The First Grader (The Movie)

My brother added this movie to our Netflix queue and I happened to find few moments of solitude yesterday to start watching it. Let me tell you, this movie will change your life (and I haven’t even finished watching yet!).

It is based on a true story of an 83 year old Kenyan man, who attends school with first graders to learn to read and write. He is called Maruge, fought against the British colonials to free Kenya and eventually ended up in a detention camp where he suffered inhumane (and I mean, shut-your-eyes-and-ears-and cringe worthy) treatment only to survive and become an even stronger, resilient and determined individual. 

In the beginning of the Movie, the Kenya gov’t announces free education for all Kenyans and parents flock to tattered schools, fighting with the gatekeepers to secure a spot for their child. Maruge comes back day after day, hoping to be given a chance to learn. Jane, the head teacher, likes his determination and takes a chance to help him. 

For those of us living in first world countries, it is easy to take education for granted. It’s hard for us to imagine a world without written words. Try to imagine a world where you can’t read. It’s hard to do. It is so ingrained in us and because we never had to struggle to go to school, it’s easy for us to take it for granted. 

As beaten up as our education system is, at least elementary education is considered a right rather than a privilege. And that, my friends, makes all the difference in the world. 

Couponing 101

My extra income was always something that allowed my family the safety of not worrying about tomorrow.  We had a nice little "rainy day fund" and my husband and I were both religious about making sure we didn't use that money for anything other than real emergencies. Now that we are down to one income, it's always tempting to continue to live our old lifestyle and just use that money with the good intention of "replacing it soon". Which to be honest, never happens because you keep digging yourself in deeper.

 

I've heard a lot about couponing and even knew a little bit about it but never had the time (or patience) to sit there clipping coupons and planning my shopping trips. When I needed to save a little extra money, I would opt for buying generics which are always cheaper than name brand items.
This past weekend, I decided to give couponing a shot. I had a long list of things I needed to buy at Target so I sat down on my computer and starting printing coupons. Besides the manufacture coupons that you can find in your Sunday paper and online, Target offers their own store coupons online which you can combine to get a nice little deal. 

I made a list of everything I needed and wrote down the coupon's value next to it so I would know exactly how much I will be paying for the item. Since I have a target red card and also had the extra 5% reward coupon, I would be getting an extra 10% off on my total bill.

So I headed to Target with my list, my coupons and a baby in tow. After all was said and done, I was able to save a whopping $33.69! Now it may not seem like a lot to some of you but think about this: I would have unnecessarily spent $33.69 had I not used coupons. We can just give $34 to Target or we can use it to go out for dinner one night at our favorite Indian Chinese Restaurant.

 

  

I have learned two valuable lessons from this experience. First being that coupons are our friend. Second that creating lists and sticking to them curbs impulse buying and saves both time and money. I am now a believer. Now that I realize the power of coupons, I will be using them more often and the money I save, I can put away for a rainy day (or maybe use it to buy myself nice things!).  

How do you save money and stay within your budget? 

Phishing Scam

The other day I received an email asking me to follow the provided link and verify my information so that my “Discover Bank” account is not unnecessarily restricted.

I’m already very good at spotting these phishing scams but this one just made me laugh because of its horrible grammar. I decided to have a little fun and proofread the email for them and offer the scammers some constructive criticism. If you’re planning on scamming someone at least put in a little effort to make it believable.

Midnight Musings

DAMN YOU, PINTEREST!

I should have been in bed TWO hours ago.

You are an addiction. Like a siren's song, your little red logo draws me in and hypnotizes me. I touch you just to "see" and before I know it, all I want to do is pin, pin, pin!

You muddle my brain and numb my senses. As you draw me in with your tantalizing recipes and crafts, my life's purpose becomes to pin just one more! But it's all a lie, an illusion. There's never just one more! There is just more, more and MORE! 

Here's a little poem I wrote for you, Pinterest, because I still love you.

Untitled

I can pin sitting down.

I can pin laying down.

I can pin in the bathroom.

I can pin in the waiting room.

I can pin in the car.

I can pin in the store.

I can pin anywhere and everywhere!

What is your addiction?

Purpose With a Side of Accomplishment

After another night of minimal sleep, I was again a bit groggy. It didn't help that dear son started getting into things from the moment his eyes opened (which is of course expected but still.)

Dear Hubby was getting ready for work as I was running around chasing the baby. He stopped to watch us for a moment and asked: “Do you miss going to work?”

That is a question I've pondered upon from time to time but each time my answer is an unequivocal “No”. I don't miss going to work at all. What I do miss is being able to complete tasks uninterrupted and having a sense of accomplishment.

I'm a list maker by nature. I make lists and put everything I need to do and cross things off as I complete each task even if it's something as menial as "take a shower" (which these days is a total luxury). It always gave me a sense of accomplishment, as if I did something and didn't totally waste my day.

Yesterday, I was trying to do some dishes during nap time and Hyder kept waking up. I had to stop, run to him, put him back down, come back and start the dishes again only to have to stop once more to look after him. I love him to death but man, I just need to feel a sense of accomplishment; even if it's only for having done the stinkin' dishes when I wanted to.  I'm not (yet) desperate enough to do the dishes after everyone has gone to bed. I hope I never am or I'll be getting even less sleep.

For now, I think I'm going to stick with doing only what's necessary and napping/pinning/youtubing (Is that even a word?) while the baby naps.

AND

Here's something to help you waste your time while the baby naps. This always makes me smile!

Occupational Hazards

Motherhood is a dangerous job. I always knew that it would be tough, but I never realized the dangers that come with the territory.

In the past few weeks, I have endured the following:

• Been repeatedly bitten by a teething baby. And, those bites HURT! No, seriously, they do. If you don't believe me, watch this.
• Been scratched. Repeatedly. With trimmed nails that never lose their dagger like sharpness. 
• Had my hair pulled out from the roots. I think I'm already half bald. Good thing I wear a Hijab*, I guess. 
  
• Been woken up 1,000 times during the night by a teething baby who just wanted to be held. Yes, as soon as I picked him up, he was sleeping again. I, on the other hand, was not.
• Haven't had a full night sleep (read "a good night") sleep in nine (9) months.
• Woken up to a warm, fuzzy feeling only to realize that the diaper leaked (we co-sleep). On my bed, on my clothes, on my comforter. Oh, how laundry has become my new best friend.
• Have sprinted across the house, out of shower, and out of the bathroom at the sound of a crying baby only to find the baby sound asleep. (Yes, I do own and use a baby monitor but you cannot ignore a mother's intuition.) 

All this, coupled with the normal stresses of life, is enough to drive anyone insane. But, in the past 9 months, I have also learned something very peculiar. On the days I'm most irritable, he does the most adorable things. I would be huffing and puffing around the house, holding onto the last teeny tiny thread of my patience, and he will go and do something so cute that all my frustration and irritability will just vanish!

Like today, he found his way to the kitchen garbage can. This doesn't seem like something awesome or funny but what really made me laugh was how he did it. He had watched me open the can with my foot to throw away some trash yesterday and today as soon as he spotted the little foot-presser thingy, he made a beeline for it from across the living room--crawling UNDER a CHAIR and then plopping on his belly right in front of the can and began pressing the foot-press with his little hand to get it to open! How quickly he learns! That just melted my heart.

Motherhood comes with good, bad, horrible and just down right terrible days but even the most terrible day can be turned around by focusing on the little things. There are no sick days, vacations or paid lunches or even bathroom breaks (although they would be nice) but there are plenty of wet kisses, cuddles, and hugs to make it all worthwhile. 

What do you try to focus on to keep yourself sane? 

*The scarf Muslim women use to cover their hair.

They're Listening and They're Learning

Ever since I became pregnant, my husband and I have spent a lot of time discussing parenting. What we should do, what we should watch for, what is off limit in front of children. One of the things I've always stressed was absolutely no arguing in the presence of our son. Sometimes we do well, other times we fail but we try to do our best to minimize any loud and angry tones.

Today, I came across an article on Huffington Post which discussed a study being conducted at the University of Oregon. Researchers scanned the brains of 20 sleeping infants and recorded their reactions to hearing different tones.


Here's what they found:

"Graham and her colleagues scanned the brains of 20 sleeping infants, ages 6 months to 12 months, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (a technique that measures blood flow as a proxy for brain activity). Inside the scanner, the babies heard nonsense sentences spoken by a male adult in very angry, mildly angry, happy or neutral tones.

The sleeping infants' brains showed distinct patterns of activity corresponding to each different emotional tone, the study revealed. Compared with babies raised in healthy homes, infants in high-conflict homes (as reported by their mothers) had a greater response to the very angry voice in brain regions involved in stress and emotion regulation — the rostral anterior cingulated cortex, the caudate, the thalamus and the hypothalamus. Previous studies in animals indicated that these regions show effects of early life stress on development, and this study suggests human babies may experience a similar phenomenon.

The findings suggest babies are aware of parental conflicts and that these conflicts may affect how the infants' brains handle stress and emotion, Graham said."

It is very surprising to find that what happens when babies are sleeping also affects their neurological development. I guess from now on, we'll have to take our arguments outside. Literally.

How do you avoid arguments in front of your children?  

Therapeutic Art

I was having such a stressful day yesterday with having to go to a co-worker's birthday party (with baby, who decided to nap right as it was his bath time!), being responsible for picking up the food for this party and lets just be honest, whenever you have to go out with a baby in Chicago's awful winter, it's just plain stressful!

After being out most of the afternoon, we come home and my son decides to become my third leg. He wouldn't let me put him down, was unusually cranky and I was hungry (which is never a good combination).

While looking for something on the dresser, I found this goodie bag my son had received at a birthday part a few weeks ago. On looking inside, I found a coloring book and 4 crayons.

I decided to use this opportunity to show my son how to color. Of course, all he wanted to do was to eat the crayons but we (I) managed to do a pretty decent job.

It was such a wonderful stress reliever. I felt so much better after this little activity, it was amazing. I even felt good enough to make myself some dinner!

I've heard a lot about the therapeutic effects of art and even had done research in one of my Psychology classes in college but never really paid much attention to it. Yesterday's five minute activity has made me a believer.

So next time your children are driving you nuts, gather them together and have a "creativity session". You can color, draw, create. Do whatever your heart desires and I promise you, you will feel better (for five minutes, or until the next argument, whichever comes first!).

Hey, you can't have it all!

What do you do to relieve stress?

Oh How Fast They Grow!

Dear Son sprouted his first tooth a few days ago and that has thrown me into a very nostalgic mood. Tonight I spent hours going through all his pictures and videos, marveling (and crying) over the fact that he is growing up so fast. It feels like just yesterday that I held him in my arms for the first time, kissing his tiny fingers and toes, and now, I’m already planning his first birthday party! Time has flown and I didn’t even notice its passing. 

A few months ago when I made the decision to quit my job and stay home with my baby, knowing that I may fall behind in my career, I never could have realized how much I was going to gain. 

Every day, he makes new discoveries and I have been there for each one. The first time he smiled, laughed, tried solids, rolled over, sucked on his big toe (something I was waiting for very patiently!), and his newest trick, learning how to crawl. It is marvelous how everything we take for granted, things we don’t even think twice about, are such sources of joy for my little guy. 

His eyes light up as he spots his favorite toy. His ears perk up as he hears the garage door open knowing that Baba is home. How he will bend over backwards trying to catch a glimpse of the TV (he’s not supposed to watch!). How he makes a funny face when he tries new foods and then asks for more. The way he reaches for me when he’s done playing and wants to be picked up. If I had continued to work, not only would I have missed a lot of these little things but I may have been too exhausted to fully enjoy him.

It has been 8 months of sheer exhaustion, sleep deprivation and JOY. He is the center of my universe, the apple of my eye. I could be having the crappiest day and then, he will smile (his one toothed smile) and all becomes well.

My career can wait but my son’s childhood will not.