Homework

Homework is now a horror vocabulary for Mummy!

Every Monday (or Tuesday if Monday is a public holiday), Iman has been given homework to do. Mummy have been informed about it by Puan Yasmin. All parents have to make sure that the kids finish up their homework, otherwise they will be not be allowed to have their playtime and have to finish their homework in the class.

Having heard that Mummy definitely do not want to deprive Iman of any playtime with her friends. So, Mummy have been a slave driver about Iman finishing her homework. So far homework have only be given 3 times. The first time was only to do 1 page of homework in 1 book. Iman could finish it very fast. Phew!! 

Then the 2nd time Iman has been asked to do homework in 2 books with 1 page per book. When Iman told Mummy that she had to do 2 books, Mummy told Iman to quickly do the homework as soon as we arrive home. The plan was for Iman to do 1 book with Mummy and another with Ayah after Ayah come home. Iman didn't like the plan. She wanted to watch VCD and refused to do her homework. Feeling so stressed, Mummy just put both feet down and told Iman that she can't watch VCD or TV until the homework is done. Iman cried and wanted to run away coz Mummy was being very hard on her. When Ayah called to ask what Iman was doing, Mummy told Ayah "Iman tengah menangisi nasib malangnya yang kena buat homework." When Iman heard that, she cried again... She was really really upset about this whole homework issue. But Mummy just refused to barge. Mummy just told Iman that everybody have to face this issue of homework. So is Iman!

When Mummy saw some dirt on Iman's face, Mummy decided to tell a white lie when Iman asked what was that. Mummy told Iman that Allah has put a growth on her face because she didn't listen to Mummy. It worked! Iman quickly decided that she wants to listen to Mummy and started to do her homework. Finally we finished the 2 pages of homework with less argument... but with lots of erasing! Iman's handwriting is atrocious! She wrote so big that most of the time she can't fit the whole word in a box. She always claimed that the letters refused to move to the left.. that's why she didn't have enough space in the right area. What an excuse! Sometimes Mummy just don't know how to keep sane and continue to handle this homework issue calmly. 

Here's some pictures of Iman doing her homework.

The 3rd homework got harder. This week Iman had to do 2 book with 2 pages of homework per book! Oh Gosh! It was another nightmare having to coach her to sit quitely and do the homework. Mummy is now worried that next week when Mummy is away in Sydney, Iman would not do her homework. This time Ayah would have to take the helm and handle the homework issue with Iman.. Good luck Ayah! 

 

Tae-kwan-do

Iman has started her tae-kwan-do classes last 2 weeks. She was so excited to come home with the tae-kwan-do uniform. We made her wear it and gave us some poses.

Here's some pictures of her with some tae-kwan-do moves:

Iman the worrier

Conversation between Ayah and Iman recently

Iman: "where is Ayah punya Ayah ya?" (where is your father?)

Ayah: "Ayah Ayah dah meninggal." (he died)

Iman: "why dia meninggal?" (why did he die?)

Ayah: "dia dah tua." (old age.. actually he died of heart attack before he even retired.)

Iman: "Oh? Ayah pun dah tua.. x lama lagi Ayah pun meninggal juga ya? Mummy pun dah tua. If Ayah and Mummy meninggal, Iman nak stay dengan sapa?" (Oh? You are old too.. you would die soon too. And Mummy is also old. If both of you die, who should Iman stay with?)

Ayah: "Iman kan ada abang-abang and kakak-kakak. Iman ada cousins.." (You have brothers and sisters and cousins too)

Iman: "But they don't stay here... Iman kena duduk sorang-sorang ke?" (But they don't stay here... does it mean that I have to stay alone here?)

At that point Ayah just didn't know what to say anymore. Iman was right to be worried. It is true that she has brothers and sisters and cousins but they are not staying in our house. Iman is now worried that she has to stay alone in this house if both Mummy and Ayah died.

When Ayah told Mummy about it.. it really touches Mummy's heart! All sorts of things come to Mummy's mind. Mummy started to think whether we are being selfish to think of not having another child. Is it a good idea to have her as an only child in this house? Maybe it is a good idea for her to have another sibling to grow up with. But then again if the inevitable do happen.. she will end up having a younger sibling to take care of. More burden for her. Oh well... we'll leave all these hard questions to Allah. He knows what is best for Mummy and Ayah and Iman... 

But Mummy just don't like the idea of a 4-year-old child to think of all those hard questions and uncertainty... Iman is so matured for her age! Other children are just thinking about playing and having fun.. but she is already thinking further ... Is that good or bad? Hmm...

Another cute stuff

Cute.. from Aunty Ze

Always try to help a friend in need Believe in yourself Be brave...but it's ok to be afraid sometimes Study hard Give lots of kisses Laugh often Don't be overly concerned with your weight, it's just a number Always try to see the glass half full Meet new people, even if they look different to you Remain calm, even when it seems hopeless Take lots of naps.. Be weird whenever you have the chance Love your friends, no matter who they are Don't waste food RELAX Take an occasional risk Try to have a little fun each day. ...it's important Work together as a team Share a joke with friends Fall in love with someone.. ...and say 'I love you' often Express yourself creatively Be conscious of your appearance Always be up for surprises Love someone with all of your heart Share with friends Watch your step It will get better There is always someone who loves you more than you know Exercise to keep fit Live up to your name Seize the Moment Hold on to good friends; they are few and far between Indulge in the things you truly love Cherish every Sunday At the end of the day... PRAY ....... and close your eyes And smile at least once a day!

Pain in Mummy' heart

It has been a few days since this pain is nagging in Mummy's heart. At some time it gets very bad.. but at other times Mummy feel that it is managable and not too bad. Oh Gosh! Mummy never thought that Mummy would feel like this. Now Mummy has to rethink whether it is a good idea to send Iman off to boarding school. 

The pain started last weekend when Mummy and Ayah decided to send Iman off to experience a sleepover at Acik's house. We wanted to test Iman's endurance and tolarence to be away from us. Mummy could not sleep as deeply as Mummy normally would when Iman is in Mummy's bed. Mummy kept waking up to check the handphone in case there was a miss call from Acik - Iman decided to come back! Mummy and Ayah have decided that we would go and pick Iman up at whatever time it is if we get the SOS call from Acik. To our surprise, Iman endured the separation and slept throughout the night in Acik's place with Arissa, Akif and Anas! It was actually great to know that Iman is ok. But Mummy missed Iman so much!!

Now, the thought of going to away to Sydney with Aunty Amal to visit Aunty Habsah for 9 days.. the aching in Mummy's heart is getting quite bad. Mummy just hope Mummy can survive the separation. Somehow Mummy know that Iman can endure and survive staying at home with Ayah without Mummy... but Mummy is just not sure of how strong Mummy can be during that 9 days. Hopefully Mummy will not break down and cry everytime Mummy thought of Iman and feeling the pain of missing Iman.

Multiple Births

Iman has a set of twin boys in her class last year. But this year they are in a different class because there are too many kids in 5-year-old kindy, so that they to be separated into 2 classes. Too bad Didi and Farhan are not in Iman's class. Glad to know that they are still playing together during playtime.

So, Iman has been informed about Twins. She now knows how to highlight or identify that she saw twins when she sees a set in the shopping mall or on tv. This year, there is a set of triplet boys in the 3 or 4-year-old class. Iman has seen them and came back to tell Mummy about those triplets.

The funny thing is that Iman asked "Mummy, if there are 4, are they called fourplets?" Mummy thought it was quite amazing that Iman was trying to figure out how the multiple births babies are referred to. So, Mummy patiently told Iman that if there are 4 of them, they are called quadruplets! Then Iman asked "if Iman is only 1, Iman is oneplet ke?" Mummy just laughed out loud hearing that. Mummy quickly told Iman that Iman is an only child. And she seemed quite confused... different name for different thing.. She was trying to make sense of the terms used... so somehow for multiple births.. the terms aje just not really fixed.

When Mummy told some friends in the office, they said that they don't even know about the terms used for different number of multiple births. So, as far as Mummy is concerned, Iman is not that bad for a 4-year-old to know some of the terms and curious to know more. Here's the list of terms for multiple births for Iman to refer to later :

Terms used for the order of multiple births are largely derived from the Latin names for numbers. Two offspring (twins) is the most common form, nine (nonuplets) or more being the rarest. (info taken from Wikipedia)

• Two offspring – twins
• Three offspring – triplets
• Four offspring – quadruplets
• Five offspring – quintuplets
• Six offspring – sextuplets
• Seven offspring – septuplets
• Eight offspring – octuplets
• Nine offspring – nonuplets
• Ten offspring – decaplets
• Eleven offspring – undecaplets
• Twelve offspring – duodecaplets
• Thirteen offspring – tredecaplets
• Fourteen offspring – quattrodecaplets
• Fifteen offspring – quindecaplets
• Sixteen offspring – sexdecuplets
• Seventeen offspring – septdecuplets
• Eighteen offspring – octdecuplets
• Nineteen offspring – nondecuplets
• Twenty offspring – icosuplets

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sextuplet

My 1st born

Got this from Facebook and thot I should have it here in this journal so that Iman can read about how she was born and things about her birth.

My 1st Born

Here you go moms - a different kind of survey for a change - it's all about your first born! Just copy and paste it in a new note for yourself!

Let's see how much you remember!

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? It was properly planned!

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Definitely 

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Shocked, disbelief that it can happen so soon

4. HOW OLD WERE YOU? - 39!

5. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Missed my period, of course!

6.WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? My husband... followed by my closest friends, Rose and Ikma.

7. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Yes! And I have always hoped for a girl.. to be my best friend!

8. DUE DATE? 20th Feb 2005

9. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? 27th Dec 2004, by C-Section! The day after Tsunami... 2 month early coz my blood pressure was too high.

10. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 2.4 kg - a tiny bundle of joy!

11. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? No morning sickness at all. It was great! 

12. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Vegetables! I ate 3 dishes of vege with my rice and lauk.

13. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? The high blood pressure that started when I was in my 4th month.

14. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? A girl.

15. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? No.

16. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? Not more than 14kg. I looked like I put on weight rather than pregnant.

17. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? No such thing.

18. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? Not practiced in our culture.

19. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? Only high blood pressure.

20. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Pusat Perubatan Naluri, Wangsa Maju.

21. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOUR? No labour pain at all. Only half hour of C-Section.

22. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? My recovering from Dengue husband.

23. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Dr. Zana (my Gynae), an Anesthetist and a nurse. My hubby was still too groggy after his Dengue to be there.. Didn't want to handle him fainting while I'm stuck on the Operating bed.

24. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Epidural C-Section and I was awake and aware of everything Dr. Zana did!

25. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Epidural. 

26. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Iman binti Izani - a very short name.

27. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? Iman just turned 4 and already in 5-year-old Kindy at Young Ambassador, Taman Setiawangsa.

Sleeping at 9 pm!

During the training session at Young Ambassadors on 31 Jan 2009, Puan Yasmin, the principal, have highlighted to the parents that it is very important that the kids are in bed no later than 9 pm. Mummy was quite shock to hear that and thinking that it would be impossible to do that with Iman.

According to Puan Yasmin, who have a degree in Child Development as well as a degree in Psychology, getting the child to sleep by 9 pm is so important to ensure that he/she will not miss any of the brainwaves that are responsible to enhance learning, creativity etc.

Having heard that, Mummy decided to do some research and found the information below with some of the interesting links. And having this information, Mummy is now changing Mummy's sleeping patterns to sleep by 9 pm too while accompanying Iman. And after having about 6 - 7 hours of sleep, Mummy can now get up by 4:30 or 5 am to start work. So, there goes all the TV programmes that Mummy used to watch to unwind after a long day at work... That's the kind of sacrifice Mummy is willing to do for the benefit of Iman.

Here's the write up about Brain waves that Mummy gathered from the Internet:

Twenty-four hours a day, nerve cells in your brain are generating electrical impulses that fluctuate rhythmically in distinct patterns called brain wave patterns—patterns closely correlated with your thoughts, your emotions, your state of being, and the functioning of the various systems of your body.  

There are four categories of brain wave patterns. The most rapid is called a beta brain wave pattern, the pattern of normal waking consciousness. Beta is associated with concentration, arousal, alertness, and cognition.  At its highest, most rapid levels, though, beta is associated with anxiety, disharmony, and disease. Perhaps the ability to slow yourself down from those levels might be beneficial?

As you become more relaxed, your brain wave activity slows into what is called an alpha brain wave pattern. Alpha patterns vary from deep alpha, a state of deep relaxation often referred to as the twilight state between sleep and waking, to the higher end of alpha which is a more focused yet still very relaxed state.  Alpha is often associated with what is known as "superlearning"—the ability to learn, process, store & recall large amounts of information quickly & efficiently.

Slower still are theta waves. Theta is best known as the brain wave state of dreaming sleep, but it is also associated with a number of other beneficial states, including increased creativity, some kinds of super-learning, increased memory abilities, and what are called integrative experiences (in which we make broadly-based positive changes in the way we see ourselves, others, or a certain life situation). 

"Ah-ha!" experiences, where you suddenly "get it," have an insight, or a great idea suddenly comes to you, are accompanied by bursts of theta waves in your brain.   You can probably see why putting yourself in this state might increase your effectiveness!

Here's another exciting characteristic of the theta state: Dr. Thomas Budzynski, a noted researcher in this field, has said that critical and often self-sabotaging filters of the left brain are bypassed in a theta state, and that in terms of making positive changes in beliefs or habit patterns, "a lot of work gets done very quickly."  And best of all, theta is also a state of tremendous stress relief. In the slower theta brain wave pattern, the brain makes lots of relaxing endorphins that really do—as you will see (or rather, feel) when you try it for yourself—melt your stress away.

The slowest brain wave pattern is delta, the brain wave pattern of dreamless sleep. Generally people are asleep in delta, but there is evidence that it is possible to remain alert in this state—a very deep, trance-like, non-physical state you'll have to experience to appreciate.  In certain delta frequencies the brain releases many highly beneficial substances, including human growth hormone, which we ordinarily make in decreasing quantities as we get older, resulting in many aging symptoms including loss of muscle tone, increased weight gain, loss of stamina, and many diseases associated with aging.

The biophysics underlying the body’s biochemistry plays a significant role in regulating all of life’s processes. Doctors are taught that there are about 75 trillion cells in a human body, each having an electrical potential across its cell membrane, similar to a battery. These Brainwave Therapies work by moving electrons through the body and brain at a variety of frequencies as appropriate, reminding the body of the healthy pattern. This normalizes the electrical activity of the nervous system and brain.

Experts recommend that children in pre-school sleep between 11-13 hours a night, and school-aged children between 10-11 hours of sleep a night.

Your child should follow these steps to get a good night's sleep:

• Follow a consistent bedtime routine.
• Establish a relaxing setting at bedtime.
• Get a full night's sleep every night.
• Avoid foods or drinks that contain caffeine, as well as any medicine that has a stimulant, prior to bedtime.
• Do not go to bed hungry, but don't eat a big meal before bedtime either.
• The bedroom should be quiet, dark and a little bit cool.
• Get up at the same time every morning.

More reading materials about sleep:

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brain_basics/understanding_sleep.htm

http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site829/printerfriendlypageS829P0.html

http://4mind4life.com/blog/2008/07/28/benefits-of-alpha-brain-waves-and-theta-brain-waves/

http://cheqna-in-school.blogspot.com/2009/02/sunnahs-of-sleepingawakening.html

Doa Recital Before Sleeping

Iman's SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) before she sleeps is to recite doa. And she has to recite 5 doas otherwise it is considered not complete and she can't fall asleep.

The doas she has to recite:

1. Doa for Parents
2. Surah Al-Ikhlas
3. Surah Al-Falak
4. Surah An-Nas
5. Surah Al-Fatihah

All these are picked up from her schooling.  Mummy just need to re-enforce it at home. Alhamdulillah that we found the right school for Iman.

Dua for Parents Rabbighfir lii wali-waalidayya walilmum-iniina yauma yaquumul hisaab, Rabbirhamhumaa kamaa rabbayaani shag-hiiraa O Lord, forgive me, my parents and Muslims in the Hereafter. O Lord, show mercy on them as they have nourished me when I was young. al-Fâtiha - The Opening   1.  In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.  2.  Praise be to God, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the world;  3.  Most Gracious, Most Merciful;  4.  Master of the Day of Judgment.  5.  Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek.  6.  Show us the straight way,  7.  The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace,       those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray.                                      -  translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali al-Ikhlâs  - The Purity   In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful  Say: He is Allah, the One and Only!     Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;    He begetteth not nor is He begotten.  And there is none like unto Him.                                                              -  translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali Surah Al Falak English Translation Surah 113 - Al Falaq  THE DAYBREAK  113.001 Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the Dawn  113.002 From the mischief of created things;  113.003 From the mischief of Darkness as it overspreads;  113.004 From the mischief of those who practise secret arts;  113.005 And from the mischief of the envious one as he practises envy. The Tafsir of Al-Mu'awwidhatayn Tafsir of Surah An-Nas (Mankind) Revealed in Medina In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 1. Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of An-Nas. 2. The King of An-Nas. 3. The God of An-Nas. 4. From the evil of the whisperer who withdraws. 5. Who whispers in the breasts of An-Nas. 6. Of Jinn and An-Nas.