:: Quran dan Kanak-kanak ::

i got this info from Islamic Parenting Network - facebook page, that i feel need to be shared with all muslim parents out there.

let us together teach the kalam of Allah to our kids, before they know their ABC.

here are some infos..

Some basic guiding principles to make your baby learn Quran naturally :

1. Keep the mood loving.

2. Play Quran softly in the home during their playtime, morning routine, or end-of-night routine.

3. Aim to have two sessions of quran alphabet flashcards with your baby in a day.

4. Let them know that something very special will follow after the quran time, like a playtime with mom or a baby stroller walking outside the house and lots of hugs and cuddles.

5. When they can start baby talking, start recite a quick surah with them before any new activity.

6. Play quran surahs in the car on the way to anywhere when they are with you.

7. Recite short quran surahs with them while you lay them down to bed.

9. Recite Quran with them while you push them on a swing.

10. Lastly to make it more effective, TURN OFF all the noises in the house. Give your child a special treat daily, like ice cream. Let them enjoy it to the soft peaceful sounds of QURAN!. (read less)

Quran Memorization is like BRAIN TRAINING that can improve :
1. Concentration
2. Focus
3. Creativity
4. Speed of Thinking
that can benefits anyone over the long term.

other website on the same matter that can assist us in teaching quran to our kids:-
http://darwishndarwisya.blogspot.com
http://www.islamicparentingnetwork.com/
http://www.didikanquran.blogspot.com/
http://www.linakarim.com/

semoga anak-anak kita akan menjadi lebih celik alquran, dan alquran sentiasa dekat di hati kita dan anak². AMIN!

:: semakgula ::

i came across munirah's entry on sugar content in formula milk. OMG! shocking hokay!!

have a check on your kids' FM sugar content here www.semakgula.com.my. all you need to do is to key in the carbohydrates per serving & serving amount. i've checked on two FM currently used in my house. and the finding is shocking and choking me.

give it a go!

:: Parenting Milestones Calculator ::

try the parenting milestone calculator. here's my result..

Your Parenting Milestones Calculator results:

Birth
Mom's Age: 26 years old
Dad's Age: 29 years old

First Steps
Child's Age: 9 to 15 months
Mom's Age: 27 years old
Dad's Age: 30 years old

Potty Training
Child's Age: 18 months to 3 years
Mom's Age: 28 to 29 years old
Dad's Age: 31 to 32 years old

Starting Kindergarten
Child's Age: 5 to 6 years
Mom's Age: 31 to 32 years old
Dad's Age: 34 to 35 years old

Beginning Puberty
Child's Age: 8 to 13 years (girls)
Child's Age: 9 to 14 years (boys)
Mom's Age: 34 to 40 years old
Dad's Age: 37 to 43 years old

Starting Middle School
Child's Age: 9 to 10 years
Mom's Age: 35 to 36 years old
Dad's Age: 38 to 39 years old

First Period
Child's Age: 12 to 13 years (girls)
Mom's Age: 38 to 39 years old
Dad's Age: 41 to 42 years old

Starting High School
Child's Age: 14 to 15 years
Mom's Age: 40 to 41 years old
Dad's Age: 43 to 44 years old

Learning To Drive
Child's Age: 15 to 18 years
Mom's Age: 41 to 44 years old
Dad's Age: 44 to 47 years old

Graduating High School
Child's Age: 18 to 19 years
Mom's Age: 44 to 45 years old
Dad's Age: 47 to 48 years old

Graduating From College
Child's Age: 22 to 23 years
Mom's Age: 48 to 49 years old
Dad's Age: 51 to 52 years old

Getting Married
Child's Age: 25.8 years (girls)
Child's Age: 27.4 years (boys)
Mom's Age: 51 to 53 years old
Dad's Age: 54 to 56 years old

Having A Child (Your Grandchild)
Child's Age: 25.1 years (girls)
Mom's Age: 51 years old
Dad's Age: 54 years old

Having A Grandchild (Your Great Grandchild)
Child's Age: 50.2 years (girls)
Mom's Age: 76 years old
Dad's Age: 79 years old

:: please, please, please ::

i never knew that somenone i know so well lost her first baby at 37 weeks of pregnancy before the baby was born.

cerita dan pengalaman kawan i tuh sangat menyentuh perasaan i, sebab i've been in the same boat, 1 year 8 months ago. gosh.. time flies so fast, it has been nearly 2 years since i last bid goodbye to my late baby boy, abdullah amin fahmi. only if i could be beside her, and comfort her.

so i to all my friends out there, who are expecting, please, please, please, take extra care at all time. most importantly, please count your baby kicks, make sure cukup 10 times a day. if you have any doubt and feels that your baby is a little 'quiet' in your tummy that day, get yourself checked, and ASK the doctor to perform ecg scan on you. don't just be satisfied with ULTRASOUND ONLY.

ajal maut ketentuan tuhan. itu benar. but, please do whatever that you can to ensure you and baby is safe and sound at all times.

so dear sis, if you happen to read this entry, just want you to know, that we are the selected ones to go through this. hugs.

:: cerita dari satu kegagalan ::

tajuk entry cam gempak jek kan? cam suspen jek.. :D

actually, i nak share pengalaman saya yang gagal menyusukan anak masa first baby dan actions taken utk anak yang terkini so that i berjaya breastfeed anak as long as i can. my milestone : 6 months. lepas tuh kita tgk how do we go next, sebab ada satu event maybe akan take place yang memerlukan saya berada jauh dari baby untuk satu tempoh yang lama, minima 1 bulan.

perhaps, tips kat bawah nih boleh la dijadikan panduan oleh kawan-kawan yang sedang mengandung yang berhajat untuk menyusukan anak. saya belajar dari kesilapan, and till now masih lagi belajar utk tambah ebm. so far stok sedia ada cukup untuk aidin selama lebih kurang 20 hari kalau amount of feeding tak berubah.

1. semasa mengandung, amalkanla baca surah al hujurat. saya dapat tips nih dari buku panduan ibu mengandung yang ditulis oleh ustazah siti norbahiyah. doalah supaya diperbanyakkan susu dan biarlah ia mencukupi untuk keperluan anak kita nanti.

2. minum air banyak. VERY IMPORTANT!

3. makan sayur hijau banyak². in my case, kailan works so well. lepas tuh ada maid dari indonesia advise saya makan pucuk manis (sedap kalau buat masak lemak) and bayam (tak berapa jalan la dengan saya)

4. makan harus cukup. lupakanla soal diet buat sementara. hohohohoho. sangat sukar hokay especially bila lepas pantang badan kita masih kembang dan baju2 lama masih belum muat.

5. feed your baby during the first hour after delivery. itu milk booster yang sangat mujarab.

6. atas nasihat seorang rakan, i've started expressing my breastmilk for stocks masa dalam pantang. u won't get much, but the amount bila accumulate ok la. sebabnya u won't know masa keja nanti how your body reacts. in my case, first week kerja, stock susu memang banyak, tapi bila masuk 2-3 minggu agak merudum. partly penat, stress and lots of adjustment need to be made. but i make it a point to perah 3 times a day at work. i used the simple pump - spectra 3. single pump la tapi. kalau ada dual pump lagi bagus rasanya, sebab it can cut short your pumping time. like me, it takes around 10 mins untuk dapat 5ozs. some people boleh dapat sampai 8ozs and some people takes sampai 30 mins/pumping session to get enough milk supply for the baby.

7. hati mau kuat.....

rasanya nih jek kot serba sikit dari saya yang baru nak breastfeed anak. bukanlah seorang yang pro, tapi so far masih boleh fulfill my son's need.

sharing is caring kan?

:: Trip : Our Way ::

was feeling 'under energy' for the past few days. body clock masih beum return ke asal sepenuhnya and kondisi (ecceh!) diri pun dah makin sarat.. tido malam dah tak lena, pernafasan pun makin sukar.

anyway, as promised, i'm gonna blog about 'Our Ways of Travelling'. memula ingat nak kasik tips, tapi rasanya bukan la tips sangat pun, it's merely on the story of planning and executing the plan of holidays in our way.

:: Transportation ::
most of our hols trip (i mean air-bound la) were impromptu plan, i.e. tetiba tiket murah, tetiba boleh redeem point cheaply. maklumla poket duit bukannya dalam sangat nak seluk to finance the trips. tapi dah dasar laki bini suka berjalan merewang, we normally try to satisfy our crave that way. one thing i learn from my OH who's an avid travel planner (haha!) is rajin²la check miles point redemption. sometimes it is awkwardly cheap, macam yang kitorang redeem pegi UK recently. only 30,000 miles point. (redeem masuk lounge pun 5,000. jangan marah aaa din..)

so far, trip yang betul² bayar seniri adalah 2 kali kot. satu gie gold coast via air asia x and another one was to sydney via lauda air (austrian air - masa they still transit in kl, now they transit in bangkok). tiket beli masa tuh pun murah gila baban compared to nowadays punya price. bought our tix to GC (return) for 1200++ per person and sydney pun lebih kurang sama. GC tuh beli masa air asia x buat offer, while sydney tuh 'kerja gila'. sesaja call our 'fav' holiday company - G** yang biasanya boleh offer pretty cheap price for air tix compared to other airlines.

satu lagi website yang boleh direfer kalau nak cari cheap airflight tix is - www.dohop.com. this website akan kasik u a list of airlines yang offer cheap airlines tix for the destination that u wish for.

tuh baru satu cerita. cerita dari KL ke destination. another thing that we have to consider is while abroad, u nak naik apa. cam kitorang nih, personally memang prefer pakai public transport when abroad, especially to countries yang dah agak familiar, i.e. OZ and UK. when i say public transport, i don't mean cabs, but merely busses or tube/train etc. sebabnya, u see more and mind is free from thinking mana nak park kereta etc. tapi sejak ada anak nih, and bringing them along, we memang opt for own transportation. maknanya terpaksala allocate extra untuk parking fee, and be prepared to pay some 'ridiculous' amount of parking fare. (baik aku gie shopping guna duit tuh tau!!). except in Europe, whereby kat sana left hand drive, kitorang tak naik kereta, but naik metro. but we were shocked to find a city like paris, metro dia errrrr tak wheel chair/children friendly la. no lift, no escalator. so u can imagine cemana la aku n OH as well as other family members juggle bawak twin stroller kat dalam metro station yang banyak turun naik tangga. pergh.. boleh naik muscle.

:: Accommodation ::
different people ada different ways of managing their hols. ada yang call jek holiday company and mintak arrange everything. like us, we enjoy the planning part as well. so, sampaila ke bab nak tinggal kat mana pun kitorang carik sendiri via pakcik google. :D we prefer to stay kat 'self catering' accomodation or in other word, 'fully equipped kitchen'. :D normally bila search guna google engine, we either guna keyword 'self catering', ''holiday apartment', 'short stay' etc. that's how we settled in for accommodation. untung nasib, apartment mmg best gila macam masa gie london.. nasib tak best, merasalah tido sebelah dapur macam masa gie NZ during our study years.

:: up and about ::
selalunya, we all akan buat research sket la kat tempat yang dituju tuh, so that we could briefly plan our 'kunun²' tour. :D it saves a lot of time if u do it ahead of time. bila buat planning ahead, u could put aside some budget kalau attraction yang u nak pegi tuh kena bayar, etc.

we also akan print out jadual waktu solat, so memudahkan urusan perjalanan. u can find international time prayers kat sini - www.islamicfinder.com.

:: kids ::
haha. part nih kena la lalu trial and error process kan? hehe. sebabnya kita tak boleh dictate kids. in fact they are the one yang actually determine your journey. :) my simple advice, pack lotsa snack, like my kids diorang suka makan kismis, so i make sure i have enough stock dalam my bag (which i find bag pack is more practical than handbag for travelling moms). don't forget their medicines, we won't know bila anak nak sakit. and being in a foreign land, u won't know how does the system work. apa lagi?? make sure u ada enough clothing for your kids, travelling with kids in soaking clothes is definitely unpleasant.

i also pack 'some' toys to take their mind off for a while. it doesn't have to be exspensive and fancy. macam masa gi UK hari tuh, i bawak a small bag of masak² toys and some small cars for them to play. if your kids love to read, then, books will be handy, or just hand out some crayons and papers for them to scribble.

if your kids are attached to something i.e. pacifier and in my case, their 2 busuk teddy bears, make sure u bring it with them. u don't want to handle kids who turn cranky sebab tak leh tido tak dapat their thing. (just hoping takde yang ada bantal busuk gabak.. hehehe)

make sure u have enough stock of formula milk if ur kids are drinking FM. tau² jek la budak, bukan senang nak tukau susu sekelip mata.. :D

guess sampai sini dulu. kalau ada lagi our ways of travelling i'll upload later in blog. for meanwhile, hope this entry helps a bit.

da!

:: 15 kesilapan dalam mendidik anak² ::

15 Kesilapan ibu bapa dalam mendidik anak-anak

"Harta benda dan anak-anak kamu hanyalah menjadi ujian dan di sisi ALLAH ada pahala yang besar." (Al-Quran Surah At-Taghabun, 64:15)

Anak-anak adalah amanah dari ALLAH s.w.t. dan ianya sebahagian dari ujian ALLAH s.w.t. kepada kita hamba-hamba-Nya. Sebagai ujian, ianya akan dipertanggungjawabkan. Orang yang malang ialah orang yang mempunyai ramai anak tetapi anak-anaknya tidak membawa kebaikan kepadanya di akhirat. Rasulullah SAW diberitakan telah bersabda :

"Tahukah engkau siapakah orang yang mandul." Berkata para sahabat : "Orang yang mandul ialah orang yang tidak mempunyai anak." Lalu Rasulullah SAW berkata : "Orang yang mandul itu ialah orang yang mempunyai ramai anak tetapi anak-anaknya itu tidak memberi kemanfaatan kepadanya sesudah ia meninggal dunia."-(Maksud Al-Hadith )

Ini mungkin disebabkan beberapa kesilapan dalam mendidik anak-anak.

1. Kesilapan pertama: Kurang berdoa

1.1 Kurang berdoa semasa mengandung. Antara doa-doa yang digalakkan diamalkan semasa mengandung ialah

* Saidul (penghulu) Istighfar
* Doa memohon rahmat (Al-Quran Surah Ali 'Imran, 3 : 8-9)
* Doa memohon zuriat yang baik (Al-Quran Surah Ali 'Imran, 3 : 38)
* Doa agar anak mengerjakan solat (Al-Quran Surah Ibrahim, 14 : 40-41)

1.2 Kurang berdoa semasa membesarkan anak. Doa-doa yang digalakkan diamalkan semasa anak membesar ialah

* Doa agar anak patuh kepada ALLAH s.w.t. (Al-Quran Surah Al-Baqarah, 2 :128)
* Doa diberi zuriat yang menyejukkan hati (Al-Quran Surah Al-Furqan, 25 :74)
* Doa supaya nama anak membawa kebaikan kepadanya.

2. Kesilapan kedua: Banyak memberi belaian Tarhib

(menakutkan) daripada Targhib (didikan atau motivasi) seperti :

* menakutkan anak-anak dengan sekolah
* menakutkan dengan tempat gelap
* menakutkan dengan hutan rimba atau bukit bukau
* menggunakan kekerasan dan paksaan semasa menyuruh anak tidur

3. Kesilapan ketiga: Tidak tegas dalam mendidik anak-anak

* tidak menjadualkan kegiatan harian anak-anak
* terlalu memfokuskan anak-anak kepada sesuatu aktiviti sahaja tanpa mengambil kira perasaan mereka.

4. Kesilapan keempat: Menegur anak secara negatif
* mengeluarkan kata-kata kesat dan maki hamun kepada anak-anak (terutama semasa marah).
* membandingkan anak-anak dengan anak-anak lain atau anak orang lain.

5. Kesilapan kelima: Memberi didikan yang tidak seimbang antara jasmani (physical), rohani (spiritual) dan minda (intelektual)

* ramai yang lebih mementingkan pendidikan minda dari pendidikan rohani

6. Kesilapan keenam: Kurang memberi sentuhan kepada semua anak-anak sedangkan Rasulullah kerap dilihat mendukung cucu-cucunya dan mencium mereka.

Diriwayatkan oleh Aisyah r.a. :

Pada suatu hari Rasulullah SAW mencium Al-Hassan atau Al-Hussien bin Ali r.a. Ketika itu Aqra' bin Habis At-Tamimiy sedang berada di rumah baginda. Berkata Aqra' : "Ya Rasulullah! Aku mempunyai sepuluh orang anak, tetapi aku belum pernah mencium seorang pun dari mereka." Rasulullah melihat kepada Aqra' kemudian berkata : "Siapa yang tidak mengasihi tidak akan dikasihi."-(Maksud Al-Hadith Riwayat Bukhari dan Muslim)

7. Kesilapan ketujuh: Penampilan diri yang kurang anggun dan kurang kemas

* ibu bapa tidak menunjukkan cara berpakaian yang kemas dan yang menepati kehendak syarak bila berada di rumah, iaitu berpakaian secara selekeh atau berpakaian seksi di hadapan anak-anak.

8. Kesilapan kelapan: Susunan rumahtangga yang tidak kemas.
Ini mengakibatkan anak-anak terikut-ikut dengan cara itu dan membesar menjadi pemalas dan selekeh.

9. Kesilapan kesembilan: Kurang menghidupkan sunnah di rumah seperti memberi salam, makan berjemaah, beribadah bersama-sama, dan sebagainya. Dalam menjawab salam, lazimkanlah menjawab salam dengan yang lebih baik dari salam yang diberi.

10. Kesilapan kesepuluh: Tidak menggantungkan rotan di tempat yang mudah dilihat oleh anak-anak.
Dalam Islam, merotan anak dengan tujuan mendidik adalah satu sunnah.

11. Kesilapan kesebelas: Kurang mendedahkan anak-anak dengan model yang cemerlang seperti para ulama' dan orang-orang yang berhemah tinggi dan berakhlak mulia.

Anak-anak juga patut didedahkan dengan sembahyang jemaah, kuliah agama dan aktiviti-aktiviti yang bersesuaian dengan akhlak Islam.

12. Kesilapan keduabelas: Bertengkar di depan anak-anak.

Ini akan menyebabkan anak-anak rasa tertekan dan membenci salah seorang dari ibubapanya.

13. Kesilapan ketigabelas: Membenarkan orang yang tidak elok sahsiyahnya masuk ke dalam rumah kita, baik dari kalangan sahabat sendiri ataupun sahabat anak-anak, kerana ini akan memberikan contoh yang tidak baik kepada anak-anak yang masih membesar.

14. Kesilapan keempatbelas: Kurang mengawasi rancangan-rancangan yang ditonton samada dari TV ataupun video.
Pengawasan dalam hal ini adalah penting kerana kebanyakan rancangan dari media ini menonjolkan akhlak yang kurang baik seperti pergaulan bebas lelaki dan perempuan, pakaian yang tidak menepati syarak dan perbualan yang boleh merosakkan agama anak-anak.

15. Kesilapan kelimabelas: Terlalu bergantung kepada pembantu rumah untuk mendidik anak-anak.
Sebagai ibubapa kitalah yang akan disoal di akhirat kelak akan anak-anak ini. Oleh itu adalah menjadi satu kepentingan kita untuk berusaha memastikan anak-anak terdidik dengan didikan Islam.

Thanx kay for sharing! hope boleh jadi panduan kita dalam didik anak²

:: vision - priceless ::

yesterday evening, i brought the boys to see the opthalmologist, prof dr muhaya mohamed at the prince court medical centre (PCMC). FIL has had an opration before with her to remove his cataract, and she has one good track record in her field.

it has always been a concern with my mom especially about my boys' eyes. bila amik gambar, mata kanan diorang tend to move inside, macam squint eyes, or dalam bahasa melayu - juling. it's not obvious, tapi kalau perhati betul² baru ada. kejap² ada, kejap² takde. for info, my family (my mom's side) mmg boleh kata semua stok rabun. agaknya kalau semua buat lasik mau boleh dapat nissan murrano sebijik. hehe.

so, why am i so concern? squint eyes nih can be a symptom of lazy eye. maknanya, only one eyes is doing the job. it happened to one of my cousin, and it was only detected when she was around 5 years old. with her condition at that time, she was expected to be born with the problem. to improve her condition, she has to patch one of her eyes for a certain amount of hours a day to train the lazy eye to work. she's now 11, and on glasses.

i don't want my children to suffer that. simply because my hubby and i wore glasses and we know the limitation. bukannya senang hidup bila dah pakai spek. (my rabun is extremely bad, that the optalmologist terpaksa check my retina takut rosak. we're not talking about power spek dalam 400-500. mine is more than that for both eyes) that's why i hantar check mata. being preemie babies (prematured babies) who stayed in an incubator for about 5 days or so, and high concentrated oxygen, lotsa damages could happened to their eyes. (i may be an engineer, but i do at times read medical stuff. it's very² beneficial)

yesterday, masa check, dr kata the babies' eyes structure are healthy. alhamdulillah. but from their observation, my sons (both) have very high potential to be short sighted, or in other word rabun and kena pakai glasses bila besar nanti. but then, since they're still young, i could help them to overcome the problem. dr asked me to encourage them to see far things, (maknanya bawak le gi jejalan kat parks, zoo, etc) and avoid to see things dekat² (like watching tvs, pc, laptop). lucky me, my boys enjoy going out, and does not watch tv at home, except in the car. but the only thing that trouble us is, afiq and adib suka gentel teddy bear or anything soft before sleeping and they hold it very near to their eyes. so we have to try and put them to sleep without the furry bears.

nasib la my mommy is pushing me really hard about my boys' eyes. sometimes, when things seem to small aka remeh, that small thing is actually a symptom that could change their life. thanx mak for making me realize the importance of doing everything early.

but anyway, alang² dah cakap pasal babies nih, i'd like to share some infos that may help babies' brain development that i've got from my boys paed. he advised me to limit the time to watch tv to an hour a day, and promote taking scott's emulsion (or any minyak ikan) to boost the baby' brain develpoment.

tu jek la sket ilmu nak share. so those with young children and babies, it's never too early to start looking after their eyes. in fact, masa i jumpa dr muhaya smalam dia kata, dalam sebulan mmg sikit sgt patient yang datang tuh budak². dalam sebulan ada la seorang. so that shows kita punya awareness on the importance of taking good care of eyes among children is still low. the fees that u need to pay to the dr and time spent at the hospital may seem high and forever, but the vision of our children is priceless.

so why not start now?