And The Small Things In Between
Were you able to watch Monday’s Solar Eclipse? We had a cloudy overcast day here in our part of the UK, so we missed witnessing this magnificent event.
Still, I couldn’t help but feel it in my bones. This meeting of the Sun and Moon. Celestial bodies as old as Time. Unchanged since creation. Male and Female. Ying and Yang. Day and Night. The Ultimate symbol of duality. I LOVE this verse of the Quran, and was reminded of it :
Coincidentally, the eclipse also heralded the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah, the last month in the Islamic calendar.
The last ten nights of Ramadan, the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah – both times for the worshipper to ring in extra rewards and increase the currency of all good deeds. Except, being in the midst of packing for our flight back to Boston, I seem to have more earthly matters on my mind.
How has it been six weeks already since I posted these tips on flying with children?
The kids have Eid to look forward to when we get back, a very special Seventh birthday pretty much straight after, and of course back to school too! All three events within days of each other. I say the kids have these things to look forward to – because in all honestly – just thinking about the organization entailed for all of this is making me want to crawl back into bed while I still have my sisters around to babysit the children!
The pressure is always on, to conjure up a perfect Eid, make the best birthday memories, turn out the smartest kids at school, but when all this comes to overpower me, I will think of the Eclipse and the Sun and the Moon and the Balance. And I will think of my balance and I will be grateful and I will (in the words of one of my cool mama friends) not sweat the small stuff.
We’re really thankful for the opportunity to spend the summer with my parents and sisters. I’m going to take a few days off from the blog in anticipation of travelling back, and all that pre-school, pre-eid prep. Hopefully all the while retaining my balance. We will see you all again soon with Aiysha rejoining us as she emerges from the vortex that is the first couple of months of new-born babyness. (By the way I went to see her a couple of weeks ago, and it was so lovely).
In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out this awesome lesson plan for celebrating Eid-Ul-Adha with your child’s class.
And this Mama’s Du’a for all the babes off to school…
Also “On promising my children the Moon”
Image Credit; Paper Cut Mixed Media by Zarina Teli
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