Days of Our Lives

Yesterday was a day of impromptus. It was time to go to the library because some magazines could no longer be renewed, so we waited for Baby Z to wake up after being exhausted from his ‘tahajjud’ romping from 4:30 am to 6 a.m. I should have woken up and prayed, instead of pretending to sleep so he would come back to bed. Before long, I had to wake up for suhoor, and by then he was sleepy and hungry. Thanks to the crazy honking outside, which jarred Baby Z from his sleep, pretty much.

When he woke up it was around 9:30 a.m. While waiting, S and I worked on the dolls for the Muslimah Doll Project. When we headed out, I decided to try on a different kind of hijab, just to see if it would sit well with me. Lo and behold, as I rummaged in the hanging closet under the stairs, I found the winter coat our Korean neighbor had given to us, meant for S, and I tried it on. I loved it! So out I walked to the van, where the kids were already waiting, and as I did, they all stared at me, and … laughed.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, almost incredulously, though I was fighting back the urge to laugh myself.

“Ummi, you look weird!”

“Ugly weird?” I asked, though I wasn’t about to go back inside and change if S had said yes.

“No, weird weird!”

“You look like a strict teacher!”

“If you wear lipstick then you would look like a fancy teacher.”

Well, we went to the libray and as we turned out of our court, H remarked,

“I know the way to the library now.”

“So if someone were to ask for directions, you’d be able to give it?” I asked, and the lesson for map reading skills and giving directions popped in my head.

“Yeah, well, only from our house. Well, actually from Ackerman Road.”

We had done this before. When they were learning about giving directions, we applied it on the way to the library and I had them look out for the names of the road and we hashed out proper sentences that give directions.

Lately they have been so preoccupied with Powerpoint, and as with any other homeschooling activities we have done so far, an impromptu activity was born.

“Ok, how about you write down the directions to the library, and when we go home, you make a powerpoint presentation on it. You can be as creative as you live.”

“Yeah! Yeah!”

S, who was sitting with me in front, sought a paper she could write on, and a pen. This was the only drawback of impromptu ideas – obviously lack of materials due to lack of planning. As we drove to the library, they (well, mostly S and H) looked out for the names of the road, and even bickered over,

“Turn right on Kenny,” versus “Turn right from Ackerman to Kenny.”

It racked my brain for a while even though I felt “Turn right on Kenny,” was correct. I later modified it to,

“Turn right onto Kenny.”

We spent about an hour or less at the library, and I grabbed a few Kids Discover issues on Brain, Presidency (since the topic of Obama versus Mccain has come up more than once in our family chats), Gorilla, and Muscles, among others.

“I got some magazines. Feel free to look over them at home, okay, even if you didn’t get them. I got them for you guys,” I told them.

Ever since they have their own cards, they deem it not ‘doable’ to read others’ books, though some of them has picked ‘others’ books to read to the fury of the ‘others’. It then struck me,

The unschooling approach is to provide a learning environment. For younger children, it’s the Montessori approach. I have decided to deschool them except for routine Quran after Fajr (which now incorporates tajweed, review or memorized suwaar and new memorization along with the reading, which by the way takes about an hour or more for all three children). We’re currently in an unstable situation. We only have about a month, well, slightly more, till we find out if we’re headed back to Malaysia for sure, or move elsewhere in the United States. Hubby’s interview on Dec 2 will be the determinant if nothing comes up before then. It will be an interesting Edi Al Adha, I predict. But for now, I make our default as ‘going back to Malaysia’ as we all deal with our ‘grief’ over this possibility. The kids are not too happy about it. I am not either, and I don’t think hubby is either, and even my mom feels sorry for us, especially the kids, but Allah knows best, and this ayah keeps coming to me,

“…it may be that you don’t like something but it is good for you..”

So, this November will probably be filled with preparations to go back (mainly decluterring and seiwng all the fabric we have lying around plus maybe using up all the cake ingredients, all this on top of my article assignment and possible work for hire). It might be wise for me to deschool them and resurrect their full enthusiasm and interest for learning by the time we move to wherever we’re supposed to move to. That in itself, will be learning experience for all of us, inshaallah, and I kind of look forward to it. Of course the issue of continuing homeschooling them in Malaysia looms darkly over us, but I guess I’ll deal with it when and if it comes. For now, we will live life as we usually do, look deep within ourselves and constantly ask for forgiveness, and keep asking Allah for the best. We don’t even know if we will still be alive come December.

As soon as we got home, they practically dashed to the computer and started working on their powerpoint. Pity there are only two computers in the house, because as of now, only H is done with his powerpoint. Since only S took and wrote down the directions, H and N were left high and dry. H, being resourceful, continued to asked S, who gave him some help, but didn’t serve him her notes, and even google mapped it himself. N on the other hand, felt very bitter about S not sharing her notes, and worked on her powerpoint, but didn’t even bother to ask S for help.

As for Baby Z, well, he continues to amaze us by signing things as we introduce them to him, using them, and making new faces at us. I notice that he tends to clam up though, and it occurred to me that maybe the reason he is slow in everything (relatively) is most probably because of our family dynamics. I remember the pediatician saying,

“He probably doesn’t see the need to roll over because everyone’s coming to him,”

when I expressed slight concern over him not rolling over at 6 months.

I also noticed that once he acquires a new skill, he masters it really quickly and more. So, I guess, for now, he is most probably not talking because we keep talking ‘for’ him, and because he has the signs which we all respond to so readily and eagerly. I read in the book ‘Baby Signs’ that they will talk when they feel the need to, and the need will come, inshaallah, as they go into newer stages in their lives. Inshaallah. I hope so. So far though, he seems to be very content flipping over pages in books, seriously and silently poring over each page intently. I notice that before, he would open up a book, speed flip through it in a few seconds and close it, not even interested in looking at the pictures. But now, I think he has developed an interest in actually scrutinizing the pictures on the pages that he would flip a page, look at it for more than few seconds before turning to another page. Books seem to be an easy find in this house. It’s literally everywhere. So this little tot would grab one, seat himself on the floor, and flip the pages and look at he pictures. He even took some newspaper booklet, laid his legs out parallel, placed the newspaper on his stretched out legs, and started flipping the pages. I was surprised he even realized the newspaper was for reading. I guess the pictures attracted him.

I truly don’t remember any of my three children doing this at this age. Baby Z’s exposure to books and reading is probably at a larger scale than the older three because practically everybody is doing it as opposed to it being just me when the three kids were younger. Alhamdulillah. May he live up to his namesake. Ameen!

Well, as for our impromptu activity, here is H’s powerpoint presentation.

Driving To The Library