This is my fruit-tree collection. I have been sticking fruit stones into pots on my window-sill not really thinking they would grow. So far I have an avocado plant and a lychee which is very pretty. My pride and joy though is my little ajwa plant. Ajwa is a very special kind of date and […]

We wanted to take the kids out for a day during the autumn half term holidays.  One of the problems we are starting to face, is finding somewhere new that everyone can agree on.  The kids want theme parks, or at the very least “no more castles and old houses”, I hate theme parks and […]

My maternity leave started officially yesterday, although I have been on leave for the last two weeks.   I have been trying to keep myself occupied so that I don’t go crazy.  Thankfully nesting has hit like crazy and I have been dragging out furniture and cleaning corners that I previously pretended didn’t exist and rearranging every cupboard […]

Our social lives seem to revolve around food at the moment, especially with Mum- and Dad-in-law going to Pakistan this week.  We’ve had numerous dinner invites from friends and family to say goodbye, five in the last two weeks and the odd occasion where we have invited people to dinner. In itself this is rather lovely. […]

Alhamdulillah, I have had an eventful and challenging two weeks or so: My brother-in-law travelled to Pakistan to get married, meaning that for the first time in four or five years it is just me, hubby and kids in the house – not for more than a few days of course… • My dad travelled […]

You might remember not that long ago we welcomed our fourth child, Darling as Little Lady calls her, into the world.  Well I’m slightly amazed that Darling is six months already.  Mash’Allah this little one has given me six of the happiest months in my life.  She has been an easy going, happy little sweetheart […]

I have been a bit slow the last few days.  Struggling to get up, slow to get anything done.  I’ve been feeling demotivated and letting the late cold snap and an ongoing cold get to me.  So when I woke up yesterday I had a long list of things to do all going round in my head […]

I have been meaning to catch up with blogging and my blogging and blog-reading sisters for ages. After three months of feeling exhausted and so nauseous, I have been spending most of my time lying down, last Monday I woke up feeling…normal.I was both amazed and extremely grateful. I remember when I suffered nausea with […]

The latest edition of Aaila, the Muslim Family Magazine is out now. Mash’Allah as always brothers and sisters have submitted some brilliant articles and columns; Our cover story is Sex and Relationships education (SRE): Do you know what your child is being taught in school? by Safura Houghton – something that is definitely an issue […]

I managed to sneak in some time today between grocery shopping, freezing kebabs and marinating chicken legs to make some Eid banners/bunting. The hardest bit is always getting the triangles for the banners right.  It took me a few attempts and lots of wrong pencil lines to figure it out. Little Lady helped to choose colours and […]

The latest edition of InCultureParent is out and includes my column “Islam and Child Discipline: Is Hitting Ever Ok?”: “I believe that, to an extent, we are a product of our own parent’s parenting. The way we respond to the world, our emotional reactions and our temperament, are influenced by our upbringing. I love my […]

I lost it today.I really, really lost it. BIG time. So much for “peaceful parenting” and articles in the NY Times on the topic – I feel like a bit of a hypocrite at the moment. Boy did I lose it today. image source After a stressful week at work with longer hours, lack of […]

After staying away from the internet for most of Ramadan and then having the computer crash after Eid, I have not been able to blog or reply to e-mails. Today my brother-in-law brought home a rather nice laptop which is now mine and which I hopefully will manage to keep away from the kids long […]

I promised the kids I would take them to the teddy bears picnic, only to find that on the day it was 32 degrees, way too hot to go and sit in the park. So after some thought, I ordered them all to take a nap, they were a bit annoyed, but once they realised […]