Cookie Life

This Ramadan is my first that I actually get to fast, in five years. FIVE years. I've either been nursing or pregnant all this time. So I was really looking forward to this Ramadan, it feels nice! Like its 'real'!

I read a post from another blogger who was talking about all the reward that we get just for doing our normal motherly duties and I realized - you know I might have actually racked up just as many blessings for having kids/nursing them/etc as I would have fasting!!!

Im shamefully stealing some of her hadith quotes:

A hadeeth recorded by Al Tabarani:

Addressing Salamah (radhi Allaho anha), the nurse of his son Ibrahim (radhi Allaho anho), the Prophet (sal Allaho alaihi wa sallam) said:

"Does it not please any one of you that if she conceives by her husband and he is satisfied with her, she receives the reward of fasting and vigil for Allah's sake? And none of the dwellers of Heaven or Earth know about the coolness of her eyes (the reward) she will get for the labor pains she suffered.

When she delivers, not a mouthful of milk flows from her and not an instance of the child's suck, but that she receives for every suck and mouthful the reward of a good deed.

If she is kept awake by her child during the night she receives the reward of freeing seventy slaves for the sake of Allah."

The Prophet (sal Allaho alaihi wasallam) then said: "O Salamah, do you know which women are being referred to? Those who despite piety and
enjoying a respectable position obey their husbands and do not belittle them."

Niiiiice, isnt it?

Im still 'freeing seventy slaves' every night!!! LOL

Ok so I KNOW that when you finally get to break your fast you are terribly thirsty, but please remember to use some control when drinking all that water. Someone close to me was sooooooo thirsty they just kept on drinking and drinking and said when they tried to get up, they could actually feel the water sloshing around in their stomach.

I dont know how true that is but it certainly is funny to imagine.

We are not camels people! LOL

For all reading, Happpppppppy Ramadan! Im just getting my fast on for the first time in years so you KNOW Im all excited!

So I MIGHT be doing Ramadan Thoughts of the Day, Im not promising anything but I sure am going to try. What are Ramadan TOTDs? They are usually a thought that I have during the day that is something I think everyone would benefit from or get a kick out of. Since one of my goals this Ramadan is to renew and strengthen and MAKE new friends, I thought I would start out by sharing myself..inshallah I would love to hear your thoughts and comments!

So...Ramadan TOTD #1...as Im eating my Suhoor..it occurs to me that in a TRUE Muslim country, the McDonalds/Wendys/etc would open at 4:30 to accomodate us fasting folks! Especially those of us who are single and dont have to prepare food for anyone but themselves. It sure would be nice to go get one of their sandwiches...and of course, in a Muslim country, the meat would be Halal.

And then I remembered that many McDs are 24 hours.

Has anyone ever been at 4am? I know they SAY 24 hours but I dont trust them.....lol

Im officially discarding the title of Stay-At-Home Mom, and taking on the title of Work-At-Home Mom instead.

 As many of you know I do a LOT of things on the side besides take care of these kids, what some of you may not realize that I have a couple business endeavors going on as well...they don't make me rich, but they help to pay the bills, and when combined with the fact that Im at home, they allow me to bring in more money than I ever could if I went to work full-time outside somewhere.

All this time I've been thinking of myself as a SAHM, because Im a cheapskate, but just recently I've been looking at the whole picture. While working outside might get me a paycheck that would LOOK big, it would actually be LESS money than I actually bring in each month as it is.

So, I may never go back to working outside the home...lord knows Im not really even tempted as long as Im bringing in enough from home. We'll see what the future brings, but trying to pretend Im not working is pointless and fruitless. Long live the working mother!

From a Washington Post Advice Column, in answer to a question about what stay at home moms actually DO all day:

"When you have young kids, your typical day is: constant attention, from getting them out of bed, fed, clean, dressed; to keeping them out of harm's way; to answering their coos, cries, questions; to having two arms and carrying one kid, one set of car keys, and supplies for even the quickest trips, including the latest-to-be-declared-essential piece of molded plastic gear; to keeping them from unshelving books at the library; to enforcing rest times; to staying one step ahead of them lest they get too hungry, tired or bored, any one of which produces the kind of checkout-line screaming that gets the checkout line shaking its head.

It's needing 45 minutes to do what takes others 15.

It's constant vigilance, constant touch, constant use of your voice, constant relegation of your needs to the second tier.

It's constant scrutiny and second-guessing from family and friends, well-meaning and otherwise. It's resisting constant temptation to seek short-term relief at everyone's long-term expense.

It's doing all this while concurrently teaching virtually everything -- language, manners, safety, resourcefulness, discipline, curiosity, creativity. Empathy. Everything.

It's also a choice, yes. And a joy. But if you spent all day, every day, with this brand of joy, and then, when you got your first 10 minutes to yourself, wanted to be alone with your thoughts instead of calling a good friend, a good friend wouldn't judge you, complain about you to mutual friends, or marvel how much more productively she uses her time."