I wrote quite some time ago about planning for our half term and end of term breaks in a way that makes the most of our time off of school or work but also includes the children in the process.  The example below was where I let the kids fill the activities out in the […]

I have had some hard and very heartfelt conversations with my husband in recent times, about trying to do the right thing, trying to raise your children in what seems to be the right way and still seeming to get it wrong. Like the following: We have never had a TV, for reasons explained here. […]

I know things are getting me down when I get through a whole pack of chocolate button and didn’t manage to enjoy one of them.  Instead I feel sick and the feeling of dread and anxiety hasn’t shifted all morning. You hear these sayings all the time, but you don’t really appreciate the grain of […]

Despite my best efforts at planning ahead and making lists, I find that a lot of our routines and timetables go out of the window during Ramadan. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing. I find that we fall into much more of an organic routine during Ramadan, based on the timings of our […]

I remember being a teen and sometimes getting unwanted attention, probably at a younger age than was appropriate.  I remember being a teen and being aware of my many perceived flaws alongside a cocky arrogance about my youth and how skinny I was.  Despite these things, I would rather have been a teen then than […]

It’s now nearly a month since my uncle in Pakistan went missing and we are still mortified as to what might be happening to him.Two weeks after he disappeared, the kidnappers called my family and asked for 15 million rupees (that’s 1 ½ crore in Pakistan or £150,000). Everyone went into a panic trying to […]

It’s now nearly a month since my uncle in Pakistan went missing and we are still mortified as to what might be happening to him.Two weeks after he disappeared, the kidnappers called my family and asked for 15 million rupees (that’s 1 ½ crore in Pakistan or £150,000). Everyone went into a panic trying to […]

Despite my families grumbling I have tried to keep our iftars as simple as possible with the rule “no fried food” (this is followed by a filling meal after maghrib salah). It’s not easy to get away from samosa’s to open your fast, as my neighbours’ teens said when she tried to ban them: “If […]

Despite my families grumbling I have tried to keep our iftars as simple as possible with the rule “no fried food” (this is followed by a filling meal after maghrib salah). It’s not easy to get away from samosa’s to open your fast, as my neighbours’ teens said when she tried to ban them: “If […]

Despite my families grumbling I have tried to keep our iftars as simple as possible with the rule “no fried food” (this is followed by a filling meal after maghrib salah). It’s not easy to get away from samosa’s to open your fast, as my neighbours’ teens said when she tried to ban them: “If […]

Despite my families grumbling I have tried to keep our iftars as simple as possible with the rule “no fried food” (this is followed by a filling meal after maghrib salah). It’s not easy to get away from samosa’s to open your fast, as my neighbours’ teens said when she tried to ban them: “If […]

Despite my families grumbling I have tried to keep our iftars as simple as possible with the rule “no fried food” (this is followed by a filling meal after maghrib salah). It’s not easy to get away from samosa’s to open your fast, as my neighbours’ teens said when she tried to ban them: “If […]

Despite my families grumbling I have tried to keep our iftars as simple as possible with the rule “no fried food” (this is followed by a filling meal after maghrib salah). It’s not easy to get away from samosa’s to open your fast, as my neighbours’ teens said when she tried to ban them: “If […]

Despite my families grumbling I have tried to keep our iftars as simple as possible with the rule “no fried food” (this is followed by a filling meal after maghrib salah). It’s not easy to get away from samosa’s to open your fast, as my neighbours’ teens said when she tried to ban them: “If […]