An afternoon of sandpit mayhem and paddling pool pottiness at the local park. I think I caught the sun too *shock*

Liking the new uploader on Flickr.

So the sun was shining. We had plans, petrol, packed lunch and TomTom and off we went to a local Wildlife place. Too small to call a zoo but for all intents and purposes…

Jaws mezmerised, Boss bossed, we played in the play area and had a picnic lunch. Flayed at the gift shop then home to ice creams and garden play. It’s nice being the good parent once in a while.

People with dialup leave now.

The bath is full of grit and it’s time to read The Witches.

I’m pooped

xx

The boys are playing outside with the girl next door in the dirt sand pit. Jaws has used the potty for the first time ever today. I’m still chuckling over that.

The family sat down and devised some ‘rules’ which we will live by insha’allah. You know, like ‘don’t gouge your brother’s eyes out’ and ‘when I say no I mean NO!’, that type of thing. I have resisted reward charts and rules for so long, because 1. it looks stupid and 2. I don’t dig bribery and 3. I’m not that type of mother. No, really I’m not. But I’m giving it a go to try to abate the endless bad feeling and nagging doing on. By me. Mostly. So our pow-pow was what we expected from each other, but also what rewards went with responsibilities. I want them to know that good behaviour and attitudes will be met with gratefulness and a willingness on my part to do fun things with them, whilst the opposite is true also: a day spent moaning non-stop and endless need for nagging will be met with no fun things.

Boss is a good kid masha’allah. Anything he is is because he has learned it from us so hopefully these rules will be a reminder for us too.

Then Jaws created a masterpiece.

I woke today to find Boss had put his and Jaws’ clean washing away. I’ll just close that jaw for you. Yes. He put the washing AWAY. So that is his new job. *skips joyfully round the house singing la la la* He is actually very good at tidying up and cleaning masha’allah.

Still reading The Witches by Dahl which he really likes. I had to break the Famous Five run somehow.

And now sorting a day out for tomorrow insha’allah as part of the good behaviour earns rewards thing. And some craft based on that hopefully.

Laylatul miraj tomorrow! *SHRIEK*

New Blog Find me here
http://sewq.wordpress.com/

Make me rich, visit my shop:

Well it’s the yearly blogassaboutathon where me and several others all decide to move house and spruce it all up. This blog seems a little small right now. It was meant only to be a homeschool diary but as I don’t do much educational stuff then it is all a bit pointless, and as ever it is becoming more about ‘me’ and less about what stuff the boys and I do.

Insha’allah I will keep this one for educational stuff for those who share an interest in homeschooling and family issues – I have yet another private one for any future LEA contact (boo! hissss!) which isn’t public and boring as hell anyway. But I feel guilty having a blog on a HE ring that only ever keeps showing new material and stuff I am crafting.

So for more of ME I have my own blog over at WordPress. Go and say hi if you like and I’ll be pleased to see you. http://sewq.wordpress.com/

Boss: *A lorry drives past our house* Ooh look Jaws – a red lorry.

Me: Red lorry yellow lorry. Red lorry yellow lorry.

Boss: *looks at me as though I am retarded/a pile of dog poo before spitting* What?!

Me: *chirpy* Red lorry yellow lorry. Red lorry yellow lorry.

Boss: WHAT are you TALKING about??!

Me: It’s a tongue twister. You say it over and over again. It’s really hard! Try it!

Boss: Red lorry yellow lorry. Red lorry yellow lorry. Red lorry yellow lorry. Red lorry yellow lorry. Led Yorry Yerro Rorry. Red Yorry Lellow lolly. Led Yorry Yerro Rorry. Red Yorry Yellow Yorry. Led Lorry Lerro Lorry. Led Yorry Yerrow Rorry. Led Lorry Yellow Lolly

Me: OK you can stop now. Hard isn’t it?

Boss: Humpf.

A few hours later I am in the kitchen and I hear Boss trying to teach Jaws his new trick:

Boss: Jaws! You want to learn a tongue twister? OK? Listen: say this over and over again… ready? “Red truck yellow truck red truck yellow truck”. Mum says it’s hard but it’s really easy.

jpojpj

because I just am not really maintaining it now Mum is sick. But people emailed and said the links are still useful. So.

Mum still poorly; she is in HDU after suffering two aneurysms and has had a lumber puncture. And has lousy short term memory. And and and.

I waft between moments of resolve and strength to moments of hopelessness and utter forlornness; between adult and child; between the foundation of a family and the wreck dribbling in the corner in loneliness and inconsolable. You just can’t over-estimate the connection with the womb that bore you. I am lucky in that I also had a very good mother on top of that. And the realisation that I never appreciated her as much as I could have done is leaving me winded. Moments lost and wasted.

And given that she lies in a hospital 200 miles away makes visiting labourious and stressful. Train journeys are expensive and inconvenient. Public transport pitiful and extortionate in equal measure.

On the home front I have been cleaning the house with a toothbrush and fluctuating between various OCD traits before collapsing in a tearful heap at the end of various days, and crafting. I made mum a bag and in the process of making her a quilted bedspread/throw. And I have made lists of various projects I want to undertake for the house (especially the boys’ room) and the list gets longer everyday. Making a quilt for the boys’ beds and some various blankets/throws for the sitting room probably first on the list.

These are making me smile

The Katie Jump rope being a firm favourite here anyway, and I’ve made myself a linen tote bag with that material.

And loving some of this too

Educationally we are just doing basics. Been doing letter practice with Explode the Code and some Singapore maths. I am feeling like a very bad mother for not having done all this stuff with him when he was younger. But fighting with the other side of my brain which says that says that the later they start the quicker they get it and there was absolutely no need for a child to do anything before the age of 6 or 7. Panic panic. Fret fret.

Doing karate and noticing advances there. Balance a lot better for one; getting some good kicks in too.

The boys bought me a SatNav. Boss told me he wanted me to have it so he could get out more. So. That’s the plan. Out more with a Tomtom. Need to add some more addresses to it.

Today we went and saw the local Fire Station open day – Boss very animated about it, but Jaws in awe of all the nee-nors. Shell shocked almost. Lovely day too. Garden play thereafter.

And now I need to go and rustle up a teacosy before I think too much and dwell on that dull ache in the centre of my being.

A man once consulted the Prophet Muhammad about taking part in a military campaign. The Prophet asked the man if his mother was still living. When told that she was alive, the Prophet said: “(Then) stay with her, for Paradise is at her feet.” (Al-Tirmidhi)

On another occasion, the Prophet said: “God has forbidden for you to be undutiful to your mothers.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari)

One of the things I have always appreciated about my adopted faith is not only its emphasis on maintaining the bonds of kinship, but also the high regard in which women, particularly mothers, are held. The Quran, Islam’s revealed text, states: “And revere the wombs that bore you, for God is ever watchful over you.” (4:1)

It should be obvious that our parents deserve our utmost respect and devotion – second only to God. Speaking in the Quran, God ays: “Show gratitude to Me and to thy parents; to Me is thy final Goal.” (31:14)

The fact that God has mentioned parents in the same verse as Himself shows the extent to which we should strive in our efforts to serve the mothers and fathers who sacrificed so much for us. Doing so will help us to become better people.

In that same verse, God says: “We have enjoined on man (to be good) to his parents: in travail upon travail did his mother bear him.”

In other words, the debt we owe to our mothers is magnified due to the difficult nature of pregnancy – not to mention the nurturing and attention paid to us in infancy.

Another narration, or “Hadith,” from the life of the Prophet Muhammad again shows us just how much we owe to our mothers.

A man once asked the Prophet to whom he should show the most kindness. The Prophet replied: “Your mother, next your mother, next your mother, and then your father.” (Sunan of Abu-Dawood) In other words, we must treat our mothers in a manner befitting their exalted position – and, again, revere the wombs that bore us.

The Arabic word for womb is “rahem.” Rahem is derived from the word for mercy. In Islamic tradition, one of God’s 99 names is “Al-Raheem,” or “the Most Merciful.”

There exists, therefore, a unique connection between God and the womb. Through the womb, we get a glimpse of the Almighty’s qualities and attributes. It nurtures, feeds and shelters us in the early stages of life. The womb can be viewed as one manifestation of divinity in the world.

One cannot help but make the parallel between a Loving God and a compassionate Mother. Interestingly, the Quran does not portray God as exclusively male or female. As a matter of fact, by revering our mothers, we are paying respect to God.

Each of us should appreciate what we have in our mothers. They are our teachers and our role models. Every day with them is an opportunity to grow as a person. Every day away from them is a missed opportunity.

http://islam.about.com/od/elderly/a/mothers.htm

Anas ibn Malik: A man came to the Messenger of Allah and said: “I longed to go on jihad but I was not able to”. He said: “Is either one of your parents still alive?” The man said: “My mother”. He said: “Allah has instructed us in devotion to her, so if you do thus, you are as one who has made the hajj, the umrah and participated in jihad.”

Abdullah ibn Amr: A man came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, wanting to do jihad. The Prophet asked, “Are your parents alive?” He replied, “Yes.” The Prophet said, “Then exert yourself on their behalf.”

Jahmah: I said to the Holy Prophet, “O Messenger of Allah, I desire to go on a (military) expedition and I have come to consult you.” He asked me if I had a mother, and when I replied that I had, he said, “Stay with her because Paradise lies beneath her feet.”

The following is narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr:

A man came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and made a pledge to him that he would do hijra (emigration). He left his parents who were in tears. The Prophet said, “Go back to them and make them laugh as you made them weep.”

Another report is the following, which is narrated by Aisha Umm al-Muminin:

I asked the Prophet who has the greatest right over a man, and he said, “His mother.”

And We have enjoined on the human being in (regard to) his two parents – his mother bore him in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning was two years – Give thanks to Me and to your parents. To Me is the goal. But if they strive with you to associate with Me (gods) you do not know about, then do not obey them. But keep company with them both in the world in an honorable manner, and follow the path of who repents to Me. Then I will tell you what you have worked. –

QUR’AN Surah Luqman ayat 14-15

My mother has suffered a brain hemorrhage so please keep her in your payers. Thankyou.

xx

We did something “educational”! I know. I’m still a little bit stunned myself!

Anyway, just basics – letter writing and a few pages of math. I’m liking the Explode the Code things for the moment as it focuses a lot on letter practice (the ready, steady go books) with a few spot the difference things thrown in.

Read these books, which are Maths readiness type books but also deeply philosophical if you think about it

This arrived today. Ordered it a while back so doesn’t count as ‘new’ fabric

Yup the batsh*t crazy material! A whole 1/2 yard! The blue is a very soft baby blue. I’m tempted to make shorts out of it, but as it isn’t really short weather this year *sigh* then I’ll think of other uses as it would be such a waste of beautiful material. My little dream of having pants like these dashed on the rocks of sod’s law. So what to do with the new fabric? Maybe I’ll just roll round naked on it. Haven’t decided.

Parcelled some, er, parcels up – cushions are a go go. Need to post those today insha’allah.

Very fascinated to learn about Ligers and here and Tigons. All very interesting stuff.

I have a new blog mate Seeking Taqwa – a sewing sister which is a rare commodity so I had to grab her with both hands. She looked most perplexed, but because of her I have now ordered crochet hooks after months of procrastination and will attempt the de rigeur of the craft blog world – granny squares. I have an idea for a blanket. We’ll see. Crochet and me have headaches together but I can but try.

And there was something else I was going to tell you but the caffeine rush has deleted it from the hard drive. Oh well.

Buy handmade. Sew Q