Barakah Life has a wonderful idea for a baby-blanket sewing drive.

This year’s focus is on baby blankets and we’re calling on all those who can knit, crochet, or sew to create a little warmth for a baby. The blankets will be given to new and expectant mothers in Mauritania in West Africa.

Handmade Baby blankets have been a long-held tradition across many cultures. By sharing common traditions, we are reminded of our humanity and connection to one another. We strive to connect hearts, share our cultural wealth and bring forth as much goodness as we can.

Send blankets to Barakah Life: 24438 Santa Clara #4466, Hayward, CA 94544.

Along with your blanket, you may send your wishes or prayers for the baby, and a special gift card will be made and tied to your blanket.

For more information there is an email contact on this post.

Hijab flutter to Saha.

Yaz had her first trip to the dentist yesterday.  As I was feeling crook, Abu Yasmin took her.  Before she left, she asked me:

“Mama, were you a bit nervous when you went to the dentist when you were little?”

Of course I lied and said, “no, it’s not scary at all! The dentist is just going to look at your teeth and check that they are all okay!”

So, Abu Yasmin came back from the dentist with a handful of stickers and reported the following exchange:

Dentist: “Do you want to go up and down in the chair?”

Yasmin: “No, I’m a little bit nervous about going up and down.”

Priceless!!

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We may be entering a whole new stage in our life as a family - only daughter going to kindy. For a while we’ve been fiddling with the idea of putting Yasmin into some form of kindergarten or 3yr-old daycare, but haven’t made much progress. Then Umm Aisha rang with a suggestion for a local Muslim school that has a pre-school program.

To be honest, it had never crossed my mind to look at pre-school programs in Muslim schools. Mostly because I didn’t know there was such a thing (pre-school programs that is). This one, on the surface, looks really good so we are cautiously optimistic. I really like the idea of Qur’an and Arabic being taught alongside painting, sand-pit play and singing songs. Read the rest of this entry »

A few weeks ago I tried to explain to Yasmin the concept of compromise.  Bearing in mind she is a little over three, I explained it as a process where one person says what they would like, and then the other person says what they would like, then the first person changes what they would like a little bit to give the second person a bit of what they want, and the second person changes what they would like a little bit to give the first person a bit of what they want.  That’s called a compromise.

Yeah, I didn’t think she would get my explanation either.  Boy was I wrong.

Yasmin has learned the power of bargaining and compromise with a vengeance.  To give you a taste - lately we have been having some struggles over the washing of hair.  Mostly she doesn’t like water on her face, but she loves being in the bath, and we have this pink plastic thingymajig that stops water going on her face, so tonight the conversation went like this:

Umm Yasmin: I’m going to have a shower Yazzy, would you like to join me?

Yasmin: Ahh, yes - how about one shower and one bath?

Umm Yasmin: Hmmm, how about one shower and I won’t wash your hair?

Yasmin: Okay, but how about one bath and I’ll put on the pink thing?

Umm Yasmin: Mmmmmm, what about one shower now and a bath tomorrow?

Yasmin: Okay!