Flavour Of The Day With Noora

When you are engaged to your soon to be husband, you think that you will always give the same attention to your marriage as you did so early on in your life together. You tell yourself, "we will not be like other couples, we will pay more attention to our marriage, we will take care of ourselves, we will always feel this ecstatic." Then child number one, then two and in my case three comes in the course of three years, throwing you completely off balance.

If you are blessed with having kids right away, you start to worry about making more money right away. You and your husband work full force on securing the best lifestyle you can for your children. Add that to your desire to succeed in your career and having some time for yourself (for us mamas it is an uninterrupted shower, watching TV without a baby nagging or just reading a book) all the stuff we take for granted before we cross over to mama-land.

One day, you wake up and realise that your marriage has taken a back seat and if you don't do something soon, you and your husband will feel like strangers (despite how much you love each other). My question is, how do you balance life? What do you do with your children who are too young to be independent or to give you space? And what do you do with your career that keeps pulling you in its direction? What is the "right balance" people keep talking about? 

Flavour Of The Day With Noora

Language Workshop

I attended a workshop organised by Yousef's nursery covering the importance of language in a child's development and literacy, specifically Arabic. For the first time in a really long time, I found someone who feels as strongly about the topic as I do! I am constantly surprised by the amount of people who disregard this issue and choose to only speak English with their children. And what's even more annoying is that in many cases it is broken English!

My job is to write in English, however, Yousef (2 years-old) only started speaking it a few months ago after we got a helper who speaks only it. Other than that, I make it a point to speak, read and in many cases watch Arabic shows. To me, it is our mother tongue and identity.

Many people use the difference between the spoken Arabic "a'amiya" and proper Arabic "fus-ha" as an excuse to why their children are weak in Arabic or do not like it. But, what I learned today is that all of us are making excuses for our own disregard of the matter. As the presenter explained today, in the first few years of a child's life, he is capable of learning SEVEN languages. Consider spoken Arabic "a'amiya" and proper Arabic "fus-ha" two languages and put EXTRA effort into teaching him/her to speak it; just do something about our disappearing language!

Flavour Of The Day With Noora

Anything I write about now is going to seem  completely shallow and insignificant in comparison to what is going on in the world.

Will the world ever be safe and peaceful, even for a little while?

Flavour Of The Day With Noora

Running Against Time

I have lately realised that I seem to be running a race against time, and I cannot find the finish line. My life has become so hectic and different that I barely recognise it. I am running to be an excellent stepmom, mom, wife, house maker, daughter, and sister, but yet feel so off balance. In this new life, I lost sight of what is really important, peace of mind and body. I forgot what it is like to just slow down.

Life can put up quite a fight when you are trying to figure it out, which is what I have been trying to do for the past three years since I got married. I am trying to make sense of motherhood and the changes it has thrust upon me. I am trying to understand relationships that are new and fragile, and I am trying to accept shifting priorities.

When it's just you, its pretty basic; when there are a husband and kids, it gets messy. I feel messy now! I don't know what is going on or why, I just feel like I am making mistakes with the pace of life I have chosen, I need to slow down and enjoy my life. But, I don't know how and what to let go of. 

Flavour Of The Day With Noora

"I Scared"

Yousef is afraid of just about anything. Cats, flies, ants, masks, people dressed in costumes, children with face painting and even balloons, blown or not. Almost anything he sees makes him say, "I scared!"

Whatever triggered it did a really good job in making him feel really miserable in such situations. At preschool he is just the same, we had to miss out on costume day to avoid a meltdown. His teachers gave me a few tips to try to make things better. So, when Yousef sees his father's face covered with shaving cream (usually a terrifying experience for him), it should be treated as a normal situation where we act casually and continue whatever we are doing; not pushing him to accept it is key.

I hope he gets over it soon, it's saddening to see a child his age missing out on so many activities.  

Flavour Of The Day With Noora

Sleepless Mama

I can't remember the last time I had deep, uninterrupted sleep. The kind of sleep you get when you are a teenager and your biggest concern is getting through high school! Your parents keep coming to wake you up and you just refuse to get out of bed.

I think it's safe to say that the level of my intelligence has significantly decreased with my recent two pregnancies and the continuous sleep deprivation. I thought preschool would help Yousef (2 years) sleep better but he is still waking up in the middle of the night crying for no reason. Mona (5 months) wakes up and starts yelling, not crying, but actually yelling at me, until I give her the bottle which she literally takes two sips of and then refuses to continue. By the time they are both asleep and I start to dose off, it's time for preschool and I am just about ready to shout.

I really can't wait until my kids grow up!

Flavour Of The Day With Noora

Play Date 1: Successful

Yousef had his first play date yesterday and it was adorable. With a friend from preschool we went to a kids' play area and it was the first time I see him in a social setting with people other than family or friends he has known since he was born.

He was amazing, said thank you when he should have, shared toys, took turns playing, obeyed every instruction and left happily when I said it was time to go. I couldn't believe it! I felt so bad that I don't take him to such places often but I was always either pregnant and exhausted or with a new born baby. After yesterday, that will definitely change.  And believe it or not, at the end of the day, he gave me a hug and said "I miss you".

What a day :)