Flavour of the Day with Noora

Judgemental Mamas

In my daughter's swimming class which requires mamas' and babies' participation together, all of us mamas are with our babies in the water. In addition to the importance of the mama learning to teach her infant swimming skills, the importance of quality time between mama and child is constantly emphasised by the instructor. 

That is why when pregnant mama with toddler came with her nanny and let the nanny go into the pool with her so, all of us mamas were a bit confused. Of course, we could all see that she was pregnant and justified the situation, yet we quietly had our judgments. None of us really got how bad the mama felt until I went into the changing rooms.

There, I found pregnant mama standing behind the lockers, crying for her crying boy! And the first thing she told me, a complete stranger to her, was"please don't think I am the type of mama who throws my child at the nanny, I always play with him and do all the activities with him, he is never without me, however when I went into the water last week, all the jumping and movement really affected my pregnant body."

I felt so sorry for her, and realised how us mama are always and forever afraid of other mamas' judgment! So many of us judge, no matter how kind and thoughtful we are. I think it comes from our innate desire to have the perfect family and the perfect kids. No matter how much we deny it, we hate to have our kids behave as kids, especially in front of strangers. And no matter how amazing you are, at some point or the other, you surely say to yourself:" I will never do that, my kids will never act like that, etc."

Yesterday, my heart went out to this crying mama behind the lockers who felt so judged and weak that she confided in a total stranger. Telling her that  her situation is completely understandable did not ease her discomfort a bit, but only made her want to explain the situation more. It seems that no matter how "in control" you think you are, a mama's insecurities towards her own kids will always surface around other mamas!  

نكهة اليوم مع نورة

مع اقتراب العطلة الصيفية، نبدأ البحث الطويل وفي بعض الأحيان، المربك بكثرة خياراته لإيجاد أفضل البرامج الصيفية المناسبة لأطفالنا. فحين نبحث عن الحل الأنسب لأسرتنا، يمكننا الرجوع إلى آخر عدد (شهر حزيران) من مجلتي نكهات عائلية و Family Flavours للمزيد من المعلومات الخاصة بأمتع البرامج الصيفية والوجهات السياحية لكافة الأعمار.

 اما اذا كنا اهل لأطفال صغار في أعوامهم الأولى فسيسرنا الرجوع إلى ملحق نكهات صغيرة أو Baby Flavours المتكامل الذي يحتوي على كافة المرافق الداخلية والخارجية لقضاء أجمل الأوقات مع أطفالنا في مراحلهم الأولى. 

و إذا كنا نطمح لإيجاد برنامج متخصص لطالبة أو طالب مدرسي يضفي الانتاجية والمرح على العطلة الصيفية فقموا بزيارة مركز اللغات الحديث لدورات إنجليزية مكثّفة خاصة بطلاب و طالبات المدارس، فهو المركز الوحيد المعتمد من جامعة ميتشيغان الأمريكية وكامبردج البريطانية!

Flavour of the Day with Noora

My God-Given Alarm Clocks

No one really understands what it is like to be sleep-deprived like mamas do! Why does my 2.5 year-old still wake up and why doesn't my almost 1-year-old baby sleep through the night?!

On average, both wake me up 4-5 times a night, it's killing me. But what I find to be worse is that the expectations of mamas do not decrease because she is sleep-deprived. On the contrary, they are exactly the same and on many days increase. You still need to cook, function, socialise, care for and entertain your kids the next day. You also need to attend to your husband and if you have a job, then consider your own sleeping needs thrown out the window

I read that I should start giving my baby water instead of milk and she will eventually stop waking up; tried that, failed miserably. I need a solution and I need it fast, it is really ridiculous how exhausted I am!

Flavour of the Day with Noora

Bouncing from Diet to Diet

Like so many mamas who suffer with pregnancy weight, I became obsessed with shedding those kilos, I didn't care how hard it would be as long as it happened and it happened fast. 

If I am going to be honest, I have to say that I have been on a diet for the past year. I diet, then binge eat, then diet again. And the one thing I kept telling myself is: "I want to look like one of those mamas who looks like her body never had to endure pregnancy."

Lately however, and after losing more weight than I should have, I started to become very very tired. No energy, no tolerance, and zero strength. By the time it's 3 pm, I just want to call it a day.

Finally, I decided to do something about it. My blood tests showed that I am extremely unhealthy. Ding, ding, ding, " something can happen to me and then where will my kids be?!" I'm always nagging at my husband to become healthier, work less, sleep more, eat better and I always tell him: " what will our kids do if you suddenly collapse?!"  And turns out, I was doing the same. I was slowly but surely destroying my body with crazy dieting business! And what's worse, I realized that our kids will probably take our habits, how scary is that?!? I would hate to raise a daughter with self-image issues or a son who doesn't care about the quality of his food. As if processed, canned, coloured, hormone-treated foods we have these days are not enough, I was actually teaching my children to pay even less respect to their bodies. 

It's time for a change, a real one!

Flavour of the Day with Noora

22 Different Cuisines at ICS tomorrow!

Don't forget to join us tomorrow May 10th, at the ICS food fair offering flavours from 22 different places around the world!

An even more important reason to join is that ICS will donate a portion of the earnings to the local communities in need. I have been to the ICS before, interviewed their principal, staff and students. It is a huge part of their philosophy to do charity exhibitions, food fairs, and fund-raising events. There are so many foundations here in Jordan that can use such help, it feels good to teach your kids that what they will be spending and enjoying will help others who are probably their same age, yet less fortunate. I sometimes worry that our children might be too sheltered and unaware of the blessings they have! Taking them to a fundraising event is a good way to teach them to give back by doing so many fun and different activities!

Family Flavours and Nakahat A'iliyeh are also doing their share in adding to the fun with promotions, discounts, fun giveaways and raffle prizes!

So, come to the fair, have a few flavours from here and there, make use of our discount rates and promotions and enjoy your time. 

Flavour of the Day with Noora

ICS Food Fair

 

If you haven't been to an International Community School (ICS) food fair, you really don't want to miss out on Friday's (May 10th) event! As if having food and drinks from 22 countries was not exciting enough, all your kids, teens and even younger children have their own fun-filled activities. And for the grand finale, a raffle prize of a trip to Sharm El Sheikh!!

Believe me when I tell you that an event like this is exactly what you want to take your entire family to. The kids love it, you get to snack and watch them have a blast and who knows, maybe a trip to Sharm El Sheikh is in the cards for you soon!

I also cannot forget to mention the promotions we are offering at our end. A discounted subscription, a delicious biscuit basket, organic lollipops (I am looking forward to those), an activity book and vouchers from The Children's Museum.



Amazing weather, amazing events and amazing promotions, BE THERE!

Flavour Of The Day With Noora

Travelling with the Kids

It's funny how when you travel with your kids, especially if they are a bit young, travelling gets a completely different meaning. The type of destination you look for is different, the hotel you look for should be family friendly, the restaurants you choose are definitely different and even the people you choose to travel with are some-what determined by if their kids will be good company to your kids.

I just came back from a family trip on which all our kids joined and for the first time, I realised how much our "family vacation" is really a "children's vacation". Almost nothing we did was for ourselves, I mean my husband and I. Of course, we chose a destination with a beach so that they can play, we went to the beach when they wanted, then to the pool when they wanted, then back to the beach when they wanted. We pretend-played a million times, we stayed in the kids pool all the time to make sure they were safe and happy, and we ended the day when they got tired.

I left this trip very happy and satisfied that my kids had a good time, yet, as I was there, I realised that every other set of parents did exactly what we did. It's amazing that no matter how different parents can be, one thing will always prevail, the great
feeling we get when we see our kids happily experiencing the things we work so hard to provide. 

Flavour of the Day with Noora

When you think of it, being a mama is the most unselfish, time-consuming, underpaid job in the world. No amount of training is enough to prepare you for what it is really like. The hours are long and in many cases hard, the events of it are life-changing in every way and the payback can take years to surface.

Some accept motherhood with open arms and feel content with everything that comes with mama-hood. It feels natural and easy.

To others, the transition is scary and tiring. The decisions that they have to make: "do I quit my job and stay home? Shall I trust a nanny? Shall I look for a nursery? Does loving my baby mean I can't go after my dreams? I feel suffocated, does that mean I'm a bad person?"; are nothing short than frighting.

Whichever category you are in and whatever difficulties you may be facing, know this: no woman is born as a mama, mama-hood is something you are eased into. Mama-hood is something you learn to implement on a daily basis. Parenting books can help but nothing will ever be clear cut. And as my friend Hala Ibrahim, Consultant is Special Educational Needs, puts it:

"It is time that we recognise that parenting is not just a part of the circle of life, but that it is a profession- a profession so very few f us receive training for!"