Let's Play School!

Based on one of her favorite Barney episodes Manahil and I recreated Baby Bop's school, for pre-preschoolers. Just like Baby Bop we started by teaching our make-believe students the "Itsy-bitsy spider" with a toy spider, then we learnt the alphabet on Manahil's magnetic board, learnt about shapes and colors, read red riding hood aloud (the book contains audio and read itself since Manahil can't read) and for lunch everyone gorged on Baby Bop's favorite, mac and cheese! There was also the bonus gym class where everyone indulged in Baby Bop's favorite exercise, hopping. I think that was Manahil's favorite part by far. To top it all off, since Manahil has a pretty lame mom who can't help but learn kiddie movie songs by heart, we sang all the songs that come in the Barney episode!

To try this at home you will need:
- some poems to sing
- some books to read
- a make-shift chalk board (the magnetic board in our case)
- some shapes and colors to play with
- some home made mac and cheese
- a bunch of stuffed animal students
- one teacher baby
- at least one disgruntled and unwilling student baby (a.k.a Rayyan)

I think Manahil and I will play this again tomorrow!

The Moment All Mommies Wait For

The moment comes quite suddenly. One minute all you can hear is a chorus of wails and the next, you have two little angels asleep on your arms.

I feel a little shaky even as I write this. About half a minute ago all hell had broken loose in my tiny apartment. Manahil was overtired which meant that she neither wanted to sleep nor stay awake (no, I don't know how she was expecting to accomplish that either). Rayyan was extremely sleepy but had already fallen asleep and jerked awake several times so now he was ready to be disturbed at the slightest sound (and let me assure you, Manahil's wail goes way over and above a slight sound). So, there I was, in utter confusion, singing lullabies, playing good cop, playing bad cop, essentially trying everything under the sun to get Manahil to calm down long enough for Rayyan to fall asleep but fate had something worse in store.

As I struggled to feed Rayyan and get Manahil to lie down at the same time, Manahil stumbled and hit her head on the side of the bed! There was tons more wailing as I left Rayyan to his devices to cuddle my poor little baby. Three and half minutes later Rayyan was snoring soundly and so was Manahil.

How does it go from complete chaos to complete peace in the space of a few minutes? It baffles me. I guess it's a teensy reminder of armageddon; from our peaceful lives we'll be jerked into complete chaos. Ok, enough philosophizing. Mommies out there, I beseech you, please tell me this has happened to you before and help me overcome this massive guilt.

But anyway, let's end this on a happy note. We made a family trip to Jarir bookstore today and here is the haul!

-Cardboard books for manahil (so that Rayyan can't chew them up in her absence) especially red riding hood because Barney reads that one out loud
-canvas. Lots and lots of canvas. *big grin*
-gorgeous moist water paints courtesy of Fatima Hassan (you give the best presents ever!)
-chart paper and double sided sticky paper for my next activity with Manahil
-blue spray paint that I accidentally bought, thinking it was fixer *face palm* (never mind, I'll think of a way to use it)

Can't wait to get cracking!

The Impromptu Game of Dance-tag

Let me introduce everyone to: The Impromptu Game of Dance-Tag. This is the kind of game that comes in real handy when you are sleep-deprived, with two vaccinated babies on your hands (who cannot seem to forget that their thighs are sore) and artwork has been suspended indefinitely *big sigh*.

It involves turning on any random song, (in our case this was old mcdonald on Manahils counting train), then everyone can just pick up a freestyle dance and occasionally hold hands and go round in a circle till they're dizzy. And when the dance starts to get old or the song finishes you just chase each other up and down the house, climbing over beds and hiding behind doors till you're thoroughly exhausted with laughing and everyone has completely forgotten that an hour ago, they felt they were unable to move their legs.

To try this at home you will need:
-one repetitive song
-one baby to dance and scream "karo! Karo!" If you, god forbid, pause for breath
-one spectator baby to watch and be entertained

Have fun! 

The Mad Hatter's Tea Party

So today, Manahil hosted a tea party for all her friends. And did she love being the bossy host! Needless to say, Rayyan was not overjoyed. But, it kept them entertained for long enough for me to sneak off and get some top-secret work done.

Don't worry, if I'm successful I'll let ya'll know what I'm up to. Pray for me and wish me luck!!

PS: To hold a successful tea party you need:
- a teapot, teacups and some plastic treats
-a bunch of funny looking toys
-a makeshift home (like a playpen)
-1 bossy baby
And if you're very lucky,
-1 baby willing to be bossed.
Good luck!

An Activity a Day Keeps the Mommy Sane

Keeping an 18month old entertained is a tricky business. They're not old enough to completely entertain themselves and yet not young enough to be entertained by a bouncy ball or reptitive toy (both of which my 6 month old loves). So, if you ignore them they'll simply wail down the house till you give in and hand them your phone, equipped with youtube, and watch helplessly as they make phone calls to random strangers.

Not to mention the fact, they're at the in-between age where they can gobble up oodles of learning and yet are too little to be shipped off to a preschool for several hours. 

Faced with this reality, day after day, I was forced to think of things to do. And today, I realized that we mothers need a repertoire of activities to refer to on those days when we simply cant think of anything! So here we go: I am going to  share some of the things I found quite useful when dealing with my 18 month old. On top of that, Manahil and I are going to do an activity a day, to keep her busy during the daytime, and I'll share the details of that with you as well.

Generally to keep her busy in the mornings I encourage her to help me clean, feed her baby (random stuffed toy) while I feed Rayyan cerelac, give one of her stuffed toys a long (and I mean really long. Long enough to let me type this blogpost) bath with a nearly empty baby shampoo bottle, do some painting or coloring... And the list goes on. In the evenings I take her to the park or swimming to up her activity. But the hardest part is that chunk of the afternoon when it's too hot to go outside, and being inside the whole morning has pushed her to the limit. Hence, an activity a day. 

Today, manahil and I constructed a den. Constructing a den is simple: merely take two chairs facing outwards and drape a large blanky over them, ta-da! Then we filled it with some of her toys and books and wow, was she excited. Everytime I had to speak with her I would have to knock on the chair and then she would regally give me permission to enter. To be honest, I had quite a bit of fun too. We even ended up playing some hide and seek with the den! 

Stay tuned for the next activity!

The Truth

I feel tempted. I really do. I feel tempted to lie and say that there is no feeling of restlessness gnawing away at me, day after day. Because this is something that is hard for me to confess, even to myself: I am not content. Don't get me wrong; my life and people who surround me make me immensely happy and I would not want things any other way. It's just this feeling that, even when I am cradling a baby in one arm and spoon feeding another, I am simply not doing enough. My mind is perpetually racing. 

Why do I feel this way? 

A couple of days ago I had almost given up, consumed by ennui. If my 18 month old asked me to draw her something, I would simply shoo her away. I was almost on the brink of tears because I couldn't believe that this was all my life currently contained: juggling babies and hoping to get the chance to check facebook about once a day. Then I saw this: 

"Take benefit of five before five: [1] your youth before your old age, [2] your health before your sickness, [3] your wealth before your poverty, [4]your free-time before your preoccupation, and [5] your life before your death.” -Hadith

And in a flash, I realized what the problem was. I had wasted free time. And now, the value of the time I had wasted was whacking me in the face. When I was expecting my daughter I had just graduated from my bachelors, I lived with my in laws and essentially I had nothing to do all day. At that time, I told myself I deserved a break and thoroughly enjoyed a pampered pregnancy. It was like a summer vacation from all intellectual exercises! But I had forgotten that there always comes a time when you wish you could just go back to school. 

So what did I decide? After two days of crying over spilt milk (literally and figuratively!) I came to another realization. When you are young, time and energy abound. So right now, I could feed babies, cook, clean, do the groceries and the necessary socializing despite sleepless nights and I would still have the energy to pick up a paintbrush. I had a chance to make the most of my health and my youth and I could not waste another one of these precious things. 

So what will I do? I have a dream. And, I have an action plan. The dream, like all dreams, is vast and murky and utopic. The action plan is a more realistic route to achieving that dream. And this blog? This blog will be my motivation. Here  I will pen my journey. The depressing times and the blissful moments. The times when I feel on top of the world, in control, and the times I feel like giving up. The thankful times and the times I feel that every choice I ever made was a mistake. The everythings and the nothings. 

So as I embark on this almost-quest, I confess that a little support would be really welcome. If you would be at all interested in the meanderings of an accidental mommy follow me, and I will keep you updated. 

Peace.