I recently wrote an article for Aaila magazine about gender prejudice amongst parents: I grew up in a loving home, but one that did not escape the South-Asian cultural preference for boys. As one of four sisters to a lone brother, this did none of us any favours. People would commiserate with my mother for […]
I finally got some cards finished. I wanted to make a larger number for someone and one way of doing this was to use coloured cardstock to save me creating backgrounds.
As the days get longer, colder and darker, I find that I have to re-frame my attitude towards the dark and the cold.I used to hate summer because I could not stand the heat. I used the spend the whole summer holiday cooped up in my room reading and mostly refuse to go anywhere apart […]
I recently bought this chain of glass crystal beads (details here) and wanted to make something for the little girls in our family with it. The beads have an AB (Aurora Borealis) finish which gives them the sparkly, rainbows that catches the light so beautifully. I took the necklace apart, setting aside the smaller thinner […]
With the vote on whether or not we should remain in Europe taking place last week, the campaign for both leave and remain had been going full swing. Everyone at work was discussing it with most people not sure which way to vote. Everyone at home was discussing it, with my children being very vocal […]
To me henna is celebration itself and Eid feels incomplete without it. Three of the guests at our Eid party could apply henna, so we asked them nicely and they found themselves spending most of the evening decorating the hands of the rest of our guests. I mentioned earlier that my sister had afound a […]
One of the biggest challenges in my life has been my lack of patience. It is something I have worked hard to improve in myself over the last decade so that I can become a kinder and gentler wife and mother and to please Allah (SWT) who says: “And be patient. Surely, Allah is with […]
It’s coming up to that time of year again – gifts, parties and traditions for some and dilemmas for others: Christmas. Every year, Christmas for me brings a set of challenges – do I capitulate and join in or do I hold my ground. This first came up when Little Lady came home with a […]
As I looked out from the rooftop of my grandfather’s house, I could see that others from surrounding houses had also climbed up onto their rooftops to watch. We all looked down to the main road and the jeep with the five straight-backed old men sitting in the back facing each other. All dressed in […]
I have long adored henna and every now and again have ago at creating a pattern, Little Lady also loves the stuff and harasses me into drawing a new pattern on her hand as soon as the previous one has worn off. I loved the idea of being able to do this well, but don’t […]
I heard an interesting story from my husband (who knows I am a sucker for a good story), who in turn heard the story during a Ramadan talk at his masjid. It involved one of the imam’s hifz (Quran memorization) student’s who spent months and months learning and still had not memorized one chapter. Eventually […]
Little Lady is not very well at the moment, but that has not stopped us from taking very short trips out to buy her shoes and bangles to go with the lovely Eid outfit her grandmother brought her from Pakistan. A nice little ritual that the two of us share in the run-up to every […]
This weekend and this morning have been a lesson for me. I realise I have not been my Happy Mama self for a long time. I spent the whole weekend moping, feeling tired and sad and getting cross with people. I spent most of Saturday evening working myself into a tantrum, aiming it at my […]
I heard an interesting story from my husband (who knows I am a sucker for a good story), who in turn heard the story during a Ramadan talk at his masjid. It involved one of the imam’s hifz (Quran memorization) student’s who spent months and months learning and still had not memorized one chapter. Eventually […]
