Nurturing Independent Thoughts In Children

The day before Eid, which happened to be on a Monday, I remembered my article deadline and had to scribble one down immediately before it's too late and with the help of @Sarah_Sharji I came up with this in a mere half an hour.

Nurturing Independent Thoughts In Children
~ As published on Oman Observer; Wednesday, 17th.

Our society nowadays lacks of certain elements that enables it to become on the top, like for example, independent thinking. Since it’s an on-going process, it needs to be started with from childhood. Nurturing independent thoughts in your child helps him to grow autonomously, without uncertainty or doubt in himself.

Dependence can only be achieved if you, as a parent, start giving specific and simple tasks to your child; for example; tying his own shoelace, tidying up his playing area by placing the toys in their right position, or even as undemanding errands as arranging the bed. When the kid realizes the great trust you’ve put into him, he’d grow to being responsible of his own belongings and would even take great joy in being a part of something that would eventually benefit him.

These kinds of simple tasks boost the level of self-confidence and opens doorways into the new and serious world of adulthood where face-to-face confrontation and public-speaking seems as natural as breathing.

Other than that, in-between competition between the siblings encourages the child to think of his team, yet depending on his own mind and not forgetting the fact that he’s part of that team. It can be anything from sports contests, drawing, or even solving pieces of a puzzle.

We see a lot of kids nowadays lacking a persona, especially when it comes to blind-copying, they seem to get better everyday at that particular aspect as impersonating an already displayed character seems much easier than getting creative and being unique. Sadly to say, that’s what we need right now; something new instead of the same old. Gone are the days when the ‘odd’ one out is unneeded or even picked on, because we’re now in a world that cares, not about quantity but quality.

The child then grows up feeling his presence, not just wanted but needed as well. You can then trust him with even more demanding things like taking care of his younger siblings while you’re away, taking him grocery shopping and letting him hand in the money so that he can feel the big trust you have in him or her.

Above all, make sure to asses a room for him to speak up his mind even if it meant listening to his little stories because only that broadens his creativity and enhance his ability to interact with people above his age and beyond.

Strange Encounters

How was Eid with you all? Did you have fun as much as I did? As for me, I really enjoyed my rather short holiday and I wish it didn't have to end now. Going to Ajman was the most important highlight even if it was for one day and a half. Waking up on the second day of Eid, I wasn't surprised with the news of going to the UAE, as my family has always been unpredictable like that.

The weirdest thing I noticed were:
(1) Too many smokers; spending the the first night at Ajman festival, I was astonished by the amount of smokers practically everywhere. considering the fact that it was a public event where people of all ages were around it was plain rude to pollute the area. What disturbed me the most was seeing an old woman smoking in front of her kids and to top my disgust, blowing off the smoke on her kids' faces who were sitting on the table facing their mom. The act was extremely selfish and ignorant.

(2) The dude with the snake; at the same festival, there was a man holding a snake and stroking it lovingly as if it were a cat or a dog. I was yet again disgusted and I didn't know if it was showing-off or what exactly.

(3) Stranger greeting; there was this girl who came up to me, shook my hands and hugged/kissed me in greetings when all I said was "do I even know you?" but turned out, she only did all of that because I was an Omani just like her. Umm..since when do we greet whoever of the same nationality as ourselves?

And since my brother is nagging to give him back his iPhone then I guess that's all for now, what about you?

Eidkum Mubarak

You probably noticed how rare my posts are these days? Well, it's all due to Twitter and if you're following me, you'd notice that my timeline is full of tweets concerning my never-ending wish to have been there with the Hujajj, slept in Minna and stood on Jabal 3arafa today.

Eid's preparation were smooth for me this time all thanks to the salon's early-reservation which made it rather easier to get all ready a day before Eid. Henna? Check. Face? Check. Nails? Check. Clothes? Shoes, purse, etc are all done, thankfully. All that's missing is Eid it self.
Today felt more like a Ramadhan as the whole family fasted in this blessing day and inshallah you'll out here enjoyed the futoor and your Du3as get accepted.

Eidkum mubarak, enjoy it to the max and make sure to spend your 3ediyah wisely :P

غريبة على الشاطئ

وَقـفـتْ هُـنـاكَ وَأخـذتْ تـَتـأمـل نَـقـاءَ الـبـَحْـرِ وَنَـسَـمَـاتِـهِ الـعَـلِـيـلَـةِ..كَـمْ مِـنْ لَـيْـلَـةٍ وَقَـفَـتْ هُـنَـا وَلَـمْ تَـشْـعُـرْ أنـهَـا مَـوجُـودَة؟ سَـألـَتْ نَـفْـسَـهَا ذات السُـؤَال مَـرَّاتٍ عَـدِيـدِةً.

عِـنْـدَمَـا الـتَـفَـتَـتْ يَـمِـيـنًـا, رَأتْ الـبَسْـمَـة تَـعْـلُـو وُجُـوهَ الأطْـفـالِ الحَـالِـمِـيـن, الفَـرْحَـة غـامِـرَةٌ فـي نُـفُـوسِـهِـم وَمـِنْ دُونِ أي رَهْـبَـةٍ أوْ خَـوْفٍ, هَـمُّـوا بِـالـرَّكْـضِ مُـكّـَوِنِّـيـنَ حَـلْـقَـة َحَـوْلَـهَـا..رُغْـمًـا عَـنْـهَـا, ابْـتَـسَـمَـتْ لـوَهْــلَـةٍ قـصِـيـرَة وَأَحَـسَّـتْ بِـالـذَنْـبِ الـذي بَـدَأَ بِـأَكْـلِـهَا, قَـضْـمَـةً تِلْوَ الأخْـرَة..

Snippets

Exams..
You'd probably noticed the little amount of posts I wrote on October but that's due to the super busy schedule I'm following and with everything else going on currently, I hardly ever find the time to read. Even though I had quit reading in order to memorize Quran verses, I missed it and I guess that it's a part of my everyday life that I could at least asses few minutes to.

First term exams have started on Wednesday, starting with Social Studies and today was English Lit. Since it's been two years since I last studied S.S, I was somewhat nervous on taking it so I double-studied (if that's even a word) and thankfully, it wasn't all that hard at all. It's also the first time that we take English Lit so I didn't really know what to expect and I know I've done well.

Firsts..

Beside school, I got my very first phone on 13th of October (Too late? I know). I've never felt the need to have a phone even though it's the 'trend' around here. My parents have always urged me to but I didn't need it. And on 6th of October, The Week crew came to school to award us (the winner team in Cubscribe Challenge) and I got a Samsung Corby and I'm very pleased with it. Plus, we got a one-year subscription for Muscat Daily and the other publications of Apex Stuff. Also, a group picture of us was published on the cover page of the paper.

After writing for Oman Observer for almost 6 months, they thought to let me work officially and sign my very first work contract with them. It's a huge commitment, I know, but I had made sure to know what I was getting myself into before going for the signing.

So that's it for now, and up until a new post, take care.