Flavour of the Day with Noora

What's Cooking? A great Opportunity!

There is so much going on and there are so many great places. However, as busy mamas and babas, it is not always easy to stay updated. That's why Family Flavours and I decided to provide you with a shortcut: a monthly guide of what's going on in Jordan.

Each month, we will issue an events page that will contain great ideas for mamas, babas, kids, teens and the family.

If you are part of a business that offers dance classes, great gift ideas, teen entertainment, children play areas, beauty products, delicious snacks, or any other concept that you would like to advertise, please email me on marketing@familyflavours.com and I will contact you with the information you'll need to get started.

Remember, there is always room for advertising!

Flavour of the Day with Noora

How Becoming a Mama Changed Me

The other day, my husband was telling me that I have become a lot more tolerant since I had Yousef. That got me thinking of all the things I too have noticed about myself.

- I have become a morning person. I got so used to waking up early that I became a lot more productive.

- I scare a lot easier now. I feel I was braver when it was just me. However, now that I have Yousef, I am more cautious and more alert about what is dangerous.

- I turned into a neat freak! Everything has to be in its exact place looking just perfect.

- I love to, no, I need to plan everything. Plan my days, weekends, appointments, even the days I cook and do the laundry are carefully chosen.

- I have become more determined to continue my professional career. I guess I saw the other side of not working, and to me, it feels like a waste.

- What I like to do with my free time is so different now. While I always loved to go to busy places, go to the movies, or do something outside the house, now, I love to stay in, watch TV or just read a book in a quiet atmosphere.

All this and Yousef is still 1 year-old. Now, I can totally understand what my mom means when she says she was exactly like me when she was younger but changed after having 6 kids.

I always tell her that she is crazy for having so many in the first place :)

Flavour of the Day with Noora

A Good Book?

Can anyone recommend a good book?

I am not into science fiction or mystery novels and I am definitely not looking for something complex that requires a lot of thinking.

I just want a simple, preferably funny, book that I can read a few pages of before I go to bed. Something that can help me unwind and get my mind off a busy and hectic day.

Any suggestions?

Flavour of the Day with Noora

Not A Single One

On December 31st, 2011, I vowed the following:

- Make a kind gesture to at least two people every day.

- Learn and become good at one sport: I'm thinking tennis, kick boxing or fencing.

- Become a more positive person: I tend to over-worry and I am turning into a party-pooper.

- Get in touch with my distant relatives. I come from a huge family and they are all very kind and caring, I would love to be around them more often.

- Work with a personal trainer on becoming extremely fit and healthy (no more chips, junk food, energy drinks, and a lot more water and exercise).

- Make a difference in one underprivileged person's life: whether he is ill, poor, uneducated, an orphan or simply an unlucky person.

I am very disappointed to admit that I have forgotten that I even made this list. I know that it has only been one month and my son and I have been sick all throughout, yet I find it terrible that in one whole month, I haven't intentionally done something nice to anyone!

Day to day life really does take over sometimes! I have to change this...

Flavour of the Day with Noora

Home Sweet Home

I can't wait to go back home. My trip to Riyadh, which was supposed to last a maximum of 10 days, turned into a three-week long vacation.

First, Yousef got a chest infection that needed monitoring and then I got a sinus infection that forced me into bed for 4 days. It was not a pretty sight; I had to delay my flight three times.

I miss my husband and my step daughter, I miss my house, my office, my room and my car!

Although Riyadh has always been and will always be my home and the dearest place to my heart, things have changed after I got married and had kids. People that matter most, do not live in Riyadh and the life that I have chosen and created with my husband was not in Riyadh. Suddenly, it was no longer my only home.

So, it is Amman sweet Amman tonight (hopefully). I guess I am lucky to have so many places that I can call home.

Flavour of the Day with Noora

Irrational Fears

When parents tell their children not to watch scary movies, they know what they are talking about.

As an adult, I still get spooked from the thought of one single clip I watched when I was 9 years old. In it, there was a blonde woman in a white dress who would run on the beach in the middle of the night in search of her dead husband's ghost. Even writing about it is spooking me out!

I am mentioning this now because this image is always triggered when I am sleeping at my father's house in Saudi Arabia (where I initially watched the show). And since I have been visiting him for about two weeks now, I have thought of it more than 5 times.

It is totally ridiculous for a 27 year old mama to be thinking this way yet, I cannot help it!

I also know people who are scared of a lot more stranger things :)

Care to share some of your irrational fears?

Flavour of the Day with Noora

A Paediatrician's Great Tip

Yousef has had the flu for a while now. Since he barely agrees to drink liquids on normal days, he refused to drink or eat anything now that he was sick.

An ER doctor made a great suggestion: give him a popsicle. It worked!

I put a sugary juice in the freezer and waited until it turned into slush. He finally ate/drank something after two entire days of fasting. Although alone it was not enough, it was better than nothing.

The Dr. also instructed me to force him to drink water through a sirenge, 40ml of water/hour according to his weight (10 kilos).

Although he kicked and screamed (I had to repeat it every 30 minutes), three hours later he was devouring a plate of fries.

Dehydration is very serious in children, try these tips to avoid desperate measures like an IV drip.

Flavour of the Day with Noora

Sick Baby

Out of the past 30 days, Yousef (1 year-old) has been sick for 25. It has just been a constant flow of flues and viruses.

First, he got a flu while we were travelling on Christmas break. As soon as we reached home, he got a stomach virus that resulted in dehydration, he had to be admitted to the ER for IV fluids.

Three days later, he caught another sort of virus that resulted in high fever and a terrible cough. The doctor put him on antibiotics and an inhaler for his wheezing chest. During this time, he got bitten (7 shocking times) on the face by a mosquito to which he developed an allergic reaction, he is taking anti-histamines to reduce the side effects. It really is terrible, he is so exhausted from it all. It breaks my heart.

When asked for advice on how I can boost his immunity, one paediatrician responded by recommending a richer diet which includes natural vitamins such as adding more raw fruit and vegetables to his meals. Another explained that it has nothing to do with better nutrition, it is normal for children to contract viruses when travelling a lot and mixing with other children.

Of course, as a mama, I want an immediate and final solution to make my baby feel better (all the time).

Any advice?

Flavour of the Day with Noora

Advertise on What’s Cooking

Since I am a mama with a very active 1 year-old boy, I don't go out that often.

However, I am always wondering about the places that are suitable for Yousef’s age and about the places that we can enjoy as a family.

Because I am sure so many other mamas are in the same situation, Family Flavours and I decided to provide you with a shortcut: a monthly guide of what's going on in Jordan.

Each month, we will issue an events page that will contain great ideas for mamas,babas, kids, teens and the family.

If you are part of a business that offers dance classes, great gift ideas, teen entertainment, children play areas, beauty products, delicious snacks, or any other concept that you would like to advertise, please email me on marketing@familyflavours.com and I will contact you with the information you'll need to get started.

Remember, there is always room for advertising!

Flavour of the Day with Noora

Home Sweet Home

I came to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to renew my I.D. It's funny how a person will always feel attached to what he knows as home. To me, Riyadh is where I grew up, where most of my siblings live, where my best friends are and so, it is home. I love everything about it. However, after I met my husband 3 years ago, I moved to Amman.

I have certain rituals I follow each visit: I eat Baskin Robins ice cream almost everyday. I visit the supermarket the same night I arrive and stack up on all my favourite snacks, and I fuel up on so much yogurt and dates that I feel like a monster.

It is such a nice feeling to be that comfortable in a place and I often wonder: is it something my parents did that I can later move on to my children in respect to Amman or is it simply the memories I collected from family, school, friends and work? I don't know. However, as a mama, I hope that one day my children find a place among their family that they cherish so dearly and long to be a part of.

Flavour of the Day with Noora

What a day! It started with Yousef getting sick at 7am. I clean up and we (Yousef and I) proceed with our daily morning activities. I make my sandwich and he watches me eat it while munching on a piece of bread stuffed with Labneh. I look up, it is still 8:30.

We sit in the TV room, take out all the toys and turn on the TV. Fussy and grumpy, I realise that Yousef's nagging is attributed to a new tooth, number 5.

I look up, it is 10:30 and I am counting the minutes until the clock strikes 11:30 and it is nap time. Wasting time around the house cleaning with Yousef grabbing me every few minutes, it is finally time for bed. Suddenly he gets a surge of energy and the past 2 hours of whining turn into laughter and playfulness, he doesn't want to sleep. After about 20 minutes of crawling around, he is finally out.

I rush to my laptop, check my work email and begin making phone calls. Two hours pass by so fast and there he is crying again and calling for his mama. Drink milk, prepare the baby bag, get dressed, buckle up and head to school to pick up his sister, my lovely step daughter Layla.

At home, he nags over every bite of food Layla tries to eat, refuses to play with his toys and cries like crazy each time I leave the room. "It's ok, he is teething, he must be in pain," I calm myself down. Finally its 6pm and my husband comes home and takes over while I run some urgent errands. I come back, prepare Layla's dinner, prepare her lunch box, pack clean clothes for her play date after school, give her a shower, tuck her into bed, read 3 different stories and finally, she is sound asleep. Wow, can my day be over? I just have to check on Yousef. Bang! I drop the bottle and wake him up, I hate myself right now.

20 minutes later, he is back asleep, I look up, it's 10pm! I'm so tired and I want to rush to bed before he wakes me up at 2am, 4am and 7am. But wait, I have to be up with Layla at 6am.

When do mamas ever get a break?

Flavour of the Day with Noora

Interference

It is really annoying when EVERYONE has something to say about your parenting skills.

Because I am the youngest girl in my family, and because I am a first time mama, people around me seem to feel that I am in constant need of coaching.

"The milk is too hot, he is not wearing enough layers, he is hungry, he is thirsty, he should take a nap now..." and the opinions just keep coming.

On most days, I tolerate the comments and either kindly decline their coaching or do what they are asking me to do.

Today however was different; Yousef has been sick for about 4 days with a virus that resulted in dehydration. Two days ago, I needed to rush him to the ER for some IV fluids, it was not a pretty sight.

Luckily, his appetite has improved and the vomiting ended but as expected, he is still pale and a bit drained out of energy. My mom, who loves and worries about him deeply, started blaming me for not taking him for an IV injection again. When I explained that he has improved and a bit of fatigue is normal, she blamed me again for taking a wrong decision. That's when I exploded and used the "he is my son and I know what is best for him" response.

I feel terrible however, I cannot tolerate the interference any more. There are only 2 women I turn to when I have a question, I'll keep them anonymous :)

Should I be honest with the people that interfere and simply tell them how I feel or would that be rude and hurtful?