Teaching your baby : baby learn the quran!

I love to sing. Fortunately, I am fully aware that I have no talent whatsoever to speak of. So when I became pregnant with Maryam, I knew that's my ready audience right there!

I started singing to her in the early days. Incy wincy spider, 25 rasul, the salawat, ol tok dolah has a farm, twinkle2, one two buckle my shoe.and the list go on and on. there was no stopping the karaoke song list!

We also got her lots of soft books and baby books with hard pages.

But we did neglect to teach her the quran. it was my elder sister, who is my other guru *and also maryam's ibu susuan, love!* aside from my mom, who introduced me to Islamic Parenting Network! and how they start teaching children to read the quran at a very young age.

As you know, I teach Maryam to swim on my own to avoid the expensive swimming classes fees *cheaaaapppp* but i truly decided to teach her the Quran because I want her to learn the basic of reading Arabic, and tajweed from me, myself!I have been observing that most parents find it a must to send their child to learn the Quran from a teacher at around 6 to 7 years because they feel they cant teach the kids themselves.
I say different. We started having a tajweed class organized at work once a week this year and the primary reason we decided to do so is so that we can teach our own children. The ustazah is one of our officers who is certified by the Johor Islamic Council to teach. We couldnt be more proud! Allah has made the path so easy for us. A certified tajweed teacher among us. Masha Allah!

I bought the package for 12-18 year old children from here. The package consist of many items but the one i like best is the flashcards! Maryam loves it to.
Islamic Parenting Network says that its best to start teaching at the age of 10 months. We startes Maryam at 12. I feel its okay. Now that you know, of course its best to start em young but if you just find out, start now no matter what age your child is.

Another helpful teaching material *although not necessarily the best, i think* are the learning hijaiyah alphabet youtube videos. Maryam loves them, albeit overly much. She would say " Ba ta sa, ba ta sa! apet!which really means iPad.sigh "
I'd say try to recite the alphabet to the baby yourself, and use the youtube videos when the situation really calls for it! Here's to hoping our children wont become apet iPad addicts T______T

The thing about babies is there is so much things to teach them and they wont get confused or burdened or stressed out. unlike us, old people hahahaha
But of course mengajarlah dengan fun, lembut and penuh kasih sayang. Let them move at their own pace. Learning should be fun and a lifelong process!

To me the idea of early education is not to push them babies incessantly, acting like crazy, anal parents.

Its about assisting your child to learn as much as they are capable of, achieve their most potentil, instead of wasting their time on their backs, staring at the ceiling.

we can do it moms!insyaAllah!

Swimming baby!

I love the swimming pool, and the ocean, and air terjun, and river and waterpark. Water places! Except I do not like showering. ehem..heheh
I always knew that I want Maryam to enjoy the water as much as DH and I do.
We call ourselves water buffs, only, truth be told, we can only swim to save our life.
Cant even save the person next to us. Tsk.
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So when Maryam turned 9 months old, I decided its time for her to hit the water!
I was googling this neck float I saw at a mother's blog, thinking of getting one for Maryam.9
As I was looking around, I came across on pages about teaching your baby to swim.
One says by the time babies turn 10 months old, they will develop natural fear of water. This is when they started kicking and splashing went they get into the pool.
Boy did I panicked! Told the husband we MUST take the little miss to the public pool right this weekend!
Now I bought Maryam's swimming suit when I was about 6 months pregnant. I wanted THAT much for her to enjoy the water! hahahha.It was on sale, Speedo for RM10!Steallllll!
And I learnt that float, neck float and such is not an option because it provide false security for the baby. So, strike that one off.
Next I looked for swimming diaper but found the only kind I could get my hands on asap is the disposble one. So we went and bought the Huggies swimming diaper at carrefour.
Although we are still looking for a good swim diaper online, since her disposable ones are running out. But at steal prices of course *cheapskatemom*. hey to my defense, swim wear are darn expensive, adult or baby!
I was really confident I would teach my baby to swim myself. Hey they say parents are natural teachers dont they? and teaching her means I would spend a lot of time with her. And I would save a lot on swimming lesson fees *cheapskatemom* ok to be honest, the save up on fee is the primary reason!
there you have it, I wanted the lesson free..hahahahahha
and beside Its hard to find lessons for baby. I doubt there's even one in JB.
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Well, you sure can tell this entry will be in parts!
As for now, for those who are interested to train their little fishes on their own, go to this site www.uswim.com
I followed their method, printed the tutorials and all.
I love uswim! Will be blogging more on swimming baby pretty soon, so stick around!

Angry parents, are we?

My wise wise mother once told me, for some, the relationship with the in laws could be as happy and as dandy as could be, until a grandchild is born..
well, the ultimate reason : difference in parenting method.
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years and years before we concieved, my husband and i has started discussing parenting method. well, mostly i broached the subject, he just go along with it.
I knew right away both of us are brought up in totally different environment.
Neither is better or worse, only different.
The first and most talked about subject is corporal punishment.
im not going to discuss that today.lets leave that to another time.
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whenever i came across a first time mother to be, i get really excited and try to share as much as i know. And i always ask, so, hows your preparation.
Just to share what i think should be part of preparing to receive a child is as such;
- basic needs, clothing etc etc
- hypnobirth - have you read on this? do you have plan to practise it?
- breastfeeding - are u going to, are u not going to, have u read enough on breastfeeding?
- babywearing - have u heard of it, have u researched its benefit?
- early education - have you look it up?which method are you going to use?have you prepared the materials to teach your baby?
- parenting parenting parenting!

observing the community i live in, i dont think people really put much thought into what kind of parents we are going to be once the baby pops.
I think this is most important for young parents (at this century, i consider parents aged below 27 to be young,but that's just me!)
Often, people are busy focusing on basic necessities, that when the baby pops, it feels like the task is done. But birth is really a beginning!
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Parents of today mostly works, leaving the baby at daycare or sitters. At the end of the long work day, they come to collect their children. The children are still energetic and pumped, while the poor tired parents just need a break after a long, hectic, office-politics-filled day!
My sister posted on her fb wall once, a qoute, and id like to qoute it back in my own words, without missing the jist of it,
"Children spend their day with stressed out teachers, only to come home to tired, angry parents, and we wonder why our youngsters are so screwed up"
okay, i tweaked the words a bit much hahahah but u get my drift, right.
I get comments from my father in law, or siblings in law on how soft i'm being with my girl, and if its up to them "dah lama dah kenaa.."
of course, i turn a deaf ear.
But the thing is, I have discussed with my husband way before we had the baby, on the kind of environment we want the baby to grow up in.
to me the mathematics are simple, angry parents=angry children=angry teens
my mom once told me how a step in parenting could affect your family for generations.
she said, if ur angry to your child, she wouldnt know any other way but to be angry with her child, and when your grandchild has children, she would also make an angry parent.
is this the kind of trait you hope to run in your family?
Im telling you, that woman is wiseeeeee...
I cringe everytime i see angry parents, for i pity the child.
And i do observe most of our people does not give enough respect to children.
talking to them like they are a nuisance, scream at them in public, up to the extend of slapping them in public.
I am not saying we let the child does anything she wants, and run wild!
But I am sure there are other more effective method aside from screaming and hitting!
we sure cant control the environment outside of home, of course.
My maryam speaks quite early. At around 12 months, she came home one day, saying, BUDUH.
It was as clear as day. She even used it correctly, when she's scolding her toys or things she couldnt reach. The first time we heard, our jaws dropped! But i tell my husband to give no reaction whatsoever, as if we dont know the word. Feel free to disagree, but she was only a year old.How much sense really, can we talk into a one year old toddler.
She still say it once in while, but we just ignore it. The best part when she said it in front of the grandparents..that was the funniest. the grandparents eyes were wide open, their jaws dropped. My Mil even said, "eh anak kau cakap tu.."
i just ask them to relax, and tell them the phase will pass.
True enough, we dont hear the word as much anymore. She has also started slapping people's wrist as punishment but we just advise her its not right to hit.
We cant stop our kids to parrot words and pick up what people around them are doing,
but what we can do is be at our best behavior around them. We all know parents are the best examples to their children.
so i suggest decide what kind of parents we plan to be before the kid arrives, so we a prepared.
Preach!

First Ramadhan with a toddler!

welcome Ramadhan!The holiest month for muslim all over the world. i have been very nervous of how fasting month is going to be this year. Last year's Ramadhan, dear daughter was only 3 mo. Not much hassle i remembered. but this year she's a "you cant put me down woman!!" 14 months old toddler. For sahur this morning she decided to wake up the same time i did. 3 am! Tried to put her back to sleep but when she started getting up, stood in the middle of the bed and started singing, i know its a lost battle. Well now, the father wouldnt wake up (dont get me started on him!). so had to take the toddler into the kitchen. She refuse to be put down and the trusted boba carrier was in the car (must remember to keep in the house throughout Ramadhan), so i had to cook (from scratch mind you) with one hand while another holding her. Broke an egg on the floor, and managed to whip up rice, a chicken dish, omelette, a mushroom dish. In 45 minutes. Im tough, im telling you. had my sahur, fed toddler at same time, changed her, only then she went back to sleep. tiring tiring dawn! Didnt even managed to recite the quran n actually scolded little girl a few times. sigh.kept my cool all the while only to lost it on the first day of Ramadhan. the month when you are required to be more patient n improve oneself. Ironic.Lets hope things go smoother tomorrow. As for now, im telling ramadhan with a toddler is indeed an adventure. gonna need all the help i could get!