Mommy’s World

It’s an instinct. If you’re a mom you will protect you kid no matter what. Sometimes accident happen. What will you do if your kid get hurt by another kid?

We were in the picnic that Sunday. Frankly, I don’t know most of the crowd. They were mostly Arabic family. The men are my hubby’s friends, but I barely know the women. So, I tried to get to know them. They spoke Arabic most of the time…it’s understandable. Why would they speak English? It’s easier to speak in your own language, right?  When they laughed…I laughed.., pretend to understand what they’re saying. I don’t feel intimidated at all. It’s OK. I understand.

Suddenly I heard Saif crying. Poor baby. He cried so loud. Nabila and Faris told me what happened. Saif was trying to climb the stairs. Then, When he reach the last stairs a boy push him. It’s about 1 meter from the groud. Pretty high for a 3 yrs old. Luckily he didn’t get hurt that much. It’s his backbone that hit the sand, not his head. Nabila wanted to tell the boy’s mom what happen. Unfortunately, I don’t know who the mom is. I said to Nabila and Faris.., "it’s OK. Let him go". But Nabila and Faris were so mad that their brother got hurt. They confront the boy and told him to say sorry to Saif.The boy refused. I think he’s kinda mean.The fall is no accident at all. It’s a deliberate act. He is 5 yrs old. He should understand that his behavior is not appropriate. Nabila said he’s been throwing sand to girls before.  He is a naughty one. The boy kept arguing with Nabila and Faris. Then I come to him, tell him to stop pushing other kids. People can get hurt. It is very dangerous.

I wonder where’s his mom at. A lot of people saw Saif fell. Why didn’t she come and discipline her kid? I hope she didn’t know.

Then  a thought come to my mind, if the boy was my friend’s son, What would I do? Will I confront the boy directly or will I tell the mom. Most moms I know will be very sorry if their kids hurt other people kids. They will feel terrible and desipline their kids right away. Especially Indonesian mom.., very appropiate, kind and considerate. One time though, I saw one mom(not Indonesian) get very angry at her friend’s daughter. She was mad at the girl like she was her daughter. I saw her screamed so loud at the girl. I wouldn’t do that. I think I let the mom discipline her kid.

What about a more serious situation, if your friend’s child injured your child so badly. What would you do?

Me,  I will be so upset with the child. I will forgive him, but still very very mad. One time in masjid, two teenager was playing so rough, one of them get hurt so badly and needed to go to ER. He suffered from a broken arm. The parents are friends. I saw one parent blame the other teenager. I feel bad because the two parent are my friend. I don’t know what to do. I said sorry to the parent whose son got hurt. It was so akward to talk to the othet parent. I wouldn’t tell her thet her son is rough, would I?

I think it’s understandable if the teenager’s parent who got hurt feel very upset. It’s hard to see your child get hurt. At the same time though, they have to open their heart for forgiveness.

Being a mommy is a full time job, 24/7 all year long. You don’t get paid, no vacation, and no bonus. You don’t earn anything even if you work overtime!! There some "unofficial" research few years ago saying, if stay home moms get paid, their salary should be more than $150K a year. It mainly comes from overtime. Yeah…, that’s a lot. I kept reminding my self though, the job that I’m doing is so rewarding. It’s more than money. It’s beyond all the material things. If I do this job with a good intention.., the reward is from Allah. InsyaAllah.
Because of the stressful nature of being a mom…, My friends and I  decide to have mommy’s night out. We deserve to have fun once in a while. So, we ask our beloved and nice husband to take care of the kids for the night. And….off  we go to a wonderful sushi restaurant in Cary. It’s a wonderful evening. We chat, and eat ,and laugh. I experience a lot of new things that night. Thanks to Mba’ Iin  who had lots of experience in Sushi area..:) From seaweed salad…weird looking shrimp head sushi, to yummy tempura ice cream..!! It was so yummy.  It was a wonderful evening.  When girls get together its fun…fun…fun..!
I think we should go out more, girls……It’s ooh so much fun

Jihad. A word that terrifyng to most people. A word that associates with extremist, muslims, bombing, 911, and all negative implications.I’m writing about the jihad that all muslims do everyday, not the violence one. The struggle that we must do to become a better person and most importantly to become a better servant of Allah.

My daughter Nabila is just seven years old. A regular girl who loves to play outside, browsing the internet, have more than one webkinz toys and loves disney channel. She is in second grade in Holly springs elementary.  Beside being the only Asian American in her class room, she is a muslim. She knows she is different from her  classmates.

I told her over and over that being a muslim in America, we do have lots of  responsibility. We have to be kind, compasionate and sensitive to other people. We have to present ourselves with the best manner we could. We have to let people realize that not all muslims are TERRORIST.

This Ramadhan, Nabila fast for the very first time. She went all the way, Alhamdulillah. She fast day in and day out except the three days when she was sick.  She was in the library when her friends had lunch.  She saw her friends eating snack and drink juice during snack time. But she continue fasting. Some of her friends wondering why she doesn’t have lunch with them. Her answer,"This is a fasting month for muslim". When Ramadhan ended, she told the class that she can eat lunch now and she will get a present for the Eid:)

During show and tell while other kids brought toys or books, Nabila broungt her Qur’an. She told the class that Qur’an is the holly book of Muslim. It was written in Arabic. It is read from right to left. That she learn how to read it since she was 4.

That’s Nabila’s Jihad. To be different, to be Muslim.

Nabila is a girl with  extraordinary courage. A girl who embrace her different. A girl who make me proud.  May Allah always gives her strength and imaan and a courage to be a better muslim. May Allah help all muslim children just like Nabila.   

"Eid Cake for Nabila after fasting in  Ramadhan"

PS: Thanks to all Nabila’s friends who’s been the inspirations: Hania, Arwa, Tabina, Umar- Zahra, Syifa n Farah