Do you have a sense of humor?

Asalaam ‘Alaikum:

We just returned from running errands and I can’t tell you how having this small break in our routine made a nice difference. I was a bit stressed because (1) we woke up late (again) – I’ve been trying to make up last year’s fast so getting up early and going to bed late is doing me in! (2) it took longer than I had hoped to get through our lessons today (3) we had an unplanned break in our routine – hence, the errand.

My kids are really learning to appreciate listening to stories – not just reading them. I found an excellent copy online of the Winnie the Pooh stories that was just excellent and actually made me chuckle. I guess it’s the way the narrator read the story – because I never laughed when reading the book.

Another find on the internet is just wonderful – my kids love it and the kid I am (at heart) absolutely loves it. There is a great author – no, he has not written classics – but his stories touch upon the kids in all of us. If you read his stories (or hear them) you see that he really knows how to look at the world from the eyes of a child – and, he is hilarious! This is something I think we all really need to take a break and do sometime – there’s way too much stress these days.

Here is the website, where you can find out more about the author:

http://www.robertmunsch.com/

His name is Robert Munsch and we actually have several of his books. The library also has quite a selection of his books. Even more fun that his books (if that is possible) is hearing his stories. On his website he also has recordings of his book readings. They are available here:

http://www.robertmunsch.com/storytime.cfm

Some he has done with an audience and some he has done on his own. Most of them are wonderful and some are even touching. There are a few that might not be acceptable to each Muslim family – a few stories deal with Birthdays, Halloween, etc., but you can pretty much tell which ones they are from the titles. I have the stories saved on my computer and a while ago I burned them to cd. We listen to them in the car and the girls just love listening to them – it makes long car rides more bearable.

Anyway, after a stressful morning, we went on our errand. While driving we came upon one story that we had never heard before on the cd. It’s the one entitled “Mortimer” (check on his website). Needless to say all of us were joining in on the fun. After that, we have been recharged and ready to get into the business of “school.”

Why is this important? I usually have a good sense of humor although these days it is hard to tell. I feel the need to be serious all the time in order to get things done. My husband works full-time and is going to school as well. We hardly see him and we have no extended family. So, everything is my job – and my job doesn’t start at 8 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. Instead, I’m working with the girls all day and when they are sleeping – I am rushing around trying to get stuff done that I couldn’t do when they were awake. I’m not complaining – it’s life as I know it. However, it leaves me little (if no) time to myself. So, these days I’ve been trying harder to find at least a little time for me – time to relax and time to connect with Allah. I guess that’s why I really appreciate the fun moment we had this afternoon together – however short it may be – because for once I could yell at the top of my lungs with the girls and actually have fun. Just don’t tell anyone – I wouldn’t want a rumor to spread that I have too much time on my hands!

Insha’Allah – perhaps this will give you a fun way to take a break from school, when needed – I know it helped us. Perhaps it will help you too, insha’Allah.

Asalaam ‘Alaikum,
Sumayyah Umm SAA