I remember when I was six through seven years old, what lingered in my head were many things. Sure, though, mostly chocolate was the dominating force, and I’d add grilled chicken as well ( hello to my chocolate maniacs out there haha)
Here in the USA, you can dive through as many kinds of chicken you wish to have for breakfast, lunch, snack, or dinner; the price, not a problem.
In Kenya at the time, the cost was just too expensive, 100–200 shillings.
Now you can imagine how not very often we ate my obsession. So you can begin to see why I had my daydreams and fantasies of my grilled chickens. As for pleasing my sweet tooth, I hit the lottery!
It was affordable! Every day was a day to look forward to as to when I will have my next chocolate bar…the excitement you can see through my eyes.
I know many of you can relate to my passionate story of my two best friends, chocolate and chicken, but I can assure you this post isn’t about Zahra and her cravings.
It’s something far more significant that I hope to echo in your soul and help you apply the gems you gathered to your parenting life.
Fatimah Wearing Her Pink Hijab
My pink princess. Everything has to be pink or else to the left to the left. Beyonce’ all I can say is: my mom was a gifted songwriter, poet, and a singer, she loved your talent! I guess it resonated with her passion. Okay, now back to Fatimah.
Fatimah: “mom, are you okay”? Me: “no, babe, I have this severe headache.” Fatimah: “I know what you need, dua (prayer)”
Her prayer goes: “O Allah, give my mother health, take her pain away, give her the biggest paradise, and help her to crush it ( she means with my business :)) and grant the biggest paradise to aunty Coral, Amen.” Fatimah, 7.
She followed it with sending salams (greetings) to our noble Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w), his noble family and companions.
Here I was debating with the army voices of thoughts of whether I should dose in with my pain killer and bring this pain to a halt. But this little soul baby of mine’s prayer traveled through my pain and extinguished the fire of pain that was at war with me.
Zainab Rocking Her Yellow Scarf
Little Miss Picky. She rocks our world and drives us nuts, but that little heart of hers on the flipside of spirituality is as vast as the ocean when it comes to kindness.
I don’t remember if there’s a time without where if she gets something she’s sharing or either requesting for her siblings to get their shares.
Sometimes I would tease her and put her kindness to the test just because I adore her reactions. As usual, her response is just beautiful, and I try to use those experiences to cool me off when she wears her miss Picky character.
“I will be chef, going to cook for poor people, I’ll be kind” Zainab, 4.
When I am not feeling well, she’ll come and entertain me with her kindness menus: massage, lots of hugs, kisses, or prayers. And most of the time, I get them all.
Jihan And Red
Me: “Jihan seriously, it seems like you’ve been wearing this hijab (scarf) for decades for God’s sake, there are many more beautiful ones; switch them up.”
Jihan: “but, but, mom, this one is the best among all I don’t know it feels right.”
Dear Red Hijab(scarf): I know you need a break, my options are I’ll have to send you away to Goodwill soon, but at the same time I want to respect my girl’s wish, and that is for you to rest in your place as the days she chooses.
Jihan: “Mom, I know having all of us eight kids is hard; go get some rest from us, hang out with your friends, and enjoy your time.”
Jihan is a very thoughtful and caring person.
She tells me how she can’t wait to travel the world, and these words, she said, got me feeling proud. What was it? “Serve others and help people.” ~ Jihan, 8.
Sumayyah The fearless
Please don’t let that innocent smile fool you!:)) She got me wrapped with it, and I almost forget when is the next bit I’ll get when is feeding time.
Did I mention how often she got my heart racing and the anxiety soaring through the roof of running to save her from falling because miss fearless decided to experiment with her grandfather’s gymnastics skills?
They all come with their cherishes and challenges. I believe her first word was Allah (God). Beyond grateful, and it is uplifting to hear. May our children start their seeds with God and grow with a solid foundation because of nothing but being brought up in the way God is pleased.
They Call It Lucky…But There’s No Such Thing.
When I am in a gathering, I often get “You are soo lucky, your kids are well behaved.” “Fatimah is praying awe, you are soo lucky.” “Jihan cleaned up the house? man, you are soo lucky.”
It’s not luck. It’s a gift from God plus the progress on continuing to remind them as their parent of living a meaningful life even when they are yet to understand what that is.
It’s okay to plant that seed of goodness in them.
Some parents get agitated. God forbid this ever happens to one of your kids; I’ve seen a mother who made fun of me when I was about the age of 8 while I was reciting a prayer to God. They’ll say let them be kids, for the time being, they aren’t supposed to be on this “spiritual stage” yet.
I get it to let them be kids, but what’s the budge you to instill in them treasures? Do you see where I am going? How do you expect them to suddenly lead a beautiful life when there was no seed planted in the beginning?.
Let it echo and be at them with a constant reminder of making you a prayer and for all of humanity. And in spreading kindness to the world, caring and loving people with an open heart. I am not here to claim I got this right, but I try my best to plant those seeds now, and hopefully, many people can reap its fruits.
