Still here!

Errr...saya hidup lagi...

tak senonoh je nama blogger tapi lama tak update kan...i busy.. (orang lain tak busy macam saya)

Ni apasal tetiba boleh update pulak? Sebab cuti seminggu, Adam masuk darjah 1, kena lah stand by dia kan..

Ammar & Adam

Cuba cari adam

Beg je dah penuh kerusi

Yeeaa.. lepas rehat, masuk balik bekal..no canteen food for you

How was 2011? As you all know, lots of things happened to our family in 2011.. Cairo/ Sinai..(oops that was Dec 2010--macam baru je kan), the big move, Manchester to Melaka, me started working again, Adam and Ammar started school here, the runaway tenant, a few vacations (Putrajaya-boleh kira tak?, Penang, PD)....all in all we settled down nicely.

But the best thing about 2011 is that I shed off 14 kg!! wakakakaaka... (jadi surirumah memang menggemukkan- kalau malas exercise macam saya)

So I was afraid because my BMI was nearing obesity, i don't want to be fat, slow and lazy, so I joined a free program with sparkpeople.com, followed it to the letter (almost) and reached my target. In the process i learned more about nutrition than what medical school taught me.

One rule that I learned and also applied elsewhere is that if you have a mission, the target and ways to achieve the target has to be outlined clearly, or else it would remain a mission statement. It would not go further than that.

Like when I wanted to change my eating habit, I said to myself, I want to eat 5 portions of fruits and veges a day. If you just make a mental note like that, "eat 5 a day" , very likely you won't achieve your target. How to achieve 5 a day- you must outline clearly. So my regime is, 2 fruits before breakfast- (must), then quarter plate veges at lunch and at dinner, so that makes 4/5, the other 1/5 is anytime in between (brunch, tea, supper, before dinner etc). And my advice is- eat the wajib first (fruits), if you leave it after a meal, quite often you will forget or become too full to take it.

That brings us to what my targets are for 2012....

Later, i think. InsyaAllah. Promised Adam some cookies to bake.

*we already got a tenant, hope she won't give us much problems, will also write few things about this later

2 hari

Sudah 2 hari Adam berjaya puasa Subuh ke Maghrib :) Yang saya kagum ialah dia tak merungut langsung. Tidak merengek bila tengok Ammar dan Abid makan. Tidak minta makanan selain apa yang dihidangkan ketika berbuka. Dari mana kekuatan dia? Tubuhnya kecil kurus keding tapi tenaga banyak. Tidak tidur langsung di siang hari.

Adam berbuka dengan roti canai

Saya bertanya, "How do you feel Adam, fasting the whole day?"

Dia jawab "OK" (jawapan standard, tiada huraian panjang lebar).

"Why do you fast in Ramadhan, Adam?"

"So that I become a soleh boy, and in World 3 I can live in Heaven where all good things are.."

Saya terkedu. Tak sangka pulak itu jawapannya. Ketika kematian nenek saya tahun lepas, Adam ada bertanya ke mana orang yg mati pergi. Jadi saya telah menggunakan analogi World 1 (dunia), World 2 (barzakh) dan World 3 (akhirat). Untuk melatihnya berpuasa saya janjikan duit 50 sen setiap jam. Mulanya saya sangka itulah jawapannya. Saya merenung jawapannya. Ia jawapan yang sesuai dengan tujuan Allah swt menyuruh kita berpuasa seperti dalam ayat 183 surah AlBaqarah- mudah-mudahan kamu bertaqwa.

...so that I become a soleh boy..


Amin..

Ramai orang suka menegur rambut kepala Adam yang ada 2 pusar. Biasa orang akan kata- eh pusar dia dua..biasa orang kata degil ni... Saya akan selalu jawab, dia lah yang paling ikut cakap. Degil ke tidak bukan ikut pusar kepala.

Ammar pula bertanya, "Mama, which is better, soleh boy or good boy?"

"Soleh boy because soleh boy means a good boy that always remember Allah"

"I remember Allah when I eat" Ammar mempertahankan dirinya.

"hehe true..you are a soleh boy too.."

Sikap tak boleh kalah tu memang macam turun dari saya.

(terima kasih Baiti yang memberi idea memuji anak dengan mengatakan soleh boy, instead of good boy / clever boy)

My Little Assistants

Who needs a maid when you have 3?

Mama's little laundry assistant (budak boleh harap)

Mama's morning buddy- pukul 6 pagi. Aktiviti: hias kapal terbang dengan stickers.

Mama's kitchen assistant- making honey cornflakes

Mama's kitchen assistant- coating doughnuts with sugar

Making own buttered toast

Mama's little angels :D

The other 6-year-old boy

Dear Adam,


Today you are 6. It is time for Mama to tell you about a boy. This boy was very different from you. You have everything a 6 year-old could dream of. Mama and Papa, all four grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, good school, friends, unlimited toys, books. You never went to sleep hungry. You never woke up scared.


This boy, he lived 1400 years ago. When he was 6, your age now, his mom died. He became an orphan. His dad already died when he was still in his mummy's tummy. He was really poor. He did not have everything that you have now. He had to live with his other family members. Surely it was not the same as having your own parents.


He became a shepherd. He did not get to go to school. Nobody even taught him to read or write. There is a reason to this. Mama will tell later. But why Mama wants to tell you about this boy?


He was a very special boy. He was born with nothing. But he had something that no one else ever had as much, or would ever have as much, and that is Allah's love. You remember Allah? Mama already told you that Allah is the One who creates us, Whom we will go to when we leave this world, Whose Love and Mercy we should strive for every second of our lives.


Why you must know about this poor orphan boy? Because you must love him more than you love Mama, Papa, Ammar, Abid or yourself. And we all must love Allah like he loved Allah. It is easier said than done. He himself said (when he was older) that living in this world while striving to love Allah at the end of time (most probably our time now) would be like holding a burning coal. It is easier to let go than to endure. But to let go must never be your option. You must remember this.


Adam, his name was Muhammad. Whenever we say his name, we will say sallallahualaihiwassalam (peace be upon him). He is our Holy Prophet. Your two brothers have his name, but you don't. Because you have the name of another great Prophet whose story is more complicated. Mama will tell you when you are older, InsyaAllah.


When he was about your age now, he had to take care of sheeps. When he was a bit older, he learned to trade and became a businessman. Mama always wonder what he was like during this period of his life, the life before prophethood, because not much is said about it. What his thoughts were when he was tending the sheep, what he thought of his travels. Did he ever cried when he watched other kids with their mothers? Did he play games with other teenagers? How good was his sales skills? We know that he was an honest man. We know that he had some signs of his prophethood. But we know very little of this part of his life.


Do you wonder what he looked like? Well there are some description of the adult him. It was said that he was of a medium stature, he was neither very tall nor very short. He was handsome, of medium built and his hair was neither very curly nor very straight (but was slightly wavy). He had a wheat-coloured complexion. When he walked, he leaned forward slightly*.  And he walked with a fast pace. Mama also read once that he always smile, and his smile would bring peace to one's heart, and when he shake his hand with another person, he would never be the one to let go first. 


Why Allah loves him so much, Adam? Well, to start with, he never told a lie. His only priority is to please Allah and spread Allah's message. He once said that even if his favourite daughter Fatimah steals, he would cut her hand. Do Mama has the heart to cut your hand if you steal? Allah forbids we would ever be faced with that situation. Mama also knows that before he sleeps he would say Allah's name. Then he would wake up in the middle of the night to pray to Him. Some of his companions sometimes followed his night prayer. They said that when they followed the Prophet's (saw) night prayers, they would have to lean themselves onto pillars to support themselves because it was soo long. He would read AlBaqarah, Ali Imran and AnNisa' just in one rakaat. That was how long it was. Not just that, for every sentence that praise Allah, he would say tasbih. For every sentence on blessings, he would ask for priority from Allah. For every sentence on Hellfire, he would ask for Allah's forgiveness.**It was truly the prayer of one whose purpose of living was solely to worship Allah.


Can we ever meet him? In Heaven yes. But to reach him we must follow his footsteps. And the path would never be easy. The path to Heaven is full of hardship. It is the road less traveled. It is not the way of the majority. 


Adam, you are 6 today. Remember this 6 year-old orphan boy. There are a lot more to tell. Not just about him, but also his wives, his loyal companions, his journeys. Mama will tell you more and more about him until he becomes your best friend. Then hopefully you will love him enough to be among his companions at our final destination.


Happy birthday Adam. May you have a blessed life, here and after.


Love,
Mama.




*Reported by Anas Bin Malik (ra)
** Reported by Abdullah Ibn Abbas (ra).

A Letter to Adam

Dear Adam,


Mama is writing you this letter, for the future you. Mama just want to tell you a story because surely if Mama don't write this now, none of us will remember.


Winter is approaching fast. And with winter, comes the usual hoohaah of Christmas here. You like to sing a few Christmas songs that you always hear in tv, school, everywhere. And one day Papa stopped you. Papa asked you not to sing Christmas songs anymore because we don't celebrate Christmas. We are not Christians. Allah is One, and He has no son, neither was He born. We didn't know whether you understand why we don't let you sing Christmas songs.


Then yesterday your teacher told Papa that while all your classmates were singing Christmas songs, you just stood there alone, refusing to join in.


When Mama asked you why you did not sing with your classmates, you said, with a straight face, "because we don't celebrate Christmas, we celebrate Eid! I don't know whether the Windy Winter Song is halal or not so I don't sing" hehe..where did you get the idea of a halal song Adam? Mama and Papa never used the term halal or haram for songs...


Mama is proud of you Adam. You obeyed Papa even when Papa was not there. You were not afraid even when you found you were alone in your decision. And you chose to leave it when you were not sure. You are a wise 5-year old! Mama can't thank Allah enough for having you.


Adam, when you are older, should you find life is harsh for you, and if you feel that you are not strong enough, remember this story. This is you at the very core. Remember that Mama's prayers will always be with you all your life, and Allah is always near.


Love, hugs and kisses..
Mama.

Baking with Adam again

I bought a kid's baking set that day. Just to distract Adam from tv, computers, games..(he does not like books).

So we had a fabulous time baking together!

Our rollers

Ammar joined but only to mess up the place

concentrating hard

Cookies for WanMa

Cookies for Papayim

Tigger, Pooh and Piglet

*I, the IT-blur-wife-of-a-computer-engineer now knows how to put a caption under the photos without the help of Papaboyz. OK maybe 'kacang putih' for other people, but a big step for the blogger me :P

Adam, you are 5..

Adam turned 5 two days ago..

He has shown good progress since his last birthday. He is showing deep interests in mathematics (certainly not from me) and can grasp the concept of numbers quite fast. He finds reading a chore (Mama is trying to encourage more, but I'm not going to force it on you Adam). He lovesss games. He has a soft heart. He is his father through and through.

One incident last year that really displayed his true quality could not be erased from my mind. We were at a carboot sale and I gave Adam 50pence to spend on anything he liked. So we walked and walked but nothing caught his attention. Suddenly Ammar saw a Thomas The Tank book and cried out "Thomas! Thomas!". Adam took the book and gave it to Ammar, saying "you want this Amai?" and gave a coin to the lady seller. The lady was touched that she praised Adam. I asked her how much was the book, and she looked in her hand and saw that Adam only gave her 10pence. She said, smiling "It's ok, he already paid" (although I thought the book should cost more because it was an interactive sound-book).

He did that without thinking or asking me. It was intuitive. He put his brother's need first before himself. Mama is so proud of you Adam.

With advancing age comes more responsibility. Adam gets some new toys, but also an added duty in the house. He now has to bring his own plate and bowl to the kitchen sink everytime he finishes eating. He accepted this new responsibility with a smile.

I got this idea of officially giving new responsibility on birthdays along with presents from the article Raising Children in Deen and Dunya.

For Adam's birthday, I made him a chocolate cake with coffeecream icing (nak jugak tunjuk tuu hehe)




I am Fiveee!

Baking with Adam

Yesterday I had one of the best experience with Adam. He came back from school and told me that he baked fairy cakes at school with his teacher. Matching his enthusiasm, I asked how to bake it and what are the ingredients. Surprisingly he remembered everything, step by step. Then he said he wanted to jot the recipe down so he won't forget.

After a few attempts he got frustrated. He wanted to cramp everything in one page but his writing were too big.



So he made me do the list. I had to, because he was already near tears.



Then he decided to give it a try straight away. I was reluctant at first because it was already near bed time for him. But he was so excited and could not be persuaded otherwise.

Adam: Mama, do you have all the ingredients?
Mama: errr... yes.
Adam: Do you have the casings?
Mama: yes.... (did not have the heart to lie)
Adam: I WANT TO MAKE FAIRY CAKESSS!! (shouting as usual, bouncing on the sofa)

So I gave in. I thought why not. The recipe is super simple. No measuring or mixer required. Just 8 spoons of flour, butter and sugar each, 2 eggs and mix with wooden spoon. I asked Adam whether he had missed any ingredients, but he was confident that he did not miss anything. Nevertheless, while breaking the eggs into a bowl I quickly add 2 spoons of milk and a drop of vanilla into the eggs, while he wasn't looking.

Then he insisted to wash hands and wear an apron. I had to fold my apron into half and tied it to him. Then he asked, with a bossy tone..

Adam: Have you washed your hands, Mama?
Mama: dahlerrr (sabar je lah)

The pictures say it all....

Then after all the cakes were eaten, Adam suddenly remembered..

"Mamaa! We forgot baking powder!!"

(I knew it, that's why I used self-raising flour)

Ruginya kanak2 Malaysia...

Beberapa minggu lepas pembelajaran subjek sains dan matematik telah ditukar semula ke Bahasa Malaysia. Ramai yang beri hujah2. Ada yang bentangkan keputusan statistik kajian, ada yang mempertikaikan kredibiliti kajian tersebut. Orang sains kata camni, orang sastera kata camtu. Ramai juga yang beri cadangan2 bernas seperti laksanakan penggunaan Bahasa Inggeris secara berperingkat, wujudkan semula sekolah aliran Inggeris, tingkatkan dulu penguasaan bahasa Inggeris dsbg.

Topik ini membahagi Malaysia (yang telah pun berpecah belah) kepada lebih pecahan, yang menyokong dan membangkang (biasalah tu).

Yang sokong atau bangkang dua-dua tak salah. Mana2 kumpulan yang anda masuk pun tak kisah sebab memang dua2 kumpulan ada benarnya.

Kesian ek pada budak2 kampung dan cikgu2 yang terpaksa ajar mereka tu. Tekanan mereka kita tak tahu sebab Alhamdulillah kita pandai berbahasa Inggeris. Tapi semua kitab2 sains dan matematik dalam bahasa Inggeris begitu juga jurnal2 antarabangsa. Nak kerja bagus pun English kena tiptop. Kitorang bentang kes2 pesakit pun semua dalam English walaupun di Univ Kebangsaan dan semua yang hadir hanya orang Malaysia. (Kalau tukar cakap Melayu boleh pening dibuatnya, yelah 'heart' tu kan jantung tapi kalau tafsir 'you are the love of my heart' ialah 'andalah cinta hati saya' bukannya cinta jantung saya).

Perkara ini heboh sebab rakyat Malaysia masih sayangkan negara. Ini masalah pendidikan negara jadi ini memang masalah SEMUA.

Tapi apa masalah kita sebenarnya?

Baru2 ini sahabat saya ketika sekolah dulu menceritakan dalam blognya tentang hilangnya roh utk belajar di kalangan mahasiswa kita. Sampai lemah lutut kawan saya tu dan membuatkan dia berazam utk cepat2 menghabiskan PhDnya supaya cepat kembali ke Malaysia dan buat apa yang boleh utk anak2 Malaysia. Bertuahnya UIAM dapat pensyarah lulusan Oxford yg bertanggungjawab sepertinya. Mudah2an anak2 saya akan dapat guru sepertinya.

Bahasa Inggeris memang penting tapi kita perlu rapatkan jurang. Buatnya saya dihantar bertugas di ceruk hulu mana2 tak perlulah saya risau tentang sekolah anak saya.

Ya, sesuatu perlu dibuat kepada sistem pendidikan kita.

Setelah berada di bumi penjajah kita dulu ini hampir 2 tahun, dan setelah Adam habis sesi persekolahannya seminggu lepas, saya mula terasa yang budak2 di Malaysia lambat masuk sekolah.

Saya rasa umur 7 tahun sangat lambat utk mula pendidikan formal.

"alah..takpelah budak, biar dia puas main dulu baru mula sekolah" Dulu pun saya berfikiran begini bila dapat tahu yang budak di UK ni mula sekolah seawal 3 tahun.

Tapi ini mungkin sebabnya budak Malaysia suka main saja. Kita telah terlepas peluang keemasan utk mendidik mereka semasa mereka masih selembut rebung.

Imam2 besar dulu pun belajar dan hafaz Quran semasa usia pra-sekolah lagi. Ini umur ketika otak mereka seperti 'sponge', boleh serap apa saja.

Memang ramai yang hantar anak2 ke tadika awal tapi bayaran sgt mahal. Saya tengok di internet ni rata2 RM 2ribu lebih satu semester. Input pun tak selaras. Kalau yang miskin atau gaji banyak tapi anak ramai macam mana pulak nak hantar semua ke tadika yg mahal2 ni.

Jadi saya cadangkan daripada kita buang duit tukar silibus sana sini sampai semua pening ,apa kata kita mulakan sekolah rendah pada umur lebih awal, darjah 1 umur 5 tahun. Saya cakap dengan siapa ni? Muhyidin Yassin? Kalau ada yang kenal dia bolehla bagitau tapi saya sebenarnya cakap dgn ramai kawan2 yang berada dalam sistem pendidikan. Saya rasa mesti nanti salah seorang akan duduk dalam kabinet.

Pengalaman Adam bersekolah umur 3 tahun

Saya mula2 agak was2 tentang menghantar Adam ke sekolah terlalu awal. Tapi disebabkan Adam jenis pemalu dan kami inginkan dia lebih berani dan berkeyakinan diri, kami masukkan juga dia ke sekolah.

Hari pertama hingga ketiga ibu bapa dibenarkan utk menemani anak supaya mereka boleh sesuaikan diri. Jadi kami dapat lihat bagaimana guru2 ini menangani murid2 yang masih cakap pelat dan kebanyakannya English bukan bahasa ibunda. Kelas Adam memang hanya penuh dengan mainan. Dari jigsaw puzzle, blok2, main masak2 sampailah ke pasir dan air.

Kalau di rumah, haramla nak bagi Adam sepah2 buat lukisan atau kerja2 kraf. Itulah gunanya sekolah, utk buat benda yang kita tak buat kat rumah.





Sebenarnya banyak juga input dari cikgu yang membantu kami lebih memahami Adam. Sekolah pulak banyak bagi 'award'. Kalau 'polite' di dewan makan pun boleh dapat sijil yang diberi semasa perhimpunan mingguan (yg boleh dihadiri ibubapa). Jadi budak2 lebih berkeyakinan.

Adam berpuas hati dengan sijil yang diterima......


Bersama penerima2 sijil yang lain


Adam berlagak dgn kawan...

Pada minggu terakhir persekolahan ibubapa dapat 'report card' anak masing2.





Hari terakhir Adam di sekolah bersama cikgu2nya...(tak reti saya camne nak susun cantik2 semua gambar2 ni)




Rakan sekelas Adam (perasan tak berapa kerat je org putih)....


Jadi, apa pendapat semua? Itu saja buah fikiran saya. Kalaulah dari kecil mereka boleh ditanamkan sifat dahaga ilmu, jadi tak kisah belajar dalam bahasa apa pun boleh berjaya. Pada umur ini kalau nak diajar bahasa cina dan tamil pun mesti diorang boleh tangkap. Saya tak pasti negara Jepun, Germany atau Amerika macam mana.

Ruginya kalau umur 7 tahun baru nak belajar...