www.school@home.canwe?

Assalamu'alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakaatuh.

It has been a long long time. Too long. My fault. Totally me. Too long that Ayden is now no longer into Dinosaurs any more.

But those who follow me on Instagram has been getting a lot of Ayden's updates daily. So that would somehow make it up. My captions are always MasyaAllah, lengthy like a blogpost on its own. So yah. I have redeemed myself there.

I woke up this morning revving to write about a topic. A very important topic. So here I am, typing away...

Homeschooling

In recent years, it has became the talk of the town with more parents jumping into the homeschooling band wagon believing they are the best teachers for their own kids.

I have contemplated doing that too when Ayden was a baby. Then I realised that I will be taking Ayden away from the normal school's social setting and as an only child, he needs that social skill the most.

So, I spent almost 2 years researching for the best school, visiting many preschools and putting down our deposits on a few (kiasu Singaporean parents. okay. Mom. Dad just go along and pay). I want my son to be in the best school. In a place where he will be accepted with open arms and loved by all for his potentials. I am sure my son has many potentials and talents (i am his mom and every mother has the most wonderful kid in her eyes and he/she is their own).

After relentless searches, I finally settle Ayden at a preschool so near to our home. Proximity is important knowing that KL traffic is not something I wanna wrestle with every morning. A musical based system made the preschool stood up among the rest. Ayden settled in quickly, even winning himself the Most Adaptable Student Award at the end of 2012 school year, just 2 weeks after he was enrolled. SubhanAllah.

A year had passed. Ayden is now a brighter and smarter boy (again, i am him mom) than he was a year ago. Alhamdulillah. He is well loved by everyone in his school. I even have his teacher telling me, the school is quiet without Ayden. Yeap. My son is that lively (and loud). I give credit to his school for most of what Ayden is today. The husband & I are proactive parents but really, without the help of his school, he will not be the active and participative boy that he is today...

During this one year, Ayden had shown signs of boredom repeatedly. Like he couldn't get 'satisfied' in school. He wants more. No. It is not his school as I know he is in the hands of one of the best in town. Its Ayden. It's the brain of a growing toddler. They wanna know and learn more than what the school syllabus has for them. On many mornings, Ayden told me he doesn't want to go school, and his father and I talked him into it. He always listens, Alhamdulillah and by the time we fetch him from school, he's the happy kid he usually is and that took our concerns away (for a while).

But the past 2 weeks, things got worse. He told me many times, he don't like school as what I have been doing with him at home, is much more fun. I really do not want to use enforcement on my son. I do not want him to grow up thinking he has to listen to everything that I say only because I am the mother. With the end of term (& calendar year) growing closer, I believe this is the best time to start him on a full time homeschooling. Something that I have been contemplating on doing for a while but never had the courage and confident to do so. I fear of the lack of discipline. I fear I can't control myself to teach properly enough. I fear... But...

Alhamdulillah, my recent hijraa has brought me closer to Al Quran & As Sunnah. These have turned me into a person who strives to wanting to be better and to stick to what I want. Not easy. Still struggling. But I will never know unless I have tried. And I have not try enough unless I have tried my best.

The husband is supportive enough on this plan. Alhamdulillah. He has even list down a few enrichment classes that Ayden will attend just so that we would not take him away totally from a social/peer setting. Hubs has also planned weekly fun educational trips that we could enjoy as a family, now that Ayden's mornings will be free. With some assistances and references from a superb Homeschool Mummy Ms Nana Ibrahim (MasyaAllah, Thank You, You!) all the way from Bahrain, I think we are gonna be off to a good start, InsyaAllah.

Well, its not really a start, start. All along I have been doing lots of crafts and activities with Ayden in the afternoons and evenings. ACTUALLY, homeschooling simply means, I have to bid farewell to my 3 hours of Ayden-less time every weekday morning. But I do not mind really. I have to admit, I feel more at ease with him right in front of my eyes 24/7, what's with all the recent scary abducting cases (paranoid mummy).

Homeschooling is not about me educating my son. It really is about me teaching myself because MasyaAllah, his questions are always so challenging, I don't know what will I do without the ever efficient Google. And, without him asking, I will never be interested in knowing or refreshing my memory about orbits, solar systems, atoms, molecules of dust, snow, igloos, western history, middle east, camel humps, hyena spots, guitar strings, potato chips, jellos and the list just go on and ono and on and on....

So yeah, this is gonna be a learning journey for the both of us, Mother and Son. InsyaAllah!

So, here goes. Another 3 days of school and then, we will be embarking on FUN, InsyaAllah. I don't know how long I would do this. I don't know how long I could do this. I don't know how long we are gonna stick to this routine. But I know we will have fun. Major FUN. Ayden is barely 4 anyway. So FUN is a major part in this future plan of ours.

Bismilla hirrahmannir rahim...

p/s: anyone (seasoned homeschool mummies) with great reference and resources about homeschooling that you wish to share, do not hesitate to email them to me at: umieisa@yahoo.com (please please please share them with me)

I would so appreciate the links, loves and support! May Allah bless us all! SubhanAllah!

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The boy who lived, & friends.

While we were at the mall today, we saw a promo poster for the upcoming Harry Potter Exhibition happening at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

Ayden being the Harry Potter freak (he watched The Sorcerer's Stone a million times. I swear. A million times. He knows when who & what is coming. He could anticipate the moment Ron's broom will hit his nose. He could even feel Ron's pain. Such a freak my son is), got so excited to see his favourite trio. He posed near the poster & asked me to snap picture.

First, he was Hermione.

Then, he's Harry.

Lastly, he's Ron.

No. I didn't ask him to purposely cover every character & pretend he is each & every one of them. No. I didn't even tell him to do anything. He posed & instructed me to "Take Mi!". And so I snapped my vain boy imagining he's The Boy Who Lived, The Smart Girl With Freckles & The Blur Weasley Boy. Shameless little Muggle you boy!

The husband & I can't wait to be in Singapore for the exhibition. We missed Titanic but there is no way we're gonna miss this one! Cause... Bless my soul! Its Harry Potter! *lame*

Oh ya! Of course Ayden is very excited too! Lucky you boy! Barely 2 & you have already seen & been to exhibitions & shows more than all that i've been to, all my life!

We are thankful to God every second for all the blessing he'd bestowed upon us, to provide our son with the childhood worth remembering. Alhamdulillah.

& I heard Plaza Singapura (in collaboration with The Science Centre) is having an X-ploring Dinosaurs shows all of next week!

You guys have no idea how much Ayden adores the prehistoric creatures! Wait! You guys sure do when you read Ayden's URL. Aydenosaur is what we call him whenever he goes roaring like a Dinosaur. Not to worry though. Aydenosaur is a Vegetarian. Eh! Apa daaa! He's a herbivore. He eats only plants. So you need not fear him. Heh!

Gosh! Its time to pack up & go back just for a day son. I won't let you miss a chance to frolick with your idols, Aydenosaur!

Anywayssss Ayah! When are we going to the one at Malacca? It is ending its run in July ley!

Hmmmm...

Till the next entry Loves! I promise the next one will be written by the Boy who, well.. The Kaypo Boy. Toodles doooo!

 

Water for Life

Hi ya'll! How has your Saturday been so far? I hope its was a splendid one like mine. I spent it sleeping most of the time, Heh! Only a sleepyhead like me appreciates a sleep in, stay in Saturday, or any other day for that matter! Lol!

Our current theme is Water. So Ummi brought me to see more water features around town before we leave. After the Duck pond & Swan lake at the Botanic Garden & double sea adventures last weekend, we went to swim at a local pool (pool is my favourite place on earth!). Ummi said, the pool is no way as clean as the one back at The Club so we swam only for a while. But we went after a heavy thunderstorm! Of course the pool is left dirty after the rain Ummi! Duh!

We also paid the iconic Singapore River a walking visit! Why walking visit you asked? Cause we walked from Lavender all the way to Raffles Place, Stopping by for lunch at Bugis, did a little shopping at City Hall, detoured to Chinatown and finally joined all the serious looking men & women in ties at Raffles Place.

Well, the adults walked. I was just sitting in my Ferrari, being pushed like a boss who is annoyed at the scorching hot weather, that's burning my fair baby bottom skin. Phew! That's a mouthful of a sentence! *swallowsaliva*

Along our walking journey, we came across so many beautiful water fountain features. Ummi told me that those are not just for decorative purposes, some cultures & customs believe that water represents wealth, so putting a water fountain in front of a building means the building will be wealthy... Eh? Errrr... Something like that one la. I will make my own water fountain at our own Villa! I will make one that will pour water all over our porch, non stop. The wetter, the wealthier I guess. Heh!

The river water was brown in colour. Looks like the Teh Tarik Kurang Manis my Awah loves. So not like the clean streaming river I saw in Janda Baik, Pahang. I guess, that is because, Janda Baik was made for nature & recreation while Singapore River was mostly used for transporting & commuting. I saw colourful bumboats gliding thru the water with ease. I was amazed by how the brown river water could withstand the weight of the bumboats and the people in it. But I didn't ask Ummi that cause I know how she is so bad at explaining logics of Science. I'll save that question for my Awah.

After covering river and fountains, I was brought to visit a canal very close to my Gramps place. Canals are smaller than rivers but the colour of the water is still the same, brown. Yucks! My trip to the canal was cut short though. Very short as I fell down while running excitedly on the jogging path. I fell face first and hurt my right cheek, all the way to my upper lips.

It was painful but being the strong boy who is very easily distracted that I am, I cried for less than a minute before forgetting about the pain and paid attention to the lovely budding Ixoras.

I went back to my Gramps and was nursed lovingly by my Mak. Apart from a little swelling & red looking right cheek & upper lip, I am fine. I even told Ummi, the pain is gone. Dah! Takdeeee! No sick! Heh! I love seeing the relieved faces of Mak, Ummi and Bapak when I told them that I am fine. I hate making them worried.

Awah was proud of me for being so strong. I love to make my Awah proud. We share so many traits, I love my Awah so much u see. :)

So... yah! We have covered pond, lake, sea, river, fountain & canal. Ummi said she has more water places to bring me to. Reservoirs, Dams and Waterfalls! I am so looking forward to visiting these places. Till then, (or my other adventures, whichever comes first) I bid you all good night, sleep tight & sweet dreams!

Children! Do not forget to salam the hands of your elderly before going to bed. I do that every night. I even reward them with wet kisses on the mouth. Our moms, dads, gramps & caretakers did so much to make our day a beautiful, educational & food-filling one, the least we could do is to salam & kiss them, just to thank them. Must remember okay! I sometimes forget, but Ummi reminded me everytime. My Ummi did those to her parents till after she is married to my Awah, and that is simply because, they moved out. So, follow my Ummi nightly routine I shall. A practice worth inheriting I must say. :)

Till next entry ya'll. Much loves!

 

Sorry Aydenosauruses

Been a while since I give this Blog a proper entry. We've been busy painting the town red. Will blog tomorrow. Pomish! Tongue swear!

 

DONE!

Shifting is done! Thank you Blogsy for making my move a hassle free one! Best app I've ever bought. Yes. Blogsy!

 

A Baby Story: 6 January 2011

I just watched an episode of A Baby Story on Discovery Home & Health. I had enjoyed A Baby Story ever since I was pregnant till now. I didn’t have the chance to welcome Ayden into this world because I was put under GA for the emergency c-section. So, I’ll always feel a little inadequate, touchy and sad every time I see those babies being handed over to their mothers to bond, right after exiting the womb. At that moment, I’ll kiss Ayden and apologize for I wasn’t there to take his fear of the unknown, away. Transiting from a safe quiet womb into the cold operating room must have been a traumatic experience for my little one. And not having his mother’s warm touch to soothe him must have made it all a whole lot scary. Poor Ayden…

Usually, A Baby Story’s episode comprises of a typical normal/caesarean section delivery and a happy welcoming of the new arrival thereafter. Today's episode was different. I watched it while putting my li’l one to sleep. Not paying that much attention till the final five minutes when the baby was safely delivered, handed over to the mummy, yet was taken over abruptly thereafter because something is wrong with her. She wasn’t crying. The mom frantically asked what was wrong with her angel. But no one in that labour room could answer her. To make it worse, her baby was whisked out of the room into another room, away from her still clueless mother. I can imagine the mother’s anxious feeling, to not know the status of the baby she had painfully pushed out of her. After further examination, the baby girl was diagnosed with a hole in her heart and was put in an incubator till a month later when she is ready for a surgery to mend the hole. Sad. Really sad.

When I was delivering Ayden, never once had I imagined my labour would be that difficult. I was anticipating a hassle free delivery as throughout my pregnancy all I heard was “The baby looks fantastic!”, “Everything is perfectly normal!”, “Do not worry! Everything will go along smoothly!” from Dr S. When I switched to Dr A at the last 6 weeks of pre-natal, I didn’t hear anything as chirpy & promising as Dr A is known to be a quiet gynae. He was so relax and not seem worry at all so I assumed everything was still A-Okay too.

 



That was why when Dr A calmly told me I had to be induced immediately due to the lack of water in my womb, I was very shocked. Lest when I went over to his assistant for my hospital admission letter, and was casually told by the chatty assistant (I really think Dr A should fire her) that Dr A was going for a 2 weeks long holiday on my estimated due date, I even suspected Dr A wants Ayden to be out of me earlier than his scheduled date & fast so that he can earn his $1000 to $1500 delivery charges and not have to pass me over to another gynae while he goes on vacation. Yes. I had ill thoughts of the man who is going to poke into my womb and bring my son out into this world, safely. But, the thought of my son sharing the same birthday with my mother, his anxious grandmother, made me put the ill thoughts at the back of my head and be excited of my impending induction.

On D-Day, Dr A broke my water bag with both of us (& the midwife) anticipating a tsunami of flowing water yet all we had was a gush of… nothing. Yes. No water came out of me. I wasn’t too bothered then as I didn’t know how much is too much and how none is actually very dangerous. Hey! I was a clueless first time mommy! Dr A told the midwife to monitor me and NOT give me any epidural. I heard the instruction and smile. I wasn’t planning to take any epidural anyway. I was going for a natural drugless labour. Yah right! 6 hours later, I was practically begging for an Epidural. In fact, I would KILL for one that when I was denied epidural by the midwife, I felt like 'you know' K-I-L-L her.

Fast forward to hours later when Ayden was safely out of me, blue and crinkled like a crumpled paper. Then, I thought it was normal of every other baby to look like that upon birth. But after talking to several mothers and another gynae I now know, my son’s skin condition upon arrival was not normal. Being crinkled was okay. Blue & VERY crinkled means bad. A little longer in the womb and I may not have a baby to call son at all!



And with that, all my ill thoughts were turned to regrets. Yes regret for thinking the worst of my handsome Dr A. No wonder he, Sarah the midwife & the nurses were in a flurry of mad rush (I was already so high from the laughing gas then but hell I know it was a hullabaloo drama) in delivery suite 7 at 8.35pm on 28 May 2010. Dr A, Sarah and the rest of the team was in a rush to safe my baby. The tiny bub who is going to be the joy of everyone in the family.

Alhamdulillah (thank god) Ayden came out as fit as a fiddle. Blue, crinkled yet perfectly healthy. Alhamdulillah! Imagine how would I feel when I came around (after the anaesthetic effect is gone) to know that something is wrong with my little angel. How would I or any mother for that matter would feel and react to knowing that the baby we painstakingly carry for 9 months and plan to safely bring into this world has to undergo more painstaking medical intervention to be safe. Especially, being a tiny fragile human, he or she is. Thus, I am so extremely grateful & thankful that I wake up to my family telling me how fair, small & cute my healthy little Ayden is.

Mommies, we may be told stories about the rainbows all throughout our pregnancy. We can be easily convinced to think that nothing could turn wrong on our D-Day. But, at the end of the day, God knows best of what & how is best for us…

Now Mommies, turn to your babies and children, stop screaming at them however naughty and playful they are and give them a tight hug and a very wet kiss. Cause, however easy or difficult your labour story was, we have to thank HIM for giving us these bubbly & healthy little souls to care, to hold and to mould into a wonderful citizen of the earth and a Solehs/Solehas Ummah Muhammad.



 

My half year old Ayden Farish: 16 December 2010

It's 2.08am & i'm typing this on my iPod. I can't get to sleep as I made myself a cup of caffeine at midnight. Not so wise. I know. But I seriously don't mind this perky can't sleep mode. I so appreciate this alone time, to look at my sleeping bub. Oh Ayden! How fast you've grown!

Time sure flies when you're having fun. With a blink of an eye, my son has passed the halfway mark of his first year.

Everyday, I see developments of his that makes me swell with pride. He now slithers all over. He's able to sit without support, he wants to hold the book when read to, he'll talk back with enthusiasm when talk to, he'll squeeze himself thru tight corners (not claustrophobic like his dad), he loves playing hide 'n' seek & he loves to sing. Yes. Everytime, I sing to him he'll chorus along in mumblish unison. His favourite song is You're My Sunshine. So remind me to show off my bub's vocal prowess the next time we meet.

I remember 6 months ago when he was a fragile little baby, I wished he was bigger like every other grown babies. I wished he'd be able to do a lot of things that he can't do then. But now that he is bigger, mobile and very very agile and hyper, I miss that tiny wrinkly babe sometimes.

Now that he can eat, he wants to eat EVERYTHING. I still only feed him Frisocrem with Heinz pureed foods for lunch & fresh pureed fruits for dinner. No. No Asam Pedas, McDonalds & Lontong for him yet. Though his prying eyes never leave our filled to the brim plates at mealtimes. I love how he licks his lips & suckle them everytime he salivates looking at the grown up foods. So cute! I wish I could record it on video but everytime the lens is pointed at him, all actions stop. Bleargh. Maybe the next time I wanna shoot him, I should ask the husband to scream "Action!". Heh!

Lucky me to be given a chance by the Almighty, to experience the glorious happiness of a mother. Not all women of the world have such luck (god bless them. better joy is promised to you all in other forms) but I did. This I treasure with everything that I have. True that you will never really know the meaning of LOVE till you became a Mother. I want to protect Ayden from everything. I want to keep him safe. I want to love him & love him & love him. Gosh! I never knew I have this much love in me. I never knew one could produce love on demand!

But even if I try, I can't fully protect him. He needs to hurt and hurl to learn and live.

Ayden got his first fall from his feeding chair 2 days ago. I heard a loud thump & the next sight I saw was my li'l bub head down on the cold hard floor. He wailed for a good 20 seconds. Then smiled like he had just fallen in love. My Superboy. My mom applied medicated oil on the bump & he continues smiling. I put ice on the bump expecting more wailings (no one likes having cold ice pressed on one's body parts) but my Superboy smiled and mumbles happily. He screamed when I take the ice off his head, instead. Yes. Sadist I heard?

Ayden likes to play it rough. Yes! Our favourite past time is cutting fingernails. It is the only time when I can have him in his most subdued self. Everytime I show him the nailclipper, he'll let go of everything & willingly shove his tiny hands into mine. I accidentally cut into his skin a few times. Cut. Yes. Blood. Yes. Present. But he had never squealed even a bit. That was when I conclude that my son is a Sadistic li'l bub. Haha!

Recently, I became very emotional, often. News about babies being abused, abandoned, toddlers kidnapped, missing girls & boys. I'm sad for these tots' parents & I also fear for my own's safety. It is normal for mothers to feel such, right? Paranoia is a trait of a loving mother. No?

It's 3.10 now. I guess i'll continue this note some other time. When I have the time. I wanna get back to staring & smothering my smelly sleeping bub.

Night night!

P/s: Motherhood rawks big time! Thank you my dear husband for being careless & getting me knocked up! :)