School blues

I wasn't a fan of school .... I enjoyed the friends and assignments, but generally I'd rather be at home ..... mmmmm ..... kinda like I am now ;-) LOL (oops)

Last night DD wasn't well and DH suggested she stay home. DD looked very confused like "WHAT ? That is an option ?!" In all honesty between the 2 of us, I am not sure who was more excited to have DD stay at home. This first term of trekking to take her to school has been very tiring and we have many more trips to make in the future !

So this morning, DH wanted to lie in but I wanted to first see how DD was doing. She woke up tired and said she still felt ill (REJOICE !!!!) It didn't affect me much as I still had my morning chores, but at least it was a new pace, a slower pace, one that need not be done by 12pm! Just before 8am DD was running around playing - not looking ill at all. She claims the panado made her better (Grandpa's child !) and she was all ready to get dressed and go to school. You had to see the horror in our faces ! NO !!! School started already - you CANNOT go now ! She was very disappointed but learnt a valuable lesson : If you are tired, do not lie and say you are ill, cos then we'll keep you home. DD loves school you see, so we have leverage !

Competition

Is competing a good or bad thing ?
I suppose sometimes it could bring out the best in people - to attain more. But generally i have no reason to compete.
Growing up, my eldest sister was the brainy one, good for her. We felt it took the pressure off us as she satisfied the A grades in the family. I still worked and achieved good grades, but didn't feel I HAD to.
But since having kids, life is very competitive. People.. no sorry , other mums compare every thing! Sleep patterns, development, speech, schools, extra-murals etc. Does it matter ? Here I am 33 years old and none of those things affect who I am today ..... well maybe the extra-murals - which I NEVER did and showed when I played netball on the beach the weekend and nearly DIED !!

So it's 30-hot degrees and I can't sleep and thinking about this incident with this competitive mum - I think she is insecure and does it to feel better about herself. And mulling over a seed which has now rooted in my mind and I can't shake. I am almost too scared to share it openly as it is one of those topics which other mums take VERY seriously on the competition circuit.

Where was I going with this again ...... oh yes, so I am thinking about competition and realise the only real competition we should have with each other is competing to obtain jannah and the best apart of THAT competition is assisting/helping others gets you closer to the goal. And THAT is a lesson I want to teach my kids.

Beauty of a Woman

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears,
The figure she carries, or the way she combs her hair.
The beauty of a woman must be seen from her eyes,
Because that is the doorway to her heart,
The place where love resides.
The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,
But true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.
It is the caring that she lovingly gives,
The passion that she shows.
The beauty of a woman
With time, only grows..

Once upon a time, long, long ago ......

When I worked as a programmer (IT) I never considered myself great. There was always people WAY better that I worked with. Yet somehow, in my short years of working I developed a reputation amongst my colleagues. I'd work with a new team and there would be this awe of "we work with HER!" Towards the end of my career I felt intimidated by the reputation - since I didn't see the greatness I didn't know if I was still achieving it !

A few years later I realised that the awe was not so much in my skill at programming code, but more my work ethic of getting the job done, being a perfectionist and being organized.

These skills have all been tarnished since taking on the task of SAHM. The variables are too unstable to achieve perfection, order or ever calling a job complete. However, I have never felt more suited at a job! If ever I wondered what am I good at -NO, GREAT at - it's being a mom! Algamdulillah. Now, don't get me wrong I don't have the best kids - they're not perfect little angels and I do yell.

Today I got a call from my sister.... she's my eldest sister -also in IT ... she followed the ranks from programmer to team leader to project manager/ architect etc. and now is a top manager Masha'Allah. We never worked together or worked with the same people ... until now. She presented something at work and one of the guys worked with me at my last job. (I changed almost yearly!) He asked if she knew me (having the same surname) and when she said she was my sister - he flipped his lid ! He gushed about how great I was and called his pals to tell them this was my sister ! (Major shocker for my sister as I'm usually her sister!) So even though my sister was totally thrown by this news, it was a nice ego boost for my day. And for the first time in 6 years ... I missed work.

Some funnies for fellow IT nerds.

Random questions

Where is your cell phone? - on the kitchen table
Your hair? - short
Your mother? - gone :-(
Your father? - happy
Your favorite thing? - playing with my kids
Your dream last night? - odd about ppl I hardly see
Your favorite drink? - a lekker cup of tea
What room are you in? - tv room
Your fear? - something happening to my kids
Where do you want to be in 6 years? - still at home with the kids ;-)
Where were you last night? - at home playing scrabble
Something that you aren't? - late (just realised the irony !!! LOL!! )
Wish list item? - bookshelves
Last thing you did? - hung the washing
TV? - Barney (what else?)
Your pets? - died :-(
Friends? - the best
Your life? - stressful right now
Your mood? - optimistic
Missing someone? - Priscilla (LOL!!)
Your car? - Prado !!
Your favorite store? - Fabric world
Your favorite colour? - orange (this week)
When was the last time you cried? - too long ago
Where do you go to over and over? - Pick 'n pay !
My favorite place to eat? - at Zanab's !
Favorite place I'd like to be at right now? - on camp with family and cuzzins !

Toilet humour

Firstly, a reminder to myself : Potty training is officially postponed.

Being more prepared this week, I decided to tackle it again. It was a replay of last time, with an extra day. And the extra day was interesting - I bribed him with jelly beans (which he loves) so it worked. I also took him to the toilet before he could wee, and he let go on the toilet ! BUt when DD was home and my attention dicvided : he didn't want a pants on, made a poo on the floor in two parts ! Then another in his pants later. He pee'd and seriously had NO idea ! So I am of the opinion that after 3 days : he is not ready for this. Algamdulillah.

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When you have to visit a public toilet, you usually find a line of women, so you smile politely and take your place. Once it's your turn, you check for feet under the cubicle doors. Every cubicle is occupied. Finally, a door opens and you dash in, nearly knocking down the woman leaving the cubicle. You get in to find the door won't latch. It doesn't matter, the wait has been so long you are about to wet your pants! The dispenser for the modern 'seat covers' (invented by someone's Mum, no doubt) is handy, but empty. You would hang your bag on the door hook, if there was one, so you carefully, but quickly drape it around your neck, (Mum would turn over in her grave if you put it on the FLOOR!) down with your pants and assume ' The Stance. In this position, your aging, toneless, thigh muscles begin to shake.. You'd love to sit down, but having not taken time to wipe the seat or to lay toilet paper on it, you hold 'The Stance.' To take your mind off your trembling thighs, you reach for what you discover to be the empty toilet paper dispenser. In your mind, you can hear your mother's voice saying, 'Dear, if you had tried to clean the seat, you would have KNOWN there was no toilet paper!' Your thighs shake more. You remember the tiny tissue that you blew your nose on yesterday - the one that's still in your bag (the bag around your neck, that now you have to hold up trying not to strangle yourself at the same time). That would have to do, so you crumple it in the puffiest way possible. It's still smaller than your thumbnail. Someone pushes your door open because the latch doesn't work. The door hits your bag, which is hanging around your neck in front of your chest and you and your bag topple backward against the tank of the toilet. 'Occupied!' you scream, as you reach for the door, dropping your precious, tiny, crumpled tissue in a puddle on the floor, while losing your footing altogether and sliding down directly onto the TOILET SEAT. It is wet of course. You bolt up, knowing all too well that it's too late. Your bare bottom has made contact with every imaginable germ and life form on the uncovered seat because YOU never laid down toilet paper - not that there was any, even if you had taken time to try. You know that your mother would be utterly appalled if she knew, because you're certain her bare bottom never touched a public toilet seat because, frankly, dear, 'You just don't KNOW what kind of diseases you could get. By this time, the automatic sensor on the back of the toilet is so confused that it flushes, propelling a stream of water like a fire hose against the inside of the bowl and spraying a fine mist of water that covers your bum and runs down your legs and into your shoes. The flush somehow sucks everything down with such force and you grab onto the empty toilet paper dispenser for fear of being dragged in too. At this point, you give up. You're soaked by the spewing water and the wet toilet seat. You're exhausted. You try to wipe with a sweet wrapper you found in your pocket and then slink out inconspicuously to the sinks. You can't figure out how to operate the taps with the automatic sensors, so you wipe your hands with spit and a dry paper towel and walk past the line of women still waiting You are no longer able to smile politely to them. A kind soul at the very end of the line points out a piece of toilet paper trailing from your shoe. (Where was that when you NEEDED it?) You yank the paper from your shoe, plunk it in the woman's hand and tell her warmly, 'Here, you just might need this. As you exit, you spot your hubby, who has long since entered, used and left the men's toilet. Annoyed, he asks, 'What took you so long and why is your bag hanging around your neck? This is dedicated to women everywhere who deal with any public rest rooms/toilets (rest??? you've GOT to be kidding!!). It finally explains to the men what really does take us so long. It also answers that other commonly asked question about why women go to the toilets in pairs. It's so the other gal can hold the door, hang onto your bag and hand you Kleenex under the door.

George Carlin

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints.
We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.
We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life.
We've added years to life not life to years.
We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.
We conquered outer space but not inner space.
We've done larger things, but not better things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.
We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.
We write more, but learn less.
We plan more, but accomplish less.
We've learned to rush, but not to wait.
We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.
These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes.
These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom.
A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...
Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.
Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.
Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it.
A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak!
And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

George Carlin