Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Preparation

This trip is much as for me as well as it is for the kids. I have got them involve in this experience from the start of my decision so to speak. I told them stories now and then about Makkah, madinah, Kaabah and the likes so that they would develop the love to this place. Masya Allah, they are excited to go. Their excitement is very motivating.

Zachary would say, today is Tuesday, tomorrow is Wednesday and Thursday is UMRAH time!!

Sya is not feeling well today. She has eye infection and also feverish. She is not happy about it. She is worried that she won't be well for the trip. I kept cheering her up today.

Here comes the Sya.
Here comes the Sya,
and I say it's alright.

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sya, here comes the sya
and I say it's all right

Tee he he

Suffice to say, our discussion for the past week is mostly on this trip.

Also to get the engine throttling, for the past two weeks, we had a good sitting down discussing the Umrah rites. OKlah more like me lecturing. We went through the rites, interjecting with stories and naseehah.

But I think the most fun part was when we made simulation of the umrah rite. Haziq trying to handle the ihram garment and doing the pretend tawaf and sa'ee. The whole work! They are motivated alright. Of course because the simulation only require a few steps for tawaf and a few steps from saee and marwa. I pray that Allah will make it easy for all of us.

I prepared a simple umrah guideline for the children to read. I have given this to the faths for their children. i hope it will be beneficial. Take a look at THE CHILDREN GOING FOR UMRAH.

For this trip, I prepared some quizzes to fill up the children's time. Some easy questions. Just so we can discuss more after that, Insya Allah. I hope the question can be expanded into examplary actions in their (my) everyday life.

At the moment I only have 50 questions. Will try to crack my brain for more. Tapi hmm rasa nak demam lah now. Tengoklah.

Wanna try some of the questions?

The food tastes bad. What should we say?
a. Ewwwww
b. Mama! Why you cook this food???
c. Cry
d. Keep quiet and leave it.

What was Allah’s promise to Abu Lahab?
a. Wealth
b. Health
c. Hell fire
d. Happiness

Which Surah is equal to the third of the Quran
a. Surah Al Baqarah
b. Suratul Mulk
c. Suratul Fatihah
d. Suratul Ikhlas

Simple kan?

See if you can answer like this child in the video below. May Allah bless her parents. Jazakillah to Diana for sending this to me. She is too cute, Masya Allah.



Then I gave each child a goody bag containing a drawing block, pencil colours, magic pen, stationery, the guideline book, cards containing the supplication so that they can memorise it. Oh yes. remind me to print a Saudi map for all the kids. I have a fascination for geography and I like taking opportunity when I travel to point out places for them.

Now, I am thinking of things for jack. Other than colouring. Bosan wei. Any ideas?

Other than that, I am listing ubats and stuff for all of us. I am gathering all the lectures in mp3. And the normal stuff that you take when you travel.

Oh I need to brush up on histories. You know how much I love history kan? Mak oi sempat ke ni? The possible story to look back are Battle of Badr, Battle of Uhud, Conquest of Makkah, Abdul Mutallib found Zam zam, Asmaa bint Abu Bakar and her underground work for Islam, the first revelation. All in terrible order apparently. It shows what is in my head. Tapi sebenarnya most likely is over ambitious aje ni. Ahhh i know, I bring the booklah apa susah. tee he he.

These activities are just fillers with the children. In between other more pressing-in need activities, Insya Allah.

I pray that the children will benefit their time in this trip. I pray that this experience will help them develop their love to their Lord, their Prophet and their Deen.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm thrilled! and excited for you and the kids and the whole family and the trip! alhamdulillah syukur you are fortunate to perform your umrah together.

i like the preparation. Can i be your daughter too?

Safe journey Lolls. Insya Allah, dipermudahkan urusan, dikurniakan kesihatan dan diberkati Allah.

butterflutter said...

I never regrets joining the blogging world for this reason. Having friends that makes ones life richer dunia & akhirat. Emo sikit lah bila cakap pasal umrah & hajj. Suka semua preparation awak, rasa nak ikut sesangat.

As for Jack, activity like maze best jugak.

Lollies said...

rotidua - sure ke ko nak jadi my daughter? garang tau. Hah! Apa lagi duduk tu. pergi mop dapur! By the time i finish typing this commnet semuanya dah berkilat-kilat!

Thank you for your dua nina. love you.

bf - Me too! I found so many good friends. Alhamdullilah.

Maze!!!!! Whata good idea! Suddenly i am thinking of crosword puzzle and word search for the kids also. yayyy!! Thank you thank you!

famygirl said...

saya tumpang excited :) and thank you for sharing your plans with us. boleh buat panduan utk we all bila our time comes.

masdiana said...

BarakAllahu fik! MasyaAllah am so happy for you + family - may we (me + my family) return to His house again insyaAllah.
Last year masa bwk budak2 I brought jigsaw puzzles too to occupy their in-between time, besides the usual travelling pack. Ada byk kat Jarir / Rawnaq the likes. The Islamic games (hajj, solat etc) pack I pernah nampak kat Lulu - maybe suitable for Haziq + Sya. My kids kecik lagi. :-)
Eh esok gi class tak? Hopefully can meet you + salam2 + hugs2 seme. :-)

zan said...

bestnya2..boleh buat panduan..sungguh compact!! saya pun teruja jugak :)

hope sya will recover soon!

Lollies said...

famy - Insya Allah when the time comes for you, you pulak share so we all can learn from each other pulak. Ahh I love all my friends.

diana - Ahah!! Jigsaw puzzle. Asal makcik terlupa kat benda ni?? Tulah most of the activities cater are for sya and haziq's age. Now nak kena fikir for jack's age which is somewhere around your kids' age. Should have asked you, how you manage your other activities with the kids in tow. Eh I tanya esoklah. I still pergi Zahra. Rasa tak mau miss.

IKHWANI said...

MasyaAllah! anak siapalah ni? May Allah bless her parents indeed!!!!

this girl is not only cute but she is so eloquent! (betul ke my word ni? hehehe)

Your plan semuanya ilmiah and fun! baguslah, kalau I tak tahu nak plan camana for the kids..

mush said...

love the video :)

wishing you well on your journey. smoga selamat sampai insyaAllah :))

Ruby M. said...

salam,

Hmmm.. some ideas for kiddos :

*are they big enough for sudoku? ada sudoku for kids too kan?

*crossword puzzles - islamic ones if u wish, boleh buat sendiri kan - based on questions abt the trip perhaps?

*love nasheed in the car. family sing-a-longs .in my daughter's school they sang this :

(tune : She'll be coming round the mountain)
we'll be going round kaabah for the haj (2x)
we'll be going round the kaabah
going around the kaabah
going around the kaabah for the haj

(chorus same as ori song)

we will drink the zam2 water for the haj (2x)
we will drink the zam2 water
drink the zam2 water
drink the zam2 water for the haj

our favourite nasheed of all must be "Tala'al badrul Alayna"..its so beautiful..especially bila kat madinah..teringat masa our prophet saw was celebrated when he came in to that town once known as Yathrib.

may allah make it easy. ameen