Flavour of The Day with Noora

Not So Tough!

Turns out my heart is mushy after all! Today, I got a call from a preschool that Yousef can join their summer camp beginning end of June. I have been trying to find a trustful preschool that would take Yousef at such a young age for months now. And the need for finding something to keep him busy is greater than ever as I am about a month away from having my second baby.

Who ever would ask me about how things are going, my answer would always be about how crazy Yousef is driving me and how I wish I had some help with him: "I would do anything to have a few hours of alone time every day."

When I got the call, I felt joy for about 10 seconds and then very, very surprisingly, felt anxious about the thought of leaving him everyday and how I will miss him very much! And when I thought of what lunch box I should get him, tears started running down my face. I kept on hugging him, kissing him and cuddling him, as if he is going to leave me the next day.

I AM A CRAZY PERSON! My husband of course had a weird smirk on his face, very much enjoying my craziness and said, "not as easy as you thought? I told you that you need him as much as he needs you!"

Flavour Of The Day With Noora

Celebrity Nonsense


I was watching an interview with a celebrity who just had her baby 3 months ago. She was telling the reporter that she "has never felt as pretty as she has since becoming a mom." Automatically, my response was:"ya right, you probably had a personal trainer before, during and after. A live-in make up artist and hair stylist who made sure you looked naturally gorgeous, and the best day and night nannies who made sure you got all the sleep in the world!" I might sound bitter, but comments like hers make most of us mamas feel like a total mess. The weight gain, stretch marks, pregnancy acne, swollen hands and feet, and enlarged noses, to name a few are what us normal, non-celebrity, mamas have to deal with.

Although I have managed to keep my weight gain under control during my last phases of pregnancy, I still can't wait to go back to my old self. There are 3 kilos (out of 22) that I didn't manage to shed off after I had Yousef and I think after this baby, I will need to lose a total of 12 kilos.

I already bought top of the line running shoes, training suits (all in small size to force myself to fit into them) and downloaded an application on my phone that teaches you all sorts of exercises. I even told my husband that the only post baby gifts I want from him are personal training sessions and a year long gym membership.

Until then, I cannot help but binge on all sorts of junk like fast food, chips, cookies, chocolate (which I never liked before), and stuff with butter!

God help us mamas for what we have to put our bodies through for the sake of having children.

Flavour of The Day With Noora

What A Kid!

Today, we had my step daughter's friend over after school. This is the second time she comes over and I am so impressed by her manners. 

She must have said thank you a 100 times, asked for permission to take her shoes off in the house, waited for me to sit at the table before sitting down herself, asked me politely and quietly for an ice-pack after banging her nose, insisted that they (her and Layla) clean up after themselves, and got ready in less that a minute when she knew her father was at the door.

When her dad picked her up, I couldn't help but praise her over and over again and then I thought to myself, "it must be really great to have people compliment your child that way!"

How do you raise kids to turn out like that?! Is it discipline or is it part of their personality? I have been spending so much time around children lately and I am realising that manners are the last thing on their minds!

 

Flavour of The Day With Noora

Testing, Testing


Today, I took Yousef to a "test visit" to the preschool he is supposed to attend in September. His separation anxiety is at an all time high and the school principal and I thought it might be helpful to take him for brief visits every now and then to get him used to the idea and more familiar with the place and faces he will be seeing.

The school was lovely, a music class was in process, the kids were singing and jumping, there was another class pretending to be in the supermarket and the kids were exchanging cereal boxes, weighing fruit and vegetables and everyone, including me was having a great time. Where was Yousef? Glued to my leg, grabbing on to my jeans like his life depended on it, which in his mind, I'm sure was the case! It took him about 20 minutes to feel safe and walk around, as long I was three steps behind.

Anyways, it is clear that getting him to go there in September will not be an easy task. Can anyone share any tips on how I can make him more comfortable with the idea?

Flavour of The Day with Noora

A New Baby at Home

In about a month and a half, I will be having my baby girl. Every time it hits me just how fast this pregnancy has moved along, I get a panic attack. To make it worse, my husband seems to enjoy seeing me worry and so throws a "funny" comment every now and then about how hard it will be.

When the baby, yet to be named, comes, Yousef will be about a year and a half old and Layla will be 8. Over the past three years, I went from being a bachelorette to being married with 3 kids, scary stuff!

Anyways, nothing is ready yet. Not the nursery, bed set, PJs or outfits, nothing! But the bigger issue is that I am looking for someone to help. I heard that there are nurses who can come for day or night shifts and I am having mixed feelings about hiring one. I feel guilty that with Yousef I did every single thing for him while with this baby, I'm considering not to. Then again, with Yousef, it was only Yousef. Now, it's Yousef, Layla and the baby. And, even though I like to think of myself as superwoman, I know I am not. Something will have to give.

So, if there are any mamas out there with more than one baby who ended up getting help, I would really appreciate some advice! I'll take anything I can get.

Flavour of The Day with Noora

Pregnancy Brain

I have truly become a dumber person since I became pregnant. I forget almost everything, have zero attention span, and do really weird things.

The other day, I decided to move the clothes hanger from inside the bedroom to the dressing room to make more space. Anyways, I left the room and five minutes later walked inside the dressing room again. In those five minutes, I forgot all about the clothes hanger and so jumped in my place in total fear and yelled at the clothes hanger, "Maha, what are you doing here!". Maha is my sister who was at work at the time.

Don't ask me why, how or in any world I thought my sister looks like a clothes hanger, I just truly thought it was her!

I had never felt as dumb or ridiculous. Of course, all my husband could do was laugh hysterically.

A few days later, I opened the fridge to find the salt and pepper shakers neatly arranged on one of the shelves, again, with no recollection what so ever on when I did that.

I also put batteries in one of Yousef's toys to make sure that it played music and when it did, I started to look around wondering," where is that music sound coming from?"

I wonder if this is reversible or are my brain cells lost forever!

Flavour of The Day with Noora

A Frightful Yousef

Yousef (17 months) is going through a a weird phase, or at least, I'm hoping it's a phase. He is scared to death of every sound he hears. If his dad comes home from work and calls him from the other room, he runs to me immediately and holds my pants! In a terrified manner.

If the door bell or phone rings, if a car makes a loud noise, if someone in a different room makes any noise what so ever, Yousef runs to me in fear.

I don't know if it is because some kids in the family kept on playing with him by hiding from him and then jumping out of nowhere or if it is because he is becoming more aware of things. Whatever it is, it is keeping him stuck to me at all times.

I don't know if I should address it by carrying him and soothing him every time or if I should just tell him in a normal voice that there is nothing to be scared of. I don't want to feed this habit and have him turn out scared of everything.

Any tips?