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

Summer 2010

This is the last day of summer 2010. I worked, read, played, watched movies, read some more, traveled, fasted Ramadhan, enjoyed Eid, spent my eidiyah and most of all, met my uncle and cousins for the first time in 3 years.

In every summer, I try to achieve as much as constructive things as possible and in this particular one, I've bought and read more books than I thought I would. Putting the good memories aside, school's starting tomorrow and like every year, the only motive that keeps me going is that if it I went, I'll be getting it over with.

Eid was great too and more than that. I wish if I could sit here all day and get my heart out about what happened but I have to write for my column, get some things straight and be ready to face tomorrow. Even though I'm not one to be attached with friends, my good friend moved out already and I'm afraid I'm going to miss her epically.

Other than that, wait for the upcoming chapters of Hiatus Lane which I've scribbled down during Eid holiday and after polishing them up, they'll be up on here soon. Ciao for now.

Few Thoughts

(1) A lot of things happened with me at the past week. Two of my family members, both mothers, passed away on the same day. It confused me and I had to get things straight before getting back to cyberspace. I learned not to take anything for granted, especially our own parents.

(2) The true blessing is having the chance to do the Taraweeh prayers daily in Ramadhan at a mosque.

(3) Khawater is becoming interesting by the day. Yesterday's episode hit an all time favourite after introducing a straight-forward point.



Hearing the British lady and the Jewish man standing up for what's right, regrardless of their nationalities or religions spoke loud and clear to me. To all of us. When humanity is being ripped apart, there's no excuse not to stick with the truth.

(4) خطوة | A Step blog is created by 3 intelligent Omanis and 2 Palestinians. Follow them to take a step forward to Palestine's history.

"In 1895, Herzl started his fake dream: "The state of Israel penetrates the Red Sea through the gate of Jordan" A dream to have their own state. And his dream became true by a single book, protocols & global summits. He united the Jews from east to west to build the evil state on the Palestinian lands, tooling away farms, hourse and family members of Palestinian’s Jews, Christians & Muslims. So would we ever start making our own dream?"

(5) Eid is approaching by each passing minute. Even though I'd miss Ramadhan greatly, I'd love to enjoy the happy vibe Eid spreads around amongst people of different ages.

My Eid

19th Nov was the date of my final update. Soon after that day, my first term exams started giving me lesser time to spend on blogging or anything else. Things went on very smoothly, except that I’m still lacking behind in Maths (As I always did – No surprise there).

My sister and I spent the past couple of days that followed Eid at my Granny’s and I got to read more than I usually do, which is a bonus. Take this from me, isolating yourself from civilization for a while to achieve a specific task is the key to success.


It took me a long time to decide on where to stay over for the upcoming days (Starting from Eid’s night itself) and I finally settled at Granny’s (Dad’s part of the family). As usual on the first day of Eid, we were the late comers as everyone was waiting for us to join in the tiny house. My parents left early to get ready and I kissed them goodbye and made sure to tuck in my wish-list somewhere - I, amongst my siblings, am the only one who usually does this.

That evening, my uncle took all of us to Qurum City Centre based on our never-ending demands (God bless him). Entering from the food court entrance was a bonus to the whole thing as Borders Express is located next to it. The kids went crazy over the electronic games shouting how much money was needed and I found myself eyeing the books one by one looking for a catchy title.

Those caught my attention:

I finished Girls Of Riydh last night. I had a fun read, there’s no doubt about this, but I found the story plot very typical when comparing it to ‘our’ world. The things that the four Saudi girls went through are the same things girls here are going through; looking for the love of their life.

Here are some random shots I took while staring at the place's natural beauty:

Hope ya’ll enjoyed your Eid because I know I did, and it’s better late than never to say: Eid Mubarak.

[P.S This post is dedicated to my lovely Granny and her children who endured my sister’s demands and mine].

Another Eid

‘Mamma,ileyoum el3eed?’ (1) were the first words I heard on the morning of Eid, ‘aiwa, beser3a elibes eldishdasha, abook yente’9rak barra3’ (2) my mom answered my little brother’s silly question.

I remember feeling very cranky and too lazy to wake up on my own, so I waited to hear any knocks on the door. Minutes later, I jumped off of my bed reluctantly and hurried to my parent’s room where I saw my little sister dressing up. She smiled at my shyly. ‘3eeeeedkuuuuuum emabareeek..wain 3ediyati?’(3) I repeated what I usually said on every past Eids, ‘roo7i tejahzi, 7abeebti’ (4) my mom said, I nodded and started getting ready.

After about an hour, we were at granny’s having breakfast together, and that’s when my uncle called from NZ. ‘Shoof i5wanak wo a5awatik kelhom jalseen yef6arro, wo inta ma heni. Eshtagnalkom abooy’ (5) my granny’s voice trailed off behind her sobs. I was glad that I finally had the chance to hear their voices for the second time in two years.

We got our Eidiyas and had lunch then headed to my granny’s (Dad’s part of the family). I then took a glance towards my grandpa’s room, and had to remind myself that he’s gone, and this was the first Eid we’ll have to celebrate without him. The room looked empty, literally.

My Eid ended when we all sat together and had our dinner and returned back home at eleven last night.

Hope ya'll enjoyed yours, as well.


Trans:
Eid = Muslims celebrate it twice a year.
(1) Mom, today's eid?
(2) Yes, now get going, your dad's waiting in the car for you.
(3) Happy Eid, where's my eid's money?
(4) Get ready, sweetheart.
(5) Everyone's having breakfast together without you, we've missed you.

When's Eid?

Whenever my younger siblings used to ask me during Ramadhan ‘Kitten, mitta el3eed?’, I used to answer ‘Youm elethnain, 8oolo amen into bs’, and somehow, it turned out to be ture, that tomorrow, Monday, is the first day of Eid, and the first day of the month of Shawal.

Thanks to my mom, half of the things were all set before Ramadhan, I still needed to go to the saloon, and its where I spent most of yesterday. I regret forgetting my book at the car (The Kite Runner, to be exact). Hours passed by till my sister and I took our turn.

We came home pretty late last night, but I’m glad we were done before the night of Eid, since I had loads to do. One of the things I need to re-check is recharging the Camera, on second thought; I still haven’t bought a new card memory. Oh well, other than this, all was well.

Kel 3am wo intu b5air wo 3asakum min el3aydeen, inshallah. (Eid Mubarak)


P.s I want Eideiyah in return ;)