nadia nasira's first ramadhan

we welcome yet another ramadhan... alhamdulillah. this ramadhan is very special to me....

nadia nasira and her brother had been reading the niah of fasting since the teachers at their school were mentally preparing the children to perform one of the fundamentals in Islam. they would talk about it as well so i thought i should ask her if she wanted to fast. she was really enthusiastic about it. i am sure she didn't know the challenges as well as the real experience of fasting.

since she was at it, i thougtht i might as well let her experience it. i wanted to take leave so that i could be with her but the first day of fasting fell on a saturday. she had a bottle of milk and a piece of wheat germ bread with cheese. we read the niah together, all three of us, mummy, daddy and nadia nasira.

in the morning, she went to her cambridge english for life class and by the time she returned, it was almost lunchtime. i let her watch tv upstairs while i fed the other children. it was nap time then... she did say she was hungry but i explained to her that she was fasting and it is quite normal. i told her to take her nap and by the time she wakes up, it would be evening which is time for her to break fast. i did cook extra lunch just in case she could not cope with hunger and thirst.

i thank God a million times for making it smooth for both of us. i prayed a lot the entire day for God to bless her and give her the patience and strength to fast. she is my eldest girl and so, doing it right with her is very important to me. i owe as much to her and God to perform my role as a mother.

by the time she woke up, she still had a few hours to go. i let her do kumon worksheets while i prepared food for iftar. she wanted to play outside and that was when she complained of thirst. she still had an hour to go. i told her that when nanni arrives, it will be time to break fast..i managed to distract her by telling her to take care of her lil brother in the toy room. her grandmother arrived to breakfast with us. soon after, she broke fast with us. it was such a moving moment for me. i adored her strength and praised the Lord for His Mercy.

she drank and drank the laici drink. she ate the tomato rice her grandmother cooked and had her vitamins. i ran to the store to get some isotonic drinks and gave her afterwards. i remembered my friend would give her children the drink to replenish what they might have lost being active. she prayed and imitated the way i read the Quran... thank God and she announced that she will fast the next day...

once her daddy returned from the mosque, they ate again. it was bedtime and by then, i was exhausted... i realised that the whole day i was nervous and anxious as well as tired since i was fasting and busy with the routines... it was time to sleep...AND once she fell asleep, i stuffed another bottle of milk in her mouth... so it was the case for the first three days...

this is my darling awaiting iftar on her first day of ramadhan....