception. I can better tolerate differences and will not immediately jump to judgments of other people, and in fact will try my best to see it from their perspectives while keeping my own or sometimes adjusting my own. Nothing better for tightening the bond between Muslims of different backgrounds, insyaallah.


The first time I went to the dugsi to pick up the girls, it was just after the dugsi was done. As I stepped in the masjid, Ifound myself facing a hoard of yelling, running and shoving teenage girls, mostly taller and bigger than my pregnant self. Of course my pregnancy wasn't that obvious with my attire. I literally was fearful for my and the baby's well being, as I found myself constantly struggling in my slow amble to dodge these girls who found it normal to shove people out of their ways.

As I made my way out of the foyer into the musalla area, younger girls came to me with bright faces and asked,

"Are you looking for S?"

"Are you S's mom?"

I nodded. Obviously finding my daughter was easy there, as we were the only non Somali in the masjid. We prayed Zuhr there and I couldn't help but notice that while we were praying, well, at least, while I was praying, a girl in front of me kept turning back to look at me. I suppose she was making sure the 'Chinese-looking' lady was actually praying and is a Muslim. I couldn't help but smile at the thought. It was funny yet somewhat endearing and cute. As I headed out with N alongside me, a girl about the age of ten, asked me,

"Are you her sister?"

"No, I'm her mom," I replied.

She looked taken aback and let out a surprised, "Ohh."

One thing I have to say about the Somalis : they are very friendly and warm people. If my girls were in a school full of Arabs, they would probably get a totally different treatment from the Arabs. Just one day in the dugsi, and my girls were already swarmed by these other girls who quickly became their friends. They are so friendly, just like their older counterparts who are my dearest sisters in Islam.

As H put it,

"They now have a group of their own at break time."

I do worry about bad influences as the girls came home one week telling me that two bigger girls got int trouble for passing notes in class, and the teacher, H, read out their notes out loud. Apparently it was about Hanna Montana, whom I know practically NOTHING about, but it bothered me that my kids were talking about it as if they knew the person so well. I dug more into what happens at the dugsi, but after further digging, I simply found out that my girls aer in a group of innocent girls insyaallah. Those girls who are TV-addicts are the ones whom are forced to go every week by their parents and the way of life is most probably not enforced at home. I am too familiar with that.

S is miserable though about her Quran memorization assignments. Yesterday I talked to R, who gave me some pointers on what to do about that.

1. Continuously play Quranic recitation by different qaris so they develop a love for hearing it.
2. Focus on listening to it as one would listen to music (well of course you also have to observe the ettiquettes)
3. Parents also have to be enthusiastic abuot memorising themselves.

Alhamdulillah, the kids are constantly 'chanting' Quran in the house, to the point that N would actually accidentally memorize something she wasn't assigned to memorize but would fail to memorize her own assignments.

I've also started to constantly have them read the Quran after either Zuhr or Asr. So far, after a few weeks, I have seen encouraging improvements in their pace and tajweed alhamdulillah. H does read faster than N though. I still have to learn to adapt and have more patience with N. She is so different than S and H.

I also was recently told that 4th grade is the turning point.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It's when things start to get serious, as you have probably noticed," said HB.

I nodded agreeably. I have felt that since this school year started, and being told that only reinforces that belief. I am now in a frenzy trying to find S a planner. It's time for her to be more independent, though she already is masyaallah. However, if I'm to have this baby insyaallah, she'd better be more independent.

Saad al Ghaamidi seems to be our favorite Qari in the house. I tried the others but the girls kept shaking their heads and I have to revert back to Saad al Ghaamidi.

Our venture in this Quran odyssey started significantly last summer and I have to say attending AlMaghrib's Route 114 by Muhammad Faqih has really changed how I see the Quran, alhamdulillah. H is flourishing in his Quran class at the masjid, and as chatty and goofy as ever. So goofy and crazy that he actually goes out of the house in subzero temperature wearing a short sleeveed T-shirt and knee-length shorts!

"You're not going out of the house like that anymore," I told him.

Talk about being American. Well, he doesn't have to be that American!