Family break up….

and all because Monopoly.

The other day we were watching a programme on the top 50 toys of all times and monopoly came second. Naturally the girls started asking questions about it…what was it?!!! Had I ever played it?!!!! Well and one thing led to another and before you know it we were all in the shops looking for one and soon after back home around a table ….what else could a mother ask for? All her family round a table, all happy , all sharing….

How wrong could I be? That I am competitive I have no doubt but I’m quite ashamed to admit that when it comes to business (I know is only a game but still) there is no family…..say no more….

Poor dd12 could not take ‘shrewd mum’ , it soon got to her…dd10 didn’t know whether to laugh or cry….and dd15 found it very amusing which irritated dd12 even more…

The whole ‘episode’ made me think about what must be like out there in the real business world…scary…I also remembered what was mentioned on the telly about the origins of the game Monopoly …very interesting indeed…the quaker woman’s intention was to show the world how damaging world monopolys can be…lol…

So , dear readers, what do you suggest I do/play/watch with my family which won’t cause any breakups? Not easy  when all they ever want is to be left alone with their own electronic toys…oh and today we’ve welcomed the latest addition to the electronic family…dd12 has now got an ereader with wi fi and some other gadgets that I’m sure she will master before the end of the day….

And just to make myself feel a little bit better or little less bad…yesterday the two little ones baked a chocolate cake , mash’Allah 😉

Salaams and peace,

Ines

Time for….

the holidays before the holidays 🙂

I’ll explain….Dh and dd12 and dd10 are off to Algeria on Sunday just two days after I break up for the Christmas Holidays winter break. DD14 , practically 15, and I will not be travelling to Algeria till the Friday 24th, Insh’Allah. So, yeah you figured it out alright…that leaves me with 5 whole days of doing nothing after I drop dd14 to school in the mornings. Oh the possibilities 😉

First thing on our list, starting as soon as we leave them at the airport to fight their way through the Air Algerie staff and all the rest…You know what I mean, the bit when my dh and all other algerian males moan and shout about the excess weight charge….’how come brother? you want me to pay extra when I only have 20 kilos over the limit? Come on brother , it’s not fair…’  I’m cringing just thinking about it….Alhamdulilah I will not be there to witness it this time.

But I digress, the first thing we are going to do is go somewhere nice for lunch. I suggest wagamama , she wants yosushi. We’ll see who wins. I might let her have it her way cause what she does not know yet is that I’m gonna initiate and pursue the conversation she is trying very hard to avoid. We need to talk about BABY!!!! and the fact that it exist whether she wants to acknowledge it or not.  We also need to address the issue of her eating disorder and other bits that are starting to really get on the way of our relationship…..Wish me luck!!!  TEENAGERS!!!!

After that, if she is still talking to me I’ll treat her to some shopping for the trip she does not want to make to Algeria. TEENAGERS!!!!!   And to be honest do I want to take her to a place where their idea of vegetarian is to cook with meat and take it out at the last minute to put it to one side….Do I want to take her to a place where everybody wants to marry her off to every Musa, Ibrahim and Hamza that happens to visit us that week?  ………

Oh the stress of it all…..Algeria here I come with a self medicated strict ‘bed rest’ and lots and lots of nice food cooked by someone else…

Well now that I’ve read back it does not look like a holiday really….Well , at least I’ll have sofa days , little cooking days, catching up with friends days and evenings full of teenage blah blah….

Oh the stress of it all…I need cheering up, let me look for some nice pictures in the archive ….So, as promised , some pics of my garden last summer and other random bits.

Oh no….I’m at the wrong laptop….next time insh’Allah…

And 24 hours later and a switch of laptop later , here are the pics, random but pics ….

flowers in our garden

Home grown of course….the same as the courgettes and the peppers and the carrots and the….I’m now showing off but it’s my blog and I can…

organic of course...can't you tell, so unperfect unlike shopbought ones...

feeding wild horses in the 'New Forest' last summer....

Salaams and peace,

Ines

Time to …..

slow down. Big time slow down….not just ‘sofa days’ in the weekend kind of slowing down.

Have I told you that I’m pregnant with my fourth child? Mash’Allah. Have I mentioned that I’ll be 40 in June? Insh’ALLAH….

So yeah…Slowing down is a must. Like my honest friends keep telling me, I’m not a spring chicken any more and boy, do I feel it!!!!

Last Thursday I had a wake up call. I was doing my usual running around multitasking, trying to do who knows how many things at the same time as well as teaching a full class of 6 years old when my body sent me a signal. I felt a contraction like pain across my belly. Of course I thought nothing of it at the beginning but before long another sharp pain run across the whole of my belly and another one and another one. …

Before long I was timing ‘the contractions’ . The pain was getting unbearable and  had I been 38 weeks pregnant I would have driven myself home to pick up the hospital bag and off to hospital to deliver. However, I’m only 17 weeks pregnant and the pain felt more and more like labour pains. So time to go to hospital.

After being told off like a 100 times for not having attended any hospital appointments yet , they scanned me and alhamdulilah after initial internal checks they ruled out labour. As my uterus was not dilating they did not think that labour had started and the next step was a scan to see what else could be going on.

Alhamdulilah everything was ok with baby; right size, good heartbeat, well developed…. And the pains? , you may ask.Well the scan also showed that I was hemorrhaging internally around the sac. Apparently quite a normal condition which most of the time resolves itself providing mums get enough rest…. I was sent home the following  morning with painkillers and a strong recommendation of bed rest for at least 48 hours.

So , to cut a very long story short….I have decided that is time to look after number one, ME!!  :)… I can not begin to tell you how worried I was all night Thursday ….how I begged Allah to let me carry this baby full term and to allow me to deliver a healthy baby at the end of the pregnancy.

Steps have been taken to begin the process of slowing down…I have gone into work this morning and notified them of my intention of going part time as from this January , Insh’Allah. I will work three days a week and rest two plus weekends. Also, I will go on maternity leave earlier than initially planned. Insh’ALLAH they will get back to me before the end of the week.

Please sisters remember me and my family in your du’as. Jazakhallah.

Who said pregnancy at the age of 40 was easy….Alhamdulilah.

I’m pretty tempted to link up to one of those sites which tell you what a week 17 of pregnancy baby can do and cannot do….but I will leave it for another day LOL….

Salaams and peace,

Ines

For my home educating friends….

and for anyone else interested in education …

I’m going to look in amazon for this inspiring man’s books. I have read somewhere that they are very good.

So , what is your talent? Are you like me still looking for it?…..I sometimes think that I was born to teach, I honestly enjoy it a lot but every now and again the sheer responsibility of the job overwhelms me and it is not fun anymore. Maybe I am more of an educator….not so much a teacher of a structured curriculum….when I do my own thing in class we all seem to enjoy it more but the dreaded tests and assessments at the end of the term bring me back to reality and that is when I become ‘the teacher’….

This video has given me a lot of food for thought, that’s for sure….

Salaams and peace for now,

Ines

back again….part 2

Wow , almost a year….do not worry you haven’t missed much but still quite a lot has happened in our crazy household.

You know how keen on bullet points I’m so here we go….

in no particular order, just as they come to my hormonal little brain

• I’m pregnant
• I’m almost 40!!!!!
• My dd14 almost 15 hates me for being pregnant
• My garden was a success, now is dead though
• Teaching Yr1 , second year running
• I went home in the summer for two weeks
• I only fasted half the month of ramadan….13 days to make up!!!
• My baby is 10 and I’m pregnant again…..
• My dd12 is delighted with my pregnancy
• My dh, can’t mention the age, is also happy with my pregnancy
• I’m excited but very scared….can’t put it into words how scared but excited at the same time I am.

 

ALHAMDULILAH for everything we have gone through as a family…the good , the bad and the ugly.

I promise I will expand on some of the points above and even add some pics as a means to entertain you….

Salaams and peace for now,

Ines