Ahlan Wa Sahlan Ya Ramadhan 1432

Salam! Salam!

Tup tap.. Tup tap.. Dah Ramadhan sekali lagi. I feel so blessed that we are given this chance yet again to welcome this holy month of Ramadhan. Alhamdulillah. Masa untuk beribadat. Berlatih untuk jadi lebih baik. Moga-moga amalan di bulan yang penuh berkat ini dapat dipanjangkan into bulan-bulan yang seterusnya. Insya Allah.. :)

Khadra and Khaleeq are back at fasting again. Alhamdulillah. We did not promise any incentives for fasting this year as we did back in 2009/1430H. (Read my post for welcoming Ramadhan in 1430H here , the DSLite post, the challenges for fasting kids and last year's post for 1431 here) So, we'll have to see how they fare this year.

Not much drama coming from Khadra. She really is a big girl now. I am trying to get her to solat 5 kali sehari now. It'll be easy when I am around. She'll just follow me when I perform my prayers. Masalah problemnya bila dia keseorangan - when I am not there due to work or whatever. Hmm.. Camna nak buat ni. Try je lah. Kot-kot berhasil.

Khaleeq pula. Well, he has many questions for me this year. I took leave on the first of Ramadhan, so I was there when he had a little meltdown. Wailing and crying and asking out loud, "Why did God ask us to do this? I am hungry. I am thirsty." Kesian tengok dia, but it was a little comical too. I instantly goggled images of "starving children" and shared it with him. He stopped his drama immediately and asked what was the matter with those kids. Boleh dikatakan menjadi jugakla tactic itu.

Khaleeda? Well, she'll be 4 in November this year. I asked her whether she wanted to try to puasa this year and she replied "No". Adoii... However, she does follow me to the mosque for Terawikh. Sometimes pakai telekung, sometimes just duduk aje kat tepi saya. OK la tu dik. Pelan-pelan kayuh.

Anyhoots, have a blessed month of Ramadhan to my readers yang seciput ini. Selamat berpuasa. Selamat berbuka. Selamat beribadah. Selamat bersahur.

I think I am finding my writing modjo this month! hihihihihi.. Talk to you soon..

-dillz blogging out-

Ahlan Wa Sahlan Ya Ramadhan 1431

Ramadhan is here once again. Alhamdulillah.. :)

For the first terawikh, the Azrul clan (minus Miss Khadra) was at Masjid Wilayah. Penuhnya ya amaaaaattt, we literally parked in the middle of the road. Anyhow, Khaleeq went with his dad. Menurut kata report, he was OK. Just that he was reading "Subhana rabbiyal azimi wa bihamdih" really loudly for rukuk AND sujud. hihihihihi. Khaleeda came with me to the muslimat section. Boleh tahan behave jugak, the little makcik. She keeps herself busy whilst waiting for rukuk by looking around and walking around me. Whenever there were major movements, such as rukuk and sujud, she would follow suit. (Just that bila sujud, dia terlentang. hihihihihi. Will have to remember to correct her position later.)

From their track records, Khadra started fasting last year and managed to complete the whole month without fail. Khaleeq on the other hand, completed a commendable 29 days - itu pun sebab he didn't quite understand the concept the first day and was too tempted by the sizzles of fried chicken for lunch! Khaleeda has yet to start. Bagi chan lah itu makcik, she is only 2.5 years old after all. ;)

Of course, we had a little incentive scheme in place that was really really working last year - a DS Lite each, up front. :) At that point in time, a big reward was vital coz that was their first time fasting ever.

This year, we have not yet cemented any agreements with the two Khas. Just a little reminder here and there on how the fasting month is coming and one is not allowed to eat and drink from dusk to dawn. I thought Khadra did a good job explaining it clearly to Khaleeq.
Khadra: "It's when you can't have breakfast and lunch, Khaleeq"
Khaleeq: "You mean, I can only eat at night time?"
Hmm... Boleh la tu...

Anyways, to keep them motivated, our First Sahur was a little extravagant. Mandy rice from al-Rawsha, Jalan Damai for Inche @azrulx , me and Bibik Parmi AND KFC for the kids. (Though, Khaleeda had her mashed potato and original drum stick before she headed to bed that night) I thought we overdid it that time. Probably 2 mandy rice packs would have suffice. Waking up K1 and K2 was alright. The real challenge was really after they came back from school the next day.

At 12:30pm I got a call from Saufi and Khaleeq was crying and wailing on the other end.
"I am hungry mom! I am so thirsty. I am so sad coz I am hungry."
Hmm.. Macam mana nak buat ni?
Had to go into rescue mode right away. I told Saufi to pick me up from office and the coaxing, pujuking, pep talking, usap-mengusaping began. I was just cuddling him on our way home and he really looked beaten at that time. Keluarlah segala cerita kesian kat orang susah, at least you get to eat at night, you have done it before, you are a strong boy segala. Wah!! Tak jalan juga. Masih menangis. Still wailing his heart out.

In times like this, I had to bring out a toy that he really wanted from our secret stash. (Nasib baik dah prepare earlier) I took out Decepticon Lockdown and he immediately changed his demeanor. Tetiba jadi energetic, jumping up and down.
"Is that surprise for me? I love it!"
I told him that this toy could could be his if he fulfill his fast that day. Nampak semangat semacam je. Tetiba, OK pulak. Things were finally looking up! :)

The toy did help him feel distracted for a while. Alhamdulillah, he completed the fasting yesterday, but not without more complains. One thing for sure, I really needed to keep on reassuring him time and time again. He needs to do other stuff so that he gets distracted and not focus on the hunger and thirst. Come on, boy.. You can do this. I foresee these 3 days to be a little tough. Transition time. After he gets through this few days, Insya Allah.. He could do it on his own for the coming days. On top of that, ada pulak distraction from Lil Miss Deyda. Boleh minah tu minum air sejuk depan abang dia, siap panggil nama Khaleeq lagi. Ish.Ish.Ish.

Second day - same story. Sahur was OK. The drama really started after school was over. Extra challenge today coz Khaleeq had his gym session today and not allowed to drink. So, as expected, the call came sometime around 12:40pm, he was asking for permission to drink coz he was thirsty. I asked Saufi to pick me up so that I could talk some sense into the boy on our ride home. Rupa-rupanya budak bertuah tu already took a bite off a biscuit he found in his bag. Bukan banyak pun, just one tiny bite.
His justification:
"It's not my fault, mom. My belly button is controlling me."
Adoiaiii, Khaleeq.

Nak gelak pun ada.
Anyhoots, I took away Lockdown for the day. Told him he could get it back once he fulfills a day of fasting. And the next 7 consecutive fasting days, he can get another toy.
He kept apologizing and saying that he'll try to do better tomorrow.
Takpe lah , Khaleeq. Esok kita try lagi..

Khadra on the other hand is not complaining walaupun nampak penat dan letih. Good job, Kakak! Onto day TWO! :)

-dillz blogging out-

Ramadhan Challenges For Khadra and Khaleeq

Like many other kids in Malaysia, school started on Tuesday for Khadra and Khaleeq. In these past few days , they were faced with new challenges in order to keep their fast.

Challenge 1: Tak Bangun Sahur

First day of school and we all tak bangun sahur. :(

Khadra was the first to complain.
K1: "We didn't wake up, so we don't have to fast, right? "
Mom: "Yes, you do, Khadra. Just try your best. You didn't wake up on your first day of fasting, either. Remember? "
K1:"Oh ya. I forgot"

Khaleeq asked for a glass of water. I just replied that he couldn't have it coz he's fasting. He just said, "I'm fasting? Oh. Okay.."

Initially thought of just skipping school altogether, (they are only pre-school children, you know) but went ahead anyways.

Anyhoots, I thought it was the most difficult challenge for them coz I was also feeling the thirst and hunger by mid-day. When they returned home from school, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had both kept their fast. But, the worst is yet to come. I just advised them to sleep it off and play their DS Lite to distract the feeling..

By evening, Khaleeq was barely talking. He just kept quiet and played on his DS Lite. Once in a while he would complain of his tummy hurting. No cries what-so-ever. Just a statement of fact. Parmi helped rub on some minyak telon and he immediately went to the gentlemen to relieve himself. Must be the angin already. It does not help that Khaleeda was munching on pappadom and keropok - Khaleeq's favourites! Aaah!!! I just cuddled him until it was time to berbuka. Khadra was holding up pretty well. Not even one complaint from the Missy. Cayalah, kakak!

As soon as the azan was heard, he gulped down a mug of Ribena and a few minutes later he vomitted it all out. Lepas tu, baru dia ada selera nak makan and minum. It must have been pretty hard on him with the angin and all. (I remember having the same kedegilan to stick it out when I was little too. Must have gotten it from me, huh? Perasan) I am soooo proud of my boy for holding on to his fast! Good on you, Khaleeq boy!

Challenge 2: Tak Boleh Bangun Lepas Sahur

Sebelum ni, makan lah pukul 5:30am pun, lepas tu budak-budak boleh tidur sampai tengah hari. Now that school has started, it is a real bitch to wake them up to prepare for school. All mata layu and sleep-walking. They get cranky too. So kesian. So, we decided to revamp our schedule a little to rectify this.

Ideally, sahur should start at 3:30am so that the kids get to be in bed by 4:30am. That gives them a full cycle of 3 hours sleep before it's time for school. Backtracking, that also means that they need to be asleep by 9:30pm to give them two cycles of sleep before it's time for Sahur. That would be ideal. We'll try to fit as best as we could.

This morning pun, we finished our Sahur at 4:30am, so the kids were in their bed 5:00am. Running a little late on the schedule , but still OK. Not so much crankiness, but there were some, still. Today, we need to try harder. :)

Challenge 3: Kawan-Kawan Makan Masa Break

Break time in school (ala-ala recess, lah) , the kids get to eat and drink in class. Imagine your classmates eating and drinking in front of you; and you can't. Must be hard, eh?

So, I have requested that their teachers send them down to the office during break time so that they won't get distracted on their fasting. Sure terliur tengok orang makan depan you kaw-kaw, punya.. From the report that I got from Khadra, Khaleeq did not come down to the office during break. But he is still fasting. Kuat iman rupanya anak jantan saya ni. :)

Status so far?

On this 12th day of Ramadhan, Khaleeq has only missed a day of fasting. (Hari pertama tu, when he got goda-ed by the fried chicken for lunch) And lil Miss Khadra is still holding the full records! Bravo kids. I hope you'll both get to keep it up till the end of Ramadhan. :)

-dillz blogging out-

DS Lite for Motivation

Have been contemplating on the incentives to get the kids if they fast for this month of Ramadhan.

Sedikit background story: Both Khadra and Khaleeq are avid gamers. Just like their dad. They play the PS2, PSP, Wii, vtech and some random Dora / Spongebob / Sonic joystick games that is a Go! once it gets connected to your TV. As far as portables go, though, they take turns on Azrul's PSP. It's not a new set either. In fact, Khaleeq has always complained about the unavailability of his dad's PSP - it's brokenlah, something wrong with the memory card or something. Al-maklumlah , benda dah tua..

In any case, we thought that they would be really happy, like in euphoria kinda happy, if we bought them the DS Lite EACH. In turn, they'd give their best in their attempts to fast in this holy month of Ramadhan, terawikh and wake up for Sahur. (Stark difference from my mom's RM1 reward per full day yonks ago. Inflation sucks, eh?)

When we struck this deal, Khadra was already at mid-point of her first day of Ramadhan. Khaleeq had already broken his fast at 12pm coz the sizzles of fried chicken frying in the kitchen was too tempting. They were both onboard immediately and the quest for DS Lite commences.

1. Khadra waiting for her Metallic Rose DS Lite to be screen protected.
2. Khaleeq's Jet Black DS Lite getting the same treatment.
3. DS Lite-ing in the car.
4. DS Lite-ing after Sahur. (Khaleeda pun bangun Sahur pagi tadi)

It is now 12:30pm on the second day of Ramadhan.

• So far, Khadra has succeeded in completing her first puasa of her life yesterday AND without Sahur at that. Today, both are still fasting and neither had asked for fried chicken or water, yet. :)
  
• Terawikh completed two days in a row for Khadra. Khaleeq hit his head *alasan* last night while playing with the kids, so he took a rest. But, he did stand beside his dad in the mosque on the first night of Terawikh.
• Both kids woke up for Sahur this morning and once done immediately meng-hadap their DS Lite before going back to sleep. :)
  

I really hope this works. I guess, having the item of their dream in their hands is such a great motivator for them to really work on their fasting. (Of course I threaten them to take it away if they don't try hard.. ;) Itu standardlah.. )

-dillz blogging out-

Ramadhan Is Here

Syukur , another Ramadhan is here.
Syukur, I am still breathing, still enjoying the wonders of life, still having things to complain about.
Syukur, my hubby, my kids and my family are all well and healthy.

There will be attempts this year - Khadra and Khaleeq are both old enough to join us with the fastings. Khadra would like to try the full-day. Khaleeq? Well.. Ikut je lah Khaleeq.. After all, their cousins will be fasting too.. Biarlah.. Kalau tak larat, boleh je buka.. Separuh hari pun jadilah.. Asalkan try..

A bit late, I know. Their cousins kat Kelantan around their age, semua dah puasa penuh. Anak-anak aku barulah nak terkedek-kedek meng-try. hihihihihi

I remember sometime , long, long ago.. My first full-year of fasting was during my Standard 1 in Sekolah Sri Petaling. I remember my class teacher, Mrs Fong asking me to break my fast coz I was having high fever that day. I blatantly refused coz I had set my target to get all RM30 that was promised to me by Ibu should I succeed in fasting the whole month of Ramadhan. Mrs Fong had to ask Teh Kok Hin, my 1Kenanga classmate, to carry my schoolbag out to the waiting area once school was over. (Sweetlah, Kok Hin - I still remember that, you know..) Alhamdulillah - that was my first year I got to puasa penuh. :) Aaawwwwww!!

Thinking of giving them incentives lah, macam trick my mom dulu-dulu.. One day of full fasting = RM1.00, half day = RM0.50. So, my Kak Long Ziezi would always try to tempt me to buka if she had already done it for the day. Siap makan ice-cream depan orang lagi. Dengki, kan? hihihihihi

That was , what? Some 30 years ago? Putting things in perspective and the inflation rate and what nots, perhaps a review of the rates are in order.. Maybe, I'll just bribe them with toys. That normally does the trick. hihihihi

We will be based in Pondok Azlul for a while. At least throughout the school break. Need to get the kids to mengaji and solat at the masjid and all. And I just love praying at our Masjid al-Amin in Taman Tenaga. Boleh bawak budak-budak sekali to get them accustomed to the jemaah and all. :)

Looking forward to Ramadhan. A lot.

Maaf zahir batin, guys. Have a blessed and productive Ramadhan. ;)

-dillz blogging out-