Mommy's Next Step

Early in this September, my sons, Mr. Inventor and The Professor went on a hajj teaching ritual class. It is an annual class conducted by the regional teaching department. There were more than one thousand students from15 different elementary schools. It took place at the local square.

This year is special for us because male students had to wear ihram, a clothing of male hajj pilgrims. I was imagining it would be great as kids would learn almost the real hajj would like. The last year class didn't obligate male students to wear ihram, just white clothing.

Surprisingly, Mr. Inventor refused to attend the class.

"I will not go," he said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"I just don't want to."

Okay...it became a problem for me. I needed to find out what caused him not to. Mr. Inventor is 9-year-old now, so I think it is common for such a boy to feel uncomfortable about something new. Perhaps he wanted to look good with the ihram.

I persuaded him to go. I told …

Those words came out of my 9 yo son, "Mommy, I wanna be a YouTuber and earn a lot of money."

Well, I'm not surprised to hear that. As a blogger, I am also a YouTuber. I produce videos for supporting my blog posts. Not all blog posts, only some of them. And during the process, my sons used to watch me.

Not only that, I sometimes ask them to be the talents. They love doing that and so do I.

Mr. Inventor loves to watch videos about the computer on YouTube. After watching we usually tell me about the ideas he got from there.

"I am going to make a portable computer for you, Mom."

All I can say is thank you and suggest him to be careful with the budget.

Deep in my heart, I don't really like him to be a Youtuber. I wish him better. But, I realize I may not break his dreams. His future may be different from mine, so I decided to accept all his passions.

In his younger year, he was a robot freak. He had a dream to build a multitasking robot to help me at home. He …

Halo, assalamu alaikum.

Lombok Earthquake this August has really broken my heart. 7.0 Richter Scale. Innalillaahi wa inna ilayhi roojiuun.

I feel them.

I was, by Allah's will, one of survivors of Jogja Earthquake back in 2006. It's been 12 years, but, the feeling remains the same.

I guess I can never forget it.

It was almost 6 a.m. I was having a lazy morning on my bed. My mom and dad were having their morning tea. We used to enjoy some tea, waiting for the morning newspaper to come and discussing anything.

All of a sudden, the house was shaking. My bed was, too. I ran out of the room and rushed to the side door. My dad was with me. The door was also shaking. It was hard for my daddy to open. The cupboard beside me was dancing. The sound of the cups and bowls and plates were frightening me. I was worried they might fall on to me.

Once my dad succeded in opening the door, we rushed out of the house. I didn't notice my mom and my brother. All I knew was they were running to…

It's August now! Independence Day is coming. Alhamdulillah, my beloved Indonesia will be 73 this August 17.

Our place of living is busy beautifying the neighbourhood. We hang some DIY lanterns and firefly lamps. We also fly our Red-and-White flags.

In kampongs there are several sports tournaments such as volley ball and ping-pong. There are some events and contests to glorify the day.


August also means dry season here. No rain, the air is windy and chilly. We are used to it, but, this year is masha Allah windier and chillier than ever!

Many people are complaining about the weather. We don't usually meet the 17°C, but, it was reported that cold. I myself feel uncomfortable when the temperature touches 20°C. Oh, ya Allah. My skin gets dry and tight.

Good News From Windy And Chilly August
One of my neighbour who had lived in Taiwan said that the weather is just like what she saw there during winter.

Then it's winter in wrong place, I guess 😅😅.

It's also windy here. Som…

Ten years of togetherness. Yes, this date 10 years ago was my wedding date. I was 31 at the moment and my husband was 32. Ten years after that, alhamdulillah we are still together.

Ten years, is not a short time, yet not a long time in life. When I was 10, I was able to do many things. For my 10th wedding anniversary? I guess we've been through many, many ups and downs.

The toughest part in marriage actually is how to cope with your partner. I believe that. The first week of marriage is the sweetest time of your life. Many surprises come to you as you are a new Mrs/Mr.

After that you will have to adapt to your real life again. Back to work or move to your partner's place, say goodbye to your hometown (I feel you), etc. In short, life of marriage begins right after week 2.

Weeks after weeks, months after months then years after years. Oh, God, I thank You so much for this wonderful journey called marriage. I become a new person as there are boys who call me mama. Our 1st anniv…

On that fajr time, my first and second son opened the door to go to masjid for fajr salah. Suddenly my one-year-old son cried. He wanted to go with his brothers. I refused his wish, worrying he might be bothering other people by his cries or screams. But, my husband suggested me to bring him. So I walked to masjid with my son in my arms.

I entered the masjid, standing behind some ladies doing their qabliyah fajr salah, waiting for the iqamah. I chose the second row which was the last row of the ladies' area. I still held my son in my arms and he seemed to enjoy the moment.

The salah began. I was lucky there was only a lady at the left meaning that I wasn't in the middle of the row. I was afraid that my son would cry or something because he often did that everytime I do salah at home. I don't know why he behaves like that. Is this mukena (salah cloth) frightenes him? Or is it my flat expression during salah makes him scary?


At masjid I did the takbiratul ihram with one han…

During Ramadan kids really need to have some quiet activities. Rather than going outside, I prefer them to stay inside and do less physical activity. My almost 8 and 9 yo sons are still strugglung to conquer themselves. On the first days they still complained about how thirsty they had been. That is why they need activities that consume less energy.

Yesterday, after school, my second son did a good activity with his friend. They took scissors, paper and glue. What did they do with those materials? They made pocket calendars!

It is easy to make and can improve skills of cutting, counting, hand writing and color picking and memorizing. It also helps kids to work together. At the end, the pocket calendar is somewhat kids can be proud of. By doing this activity kids can learn to count how many rows and columns needed in each month and how to draw them in such limited space. Not only that, kids also learn to differentiate which month is which, 30 or 31 days.

Here is what kids need to mak…