Fish! I Screwed Up!

I was in my car, at the office car park when I finally realized that I totally forgot about my kids' mengaji class tonight. Reached my phone - battery's dead. Fished the other phone out of the handbag - dead also. By this time, I was already 45 minutes late.

Picture from: here

Knowing how the kids dispersed after mengaji classes, they were all gone in the first 5 minutes. Suddenly my own experience waiting for my dad in the dark with my 2 other sisters flashed quickly before my eyes.

**
I think I was 8 years old or so. I was attending primary school at Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Petaling, Petaling Jaya with two of my sisters at that time. The three of us ; Ziezi, me and Illa ; were waiting for our ride home as per usual.

We waited and waited and waited and nobody came for us. The day was getting darker (we went to the evening session) and slowly turned into night. We were the only three beings left outside the school compound, hugging each other tight (Probably crying too). Then, a car approached and there was our dad asking us to get into the car.

A stream of complaints came from the three princesses - "Mengapa lambat?" "There's no one else here" "We were the last ones, Encik"

Sekali kena tengking, daa.... hahahahahahaha

It turned out that our then 4 year old brother drove the Isuzu Pajero down the hill and ended up in the ditch. (He didn't actually, drive, he just released the handbrakes and the car slid down the hill) So, itulah sebabnya lambat, dan of course he had other things in his head at that time, with the balik kampung plan screwed up and all..

**
Anyways, pointnya adalah, I know how it felt to be the last one waiting for your parent to arrive. Been there and done that. It's a lonely feeling and one gets pretty restless. And cranky and teary-eyed. So.....

Panic.Panic.Panic. Aduh! Lagilah pressure!

Luckily, I spotted the Blackberry car charger in the car. Plugged it in and immediately called Ustazah Yati. She said she tried to call but it didn't go through. I apologized profusely and told her I was on my way. The journey to Kota Damansara was a smooth one, I was there in about 15 minutes. I must have driven at 120km/h where I could.

Anyways, as I arrived, her house had the gate and the front door closed. No lights in the foyer. Dark and a little scary. Called Ustazah to tell her I was already there. Her sleepy voice greeted me and said, "OK". Turned off the engine and ran to her house to quickly hug my two sweethearts. More bouts of apologies ensued. Luckily, both kids were smiling widely. Ustazah shared with me another great news - Khadra has gone to Iqra' 5. Yeay!,Khadra! Gave them a quick kiss and a last kopek apology to the Ustazah. We made our way to the car.

Talking, talking, talking in the car. We made it home safely. All is well once more. :)

Moral of the story: Lain kali ingat la nak ambik anak , weh!

-dillz blogging out-

Iqra' : Aj-Juzu' Thalith

Iqra' development series | 1:Aj-Juzu' Wahid | 2: Aj-Juzu' Thani| 3: Aj-Juzu' Thalith|

It's time for the third installment of the Iqra' series. Just to keep you (and me, really) updated on their developments. Since then, Khaleeq had been sick and vomitted all over the class in one incident as well as the kids skipped a few classes due to hi-fever and whatnot.

It would seem pretty obvious by now that we have long ditched the baju kurungs and baju melayus (as exhibited in the 2nd installment) for the night sessions and joined the likes of Haris Omar, Iskandar and Harith in their parades of baju tidur. hihihihihi I have finally concurred that, Yes, it is much more comfortable for the kids and it makes the transition to sleepyland much faster when we get home at around 10pm. :) We do come in full gear for the Sunday sessions though. :)

For the general viewing, I have included a few pictures of their meja rehal yang awesome itu. :) Khadra has hers in pink (of course) and Khaleeq has his in black.

This picture was taken when I came in early, one night session. Tu yang tak berapa ramai orang lagi tu. At full quorum, Ustazah Yati would have the kids surrounding her in the shape of a square, and she'll be in the middle. :) Oh, Ustazah Yati is the lady in the cardigan. She said she wasn't feeling too well that day.

Their behaviour / attitude for the class?
There was one occasion when Khadra refused to go to class when we already arrived at the Ustazah's house. Yes, of course I was pissed off. Imagine driving through traffic for almost one hour and when we finally got there, dia tak nak masuk pulak. Mau tak angin? Khadra said she was tired and sleepy and she did not want to mengaji that day. She also just got up from her nap during the drive there, so maybe angin dia pun tengah weng at that time. Ustazah was sweet enough to coax her in, saying that she didn't have to do anything and rest for a while. I left her in the good hands of the Ustazah. Later, she related that Khadra was only crying for about 5 minutes before she quieted down and started her mengaji.

Khaleeq did not give me any drama. Only that he asks me for a new toy everyday. But that is besides the pointlah. :)

Oh ada satu cerita baru (as related by Haris Omar and Iskandar to their mom, Liza) just yesterday. Ustazah asked Khaleeq about one of the Arabic alphabets. (I am assuming it was the letter Za - refer chart below)

(Picture from here)

Since this is a third-party story. We really could not be sure which version took place. Either way, it is still very funny.

version 1
Ustazah: What is this , Khaleeq?
Khaleeq: That's a burger in the nose

ataupun

version 2
Ustazah: What is this , Khaleeq?
Khaleeq: That's a booger in the nose

hahahahahahahahaha...

Their progress?
Alhamdulillah, Khadra just started Iqra' Three last Monday while Khaleeq is very well on his way to finishing his Iqra' One. :) To give them that extra incentive, I also promised to reward them RM10 each for every Iqra' book they finish. For completing Iqra' Six, and that means graduating to the al-Quran, they will get RM50 each (to add into their Tabung, of course) . So, that deal seems to sit with them pretty well. :)

They also learnt how to perform their solat with the practical done every Thursay. I know it is a little overwhelming, especially for Khaleeq coz he has yet to memorize all the ayat-ayat sembahyang. So, to help him (and Khadra) out a little bit, we have been practicing some of the ayat-ayat sembahyang in the car to and from mengaji. For quick wins, I started on ayat rukuk and sujud coz it is a one-liner and you repeat them in every rakaat. Sure dia rasa best sikit when he gets it.. :)

I'll upload a little snippet of Khaleeq practicing on a real-time basis during our most current tahlil at Pondok Azlul - orang tengah jemaah Isya' tu.. :) (Insya Allah *updated)

OKlah abang oi! You got it almost right most of the time. Main-main kena kurang sikit, berdiri tak boleh gerak-gerak, ayat-ayat lain kena belajar lagi, tau! (Ko paham tak ni Khaleeq, oi? hahahahaha) In time,lah my dear.. In time..

In any case, I am proud of you, Boboy!!! :) Kita practice kuat-kuat lagi, ya?

-dillz blogging out-

Iqra' : Aj-Juzu' Thani

Iqra' development series | 1:Aj-Juzu' Wahid | 2: Aj-Juzu' Thani| 3: Aj-Juzu' Thalith|

This is a follow-up story to our quest to find a mengaji place for the two elder Khas. :)

Kids in their mengaji outfit:

Azrul cakap macam budak mintak sedekah - jahat tau!! I thought they looked so innocent and suci! *cheh!

Alhamdulillah, the journey has been made easier, thank you, ya Allah. Initially, I planned to send them over to Kota Damansara to attend the 7pm or 8pm session on 4 nights during the weekday. This is of course on top of the 2-hours Sunday morning sessions that we are already sending them to.

Monday through Thursday. Add to that after work hours traffic from Bangsar to Kota Damansara. Well, you could only imagine the worst! :(

True enough, traffic was a definite nightmare.

I tried the Sprint-Damansara PLUS Toll route that I have been following on Sundays. I was told by the wise Kak Ween that Sprint-Damansara PLUS Toll stretch was a real bitch on weekdays and was she right. I was stuck for what seemed like aaaages there. Just coz people can't stick to their blardy lanes and keep criss-crossing between lanes. :)~~

Kak Ween recommends the Sprint-TTDI route, then via persiaran Surian nstead. It was bearable, she said. And it was almost toll-free, except for the RM1.00 at the SPRINT toll. I tried that a few times, but got really testy at the TTDI area - wanna blame it at the current construction that's taking place near the BU area.

Ziezi recommended the Hartamas - Duta PLUS Toll way. Hartamas stretch is a little slow, but moving. So that was definitely much better.

In the end, I took the Hartamas - Penchala Link - (U-turn at One-Utama) - Persiaran Surian route. It is a little berpusing-pusing, I know, but it is anti-flow and I find that our journey is much calmer. *Big relief* The kids even took this time to catch up on a little nap.

That's the logistics sorted out. Thank you.

On top of that, Ustazah Yati had suggested that we only come in 2 nights on the weekdays, for a 2-hour session instead. She suggested one night on either a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday - where she would concentrate on Iqra' , Jawi and a little bit of Arabic. The other session is on a Thursday, where it is mainly solat practical and stories of Rasulullah and such. :) Alhamdulillah... it worked out very well for me as I have the flexibility of Monday thru Wednesday should there be the need to stay back at the office for work. Seems like I just need to be back on time on Thursdays now. Else, there's always Azrul for back-up. :) Also, since their classes are 2-hour sessions now, it gives me room for Maghrib and just about enough time to squeeze a little ME-time.

Oh, Zatil and Yoi have been sending their Harith to the same night classes too. He's the boy in red/blue t-shit and the white kopiah in the pictures above. :) Zatil was relaying to me that Khaleeq had asked the Ustazah to tell them a joke one night - right in the middle of one of her lesson. Ustazah pulak tambah this story:

Khaleeq: Excuse me Teacher.
Ustazah: Yes, Khaleeq?
Khaleeq: Could you dance?
Ustazah: ?##!??

Comel lah budak ni. I guess he's just a little bored, kot. hihihihihi..

I also captured this little clip at the end of their session - The two kids busy checking out whether their parents are already there are Liza's, Si Harris Omar and Iskandar. Khaleeq can't keep still..

Tak pe lah.. I am just happy that Khaleeq's learning as much as he could - his Iqra' is already at huruf "Sodd and Dhod" , staying put (as much as possible), practicing his Jawi and at the very least listening and following the nasyids and stuff.

Oh, lil' Miss Khadra has already started on the Iqra' 2 since last week. Yeay, Kakak! :)

-diilz blogging out-

Iqra' : Aj-Juzu' Wahid

Iqra' development series | 1:Aj-Juzu' Wahid | 2: Aj-Juzu' Thani| 3: Aj-Juzu' Thalith|

We finally found a place to send the kids for mengaji thanks to Lina's recommendations to Ziezi . I have been looking for a place to send / someone to come over to teach Khadra and Khaleeq Iqra' since forever. Ada aje masalah problemnya. So, I really really appreciated this. Thank you, thank you, thank you , ladies!

(Pic from: here)

Through Ziezi's negotiation skills, we managed to secure a special timing with the Ustazah for a 2-hour session on Sundays. 10am-12pm. There are 6 kids for this session- 2 of ours, 2 of Ziezi's and 2 of Liza's. So, the coming Sundays from hereonwards, that's where I will be - somewhere in the area surrounding Ustazah Yati's abode. (Need to remember that I have to explore rumah Ustazah dan kawasan-kawasan sewaktu dengannya ni)

After the first meet, I am pretty satisfied with her. Ustazah Yati is a graduate student from UIA and is in the middle of writing up her doctorate in comparative religion. She speaks good English and her Malay sounds a little like Arabic. (She speaks like Anwar Ibrahim, if you know what I mean) :) As we found out then, she was not ONLY gonna teach Iqra' but will be teaching the kids Tajwid, some Arabic, Jawi, ayat-ayat solat , etc. So, basically = Yeay!!! :)

Then I got to thinking. (which is never a good thing)
2 hours in a week for mengaji and all the rest thrown in would not be sufficient, right?
We also found out that she has her normal classes running from 7-8pm and 8-9pm on Mondays through Thursdays.
So, the most natural thing is that we should just attend those classes too, right?

Now herein lies the challenge.

Ustazah Yati's place is in Kota Damansara.

Yes, think about the traffic from Bangsar to Kota Damansara on a weekday after office hours. It will not be pretty, I tell you.. :(

So, here's my commitment to my two kids:

Ibu will try to send the two of you to these 4 classes. Ibu akan cuba. I know that I have not been the type that would even set my foot home from work before Maghrib. But, hey we have to try, won't we? This January will be MY probation month.

If this does not work, kiddos, we'll have to make do with Plan B. That means only 2 classes on weekdays and the 2hours on Sunday. It sounds more manageable to me.

I love you guys loads and I promise to try my level best. Muah muah!

-dillz blogging out-