Science in Slippers?, more like toothy Times Tables

Here's the view I get from my kitchen window, early in the morning just before I wake the kids. A moment of peace and tranquility, then the morning rush begins, and yet another argument for home education rears its sensible head. However early we seem to get up it's always last minute searching for matching socks (not always successful), arguments on the necessity of teeth-brushing (slightly stronger case now that M has witnessed one of S's molars being removed, the painful bit being the TWO injections, rather than the chisel cutting gum flesh and quite a bit of blood. Yes the calculation has been done as to how many injections required for all teeth to be removed (2 times table work you'd unlikely get in school), arguing over who's going to sit on the front seat etc etc. The days when they are home sometimes reveal the way it could be, reading whilst eating rice crispies, painting in pyjamas...
But on a school day, I really hate the early mornings. Transitions are always hardest, especially when getting children to change from something they're enjoying (fiddling with Lego in their PJ's) to something they'd rather not do (sit in class). Oh, but the peace when they've gone, I can't deny it, is bliss.

Here is not the most exciting picture but it shows the remains of the dirt-playing fest Hafsah was having on the balcony. She managed to get most of the clay powder (left over from the failed wormery) and bits of potting compost onto her clothes and hands, but thankfully she couldn't reach the clothes on the line. This warm weather is brilliant for getting on top of my laundry mountain. I mean making it smaller not actually climbing it! Thinking this time last year I was doing circuits round the block trying to get my labour going in the cold damp weather!
Oh yes the bucket was free of charge from the recycling bins, almost brand new thrown away by a builder I think. I also got some free plant pots the other day, which I was glad of as the tomato plants are getting big mashaAllah, and the extortionate prices they were charging for pots in the shops made my trip to the refuse room quite worthwhile. Look after pennies etc etc. I am not willing to fork out too much for plant stuff as most plants under my care wither and die, unless they are some tough cactus type thing...I'm giving you the highlights at the moment, are you still awake?!

M's construction of a masjid (mosque) out of the Jenga bricks dad brought back from Vietnam.
Oh look someones coming to pray, and some big , crawling monster is coming to destroy.

(S's just pointed out I need an object with 'destroy', oh he's teaching me transitive verbs now I see, well it somehow sounded right so I'm leaving it....)

Today H was home, and dad kindly made him a flag to wave when goal is scored in indoor football. H then proceeded to decorate it with his name, with letters in a random order, but I was pleasantly surprised he managed to write a capital 'A' independently,when he was supposed to be copying a lower case one out.
He's been dry at night now for over a week, which is good as I only have to buy one size of nappy, (have been having to have 2 sizes around for last 6 years). Saying that Hafsah fits quite nicely in her 3 year old brothers pull up pant nappies, too many Petit Filous if you ask me..
He wet the bed the other night, but the kind boy did not wake me up, but found himself some clean PJ's and slept in one of the other beds going spare, awww!

Some bits and pieces......

The guilty perpetrator of my vandalised jilbab owned up a while after the event. It was not the child I expected and he had owned up feeling bad that I might punish the usual suspect! I re emphasised the fact that I'm always more disappointed / angry if someone lies to me and that honesty is the most important thing. Having said that we had read 'The Gruffalo' recently and the mouse lying was instantly pointed out. I had a feeling he could be let off, as it was in order to stop him being eaten, but I did check this out and this is one of the exceptions in Islam to being allowed to lie, ( not just eaten of course, I mean if life or property is in serious danger).
Hafsah's really into pulling to standing now, such is the enthusiasm that I can barely do anything without the little arms grasping around my legs/chest/ shoulders (depending which position I'm already in). Subsequently if I wish to move anywhere, I have to carefully peel her away from me so she doesn't fall down. She also did a little coasting today, but I won't be surprised if she's a post-one year old walker. That's nice in a way as the beginning of walking seems to herald a step (excuse pun) away from babyhood.
She also put a toy phone to her ear as if she understands its use. What these young peeps must think we're doing blabbering away at a piece of plastic and staring at a screen half the day (I hope I don't spend that much time online!).

H continuing with his *What's that made of?' questioning. He asked me about the jug (plastic) in order for him to work out what his light sabre (in the other room) was made of, quite clever of him I thought.
S says he's been feeling 'very lucky' and then hastily added 'I don't mean by chance'!, as his dad gave him his old pocket PC. Good, he's taken in some stuff about tawheed, shirk etc. Well I have been happy they've managed without electronic games for quite a while now. The X box controllers are broken, the V smile batteries ran out (and adaptor burnt out) and the PC online games don't seem to be so appealing to the kids nowadays. So now I'm back to rationing of computer games although I've been quite lax so far due to novelty. Also he has tried to use it to do some spelling work.
Had some difficulties with finishing off learning tashahud today. He knows most of it but not quite right so wanted him to do this. A bit stressful and I softened it up with chocolate (for all of us) as I don't want him to resent learning things for his deen. There is a lot for kids to learn which is obviously easier at a younger age as they're like sponges. However some of the concepts and motivations are hard for children to grasp and I think they have to have some material here-and-now rewards.
S also did the BBC skillsswise(ta for link EF!) times tables and we printed out the certificates (he was v chuffed with these, shall have to use certificates more).

Be in this life as a traveller

M has come out with some funny things; 'It's not good being a girl, because when you grow up you have to do all the work. No one, mans don't help you.'
Enough said. I should be off to draw up a chores rota now.....

I think it's soon time to properly start teaching M to read, as he's trying to teach himself. The other day I overheard some self-talk (in his teacher voice) while he was playing with some scrabble letters,and S couldn't resist joining in;

M 'Shall we spell some words? C E F'
S 'keff'

S showed a bit of literal translation of Swedish to English the other day. We'd been reading Roald Dahls's *Matilda' which he actually finds interesting as she can do very hard sums. He said 'Matilda could 19 times 14', the 'could' being how you would say 'knew' in Swedish!

Have been trying to remind myself that we are in this world 'as a traveller' and that the material possessions are a test for us. Having anything of value around the house is pointless if you have kids. 2 windows have been broken in the last 6 weeks (only the inner pane of the double glazing so didn't have to rush to get them fixed, the latter is till covered with cardboard', once due to hurling of object in anger, another due to a test-out of a home-made catapult, which obviously passed in terms of power. My IKEA chest of drawers scraped with a shark tooth necklace, one of my bead necklaces broken during a dispute over who should have it, as I say 'don't pull it,it'll snap......'(it had survived being used as horses reins, which I allow as it means H can sit on my back pretending I'm a horse while I lie down getting some relief from my backache). Empty baby oil bottle found has made me worried, and there is still an oily mess around the box on top of the washing machine which I haven't yet dared to approach (nor had time). This morning I found one of my jilbabs had a rather neat rip in the bottom which probably meant someone had taken scissors to it, and I hadn't just tripped on some stairs or something and ripped it myself. No one would admit the crime though. I can usually get them to plead guilty if I promise I won't get cross. (They know I'm not allowed to lie).

H is pulling to stand quite confidently now mashaAllah and shouting 'mamama' quite often. Today she was letting the whole neighbourhood know about her lovely mum, but I hoped no one felt that maybe an abandoned child had been left stranded on the balcony, as she is rather loud!

P.S.

I'd been thinking about the way us Mums (and sometimes Dads) are not given the appreciation they deserve. Of course all Praise is Allah, who made it possible for us to be in our situation. I want to send out a pat on the back,a hug, a virtual first class honours Bachelor's home edder certificate ,or whatever you feel happy with to all those mujahidas, striving to bring up their kids in the best way they can. There is so much negative stuff out there blaming parents for all the ills of the world, and little recognition of all the hard work done out there in the background, many not expecting anything back, but hoping any good they have done is sent forward and helps on the Day. Then I came across this link which echoed how I was thinking (pasted from your site EF!) http://byothermeans.co.uk/?p=254)

More bread attemps

The culmination of me lifting an increasingly heavy Hafsah, and putting in and strapping in kids in car means I have a sore back. I cannot contemplate going to the shops with all 4 kids, so S has been very responsible as now man of the house and gone to the corner shop a few times to buy essentials. They however only had hamburger bread left (due to bank holidays, which thankfully he didn't buy) so we baked some bread and this time it worked! Well I followed the instructions to the letter on the back of the flour packet, made sure the water was quite hot (as using dried yeast, anyone can enlighten me on pros and cons of dried vs fresh??) and S reminded me I have dough hooks for my mixing machine. It was slightly masochistic of me baking bread as I'm still trying to catch up fasts, but kids needed some sustenance.

Here's a 'menu' M made yesterday, with my help with the spelling (he can get the consonants as a rule but seems to find separating the vowels harder).
It shows what food we had left in the fridge, and to be honest, it wasn't something I'd like Gilllian whatshername to come and see ('You are what you eat' fame). In the end though this concept of choice was rather misguided by M as I could not cook everyone ´their own choice of meal. As I reminded them, 'this is not a restaurant!' ('This is not a hotel' was what I got as a child I recall)

Hafsah's pulling up on things to stand now and generally making the others a tad annoyed as she wants to join in the fun.

Another trip to the forest

We went out again to a forest with some sisters, this time 'bokskogen' beech forest. It was that or the indoor play centre which some other sisters had organised. I didn't reveal this latter option to my kids as it's the Easter hols. I only feel I can bear to go to these places if it's raining, and a school day so there are few other kids there. It was a beautiful day, got some exercise and also saved quite a few pennies.
One minor gripe, why do some people here feel it's their duty to make my kids like dogs? They maybe man's best friend in their eyes, but they can do damage, maybe not quite as much as mankind, but after one of my kids being chased by an Alsatian dog a while back and been told 'He's only playing' they are (understatement coming up) wary.Today for some reason, we were given a demonstration of the dog's ability to sit and stay maybe to show us how tame he was. Yes, until a child tries to poke it's eye out and pull its tail and I think you'll find its animal instinct is still there. You don't hear about children being mauled by cats or pet rabbits very often in the news do you? Dogs are fine if that's what you want, but keep them on leads outside , pick up their doings, and don't expect my kids to love them.
No, it was a lovely day, and managed the 7km walk this time, one kid only moaned right at the end, and there were lots of undulations, some very steep.
So here are some pics, including some 'Spring' nature ones (flowers, hazel catkins, burrs, a dead beetle, beech nuts, pine trees, silver birch and beech without their leaves (as yet), see what you can spot....

diary gone AWOL

So here're some more pics, some not so up to date but still relevant. I was preparing myself for a massive typing session, but my diary/notebook thingy where I write down any notables is, I think, in my car boot (don't ask) , well I hope so.

M at his 'stable course' in a quaint horse farm. Photos of him actually riding didn't come out very well as it was very bad light inside the barn where they practiced, so didn't post.

H's 'draw-a-man' effort, one of his rare unabstract drawings. So he will inshaAllah pass his 4 year assessment then?!?..



Have been to science museum(again) with friends which the kids found more like an indoor adventure playground with the submarine, the wooden boats to scamper about on, and they managed to pay attention to me for about 20 seconds as I quickly tried to explain (in Swedish?!) why I have to wear glasses and how the eye works with useful visual aid they have in the museum.. I think the windy day whipped up their excitement and whether much was 'learnt' is questionable. We went out to the nearby open space where the great excitement of the day was two of the friend's ball being blown into the castle moat, of which one drifted too far to the other side to be rescued. Also saw some sheep nestling on the steep grassy hills by the castle, quite surprising to see.

Have started taking Hafsah to a playgroup (run by sisters), and took all kids yesterday as it was Easter hols. They painted some plaster paris vehicles which will be inshaAllah turned into fridge magnets next week (by which time the paint should have dried, it was rather copiously applied).

Have walked quite a lot this week and I have become quite exhausted, I AM UNFIT!!. Oh yeh I am so tired as H has been getting his false croup in the early hours, waking me and once Hafsah, plus the early sunrise wakes me up and I can't seem to get back to sleep. Doesn't help having DH busying away in Vietnam, but it keeps things afloat, financially (she says trying to look on the bright side).

Looks like my diary is obsolete, managed to get a bit written, alhamdulillah.

Busy and very tired,but that's life..

I finally decided to accompany S. and his class to Skryllegården. I was umming and erring as I am so behind with house stuff (the silverfish are forming some sort of colony under the washing pile) plus I didn't know if the baby car seat would fit in the coach. In the end I took my own car and I thought this may be the last time S actually wants me to come with him on something like this (i.e. in front of his classmates) He was almost begging me to come. It was a nice 5km walk in the forest and nicely polished off with the (extortionate) ice-creams.
The coach arrives..A huge teepee that had a fire inside for cooking.. S and his class setting off with great gusto for a walk in skogen (the forest). S's teacher was holding the walking sticks many use to increase arm exercise whilst walking in Sweden. (Not for keeping the little bods in order of course . They were helpful for pointing out bits of wildlife, flowers etc).

A beautiful glade mashaAllah. S wants to live somewhere like this, me too... Some of the kids made their own walking sticks, v. Swedish.. The girls were very happy to push the buggy for me, I felt I could have made a killing , 10 kronors a go....... Got a little bit of help from S. and also gained a life skill, potato peeling. He wanted to peel off a bad bit from one of them but I kindly advised him that there'd be very little potato left to eat so it'd be better to cut it with a knife.

Last lesson with hemspråk(home language) Canadian English teacher. He gave them a cookie and a paper helicopter which he warned against using outside in the wind but M found it quite fun to launch it from the climbing frame and keep me on my toes recovering it for him for re-launch. Like his Arabic, he was reciting the story they had obviously been reading today in a Canadian accent, oh my little parrot!

I couldn't sleep..

but I'm still too fuzzy-headed to write properly so here's some photos

M's 'teach-yourself' workbook. He talks to himself like a teacher, writes out some work, does it, then praises himself. He's also been reciting his Arabic and Islamologi lessons, so we get to hear the surahs but also the way the teacher starts them off:

, 'One, two, three,... BismillahiRahmanir Rahim..' and so on.

M, for when you're older note 'nangnang under the book.'!!

Well S complained of being bored and as it was around 4 pm, all I could come up with was cutting up some magazines and adding speech bubbles (this is for a v reluctant writer), little did I know this would start him off on his amateur career as an 'author', which he has professed to be (only a hobby mind, surgeon status still on the horizon). As a result he made numerous 'rull'books (scrolls?), containing a picture on which he's based a short story. I've been told to ask permission before reading them, they're now in the draw. (middle thinking bubble below is my attempt)

Tomato seeds suddenly sprouted, despite having been put on the balcony by someone and hence began to get frazzled. I managed to rescue them just in time..

I worked out hyperlinks (at last)

I have much to write, but I have to catch up on some sleep (details probably on another post), but I know if I don't put these links now, I'll most probably never get round to it..

Swedish house-buying madness

Swedish Education System to introduce grading at younger age?!, oh no here we go.....

I found the cable for the camera

Finally baked the bread (looks better than it tasted, too heavy and doughy but ok toasted) However looked quite arty with pomengranates and garlic.

Results of Hafsah's morning activities, piles of mess..

Beautiful dress, kindly donated by a sister, and no, I don't know how to rotate the photos! (yet)

The wall did have tiles before they decided to drop off the wall. Let's pray for a nice 'after' picture, builder due Monday..

Shiny sink

err March musings.

Finally got round to revisiting the 'flylady' website. It's been in my 'favorites' under 'home management' (!)for ages but things to do etc.. Anyhow decided I have to get on with sorting this mess-of-a-flat out, if we want to sell it, as well as feel sane. I don't feel so able to help my kids learn in this cluttered environmnet and I feel really sorry for them, even if most of the 'stuff' is theirs. So my sink is sparkly clean, even DH noticed when he came home for lunch. Let's see how long it lasts. Finally got round to putting the mirror back up in the hall which has been down since the wall was redecorated a couple of years ago. Now I should be able to adjust my hijab before leaving the house without having to dodge the toilet rolls and toothpaste in the bathroom. Also it's usually one of those things recommended by the likes of Anne Maurice to increase the sense of 'space', hmm. Well, as I rarely get involved in anything related to DIY, this wasn't as easy a task as I'd imagined. The mirror just wouldn't hang straight on the hook, although the hook seemed ok. Three hooks later, lots of small holes in the wall, and I realised, with the aid of a spirit level that the walls aren't completely level. Therefore a lump of blu-tak behind the frame seemed to give an adequate adjustment (hope DH doesn't get round to reading this). H's comment on this as he observed my increasing frustration was ' I know why (you can't do it), cos' it's for mans' Yes a 3 year old who certainly wouldn't get an admission to that feminist nursery I once mentioned. The the young man expected me to construct him a tent out of the usual chairs and sheet combination, the cheek of it!
H is full of self-assurance, as can be heard from this discussion which went something along the lines of:
H 'I hold it'
me 'you held it'
H 'hold, held, you never say it right!'

Managed to cover animate vs animate objects a bit in the following conversation..
H 'I shouldn' eat food, then no poos'
(Do I really seem so fed up wiping bums?)
me' You have to have food for energy and to grow, like a car has petrol to drink'
H ' Why it doesn't have food?'
me 'Cars don't have to grow'
H 'Why cars don't have to grow?'
and so the explanation began...

S asking about why the sky is blue (I'm sure we've had that one before, it's it dust in the atmosphere) thus 'What's spacedust?'

Hafsah's now able to roll onto tummy and then up to knees and then sit. This makes nappy changing and sleeping in cot more challenging. They have to learn how to lie down again if they want to sleep. I think she can just about do this. She was going round lying down her head as a game on any soft patch she could find the other day, I remember H was the same.
She's managing to do some early choice-making, shaking her head for 'no' and shaking arms for 'yes'. is this a good thing, how much does an 11 month old baby really know what's best for her ? Not her eye drops at least which she's had for a nasty eye infection, but they've worked!
I'm getting annoyed buying white board markers, that get destroyed within hours. Hafsah seems to have a penchant for sucking them, it can't be good for her. Unless I stand over them and put the lids on every moment they're put on the floor, it's difficult.
A new 'word' (communication) is she smacks her lips together if she wants to eat something. She also likes to blow half-raspberries, esp with food in the mouth, spraying food everywhere aah!
M has been speaking a little Swenglish again, trying to say 'which' ('vilket in Swedish) came out as 'wilket'

Not an A star, but who cares!

Hafsah's had her 10 month assessment at the health visitor's and she passed the peek-aboo (titt-ut in Swedish, for real!), banging 2 bricks together after a demo from kind HV (has done herself for ages now) and understanding language. ('Not in your mouth' gets an immediate response as all manner of things are regurgitated) but fell down (excuse the pun) on the pulling up to stand aspect. Of course it's nothing really worrying but I felt I could detect a slight look of disappointment in the nurse's face Well Hafsah's a super crawler now mashAllah and so still feels like a 'baby' unlike her brothers who were almost running at this age. She does like to crawl up to me, holds on to my trousers and pull up on her knees, look lovingly at me as if to say ' You know you want to pick me up, don't you?, don't worry about that little twinge in the lower back...).
She's started 'showing' me toys etc and even 'giving' them to me now. She's continuing to invent her own baby sign language, ignoring my own Makaton attempts, so shaking both arms up and down means 'again'. This was used to great effect whilst playing 'round and round the garden' and my rendition of 'this little piggy went to market ' We substitute teletubbies for pigs and ice-cream for roast beef, don't quite like my little ones toes representing carnivorous hogs somehow, but hey that's just me... By the way she has no idea what teletubbies are either as we don't get the Beeb here.
Oh and here's a good web-site for maths/ problem-solving based on the cyberchase cartoon (one of the few worth watching on satellite channel POP)
My 6 year old finds it quite challenging but can do with help and my 8 year finds it quite easy so probably safe to say ideal for a 7 year old?
http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games.html

A career in materials science?.

Sunday was taken up with scouts, and on the way back we went and had a quick view of a property in the area where we first lived when we came to Sweden which was for sale. Here they have a viewing system whereby the house is available to view initially only at the date and time specified by the agents, so you end up nosing around flats along with 4 or 5 other prospective buyers. Also there is a bidding system here which is quite different to the English way of doing things. Well, it had 5 (small) bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a huge living room and dining room as well as 2 hall spaces which could fit desks, all for the similar price of our 2 bed flat. Yes, sounds great, but location is the prob, although it’s near to the station and a new shopping centre is being built, DH doesn’t want to consider it because it is also near to the prison, so the search goes on..
S and M continue with swimming classes, with S doing front crawl now which I could never quite get the hang of, (co-ordinating breathing and putting face in the water never a strong point for me).
H is growing up, getting more lanky like a boy rather than a baby. This evening some very cute discussions (while I was washing up), also making me feel my consumption of salmon since I’ve been in Sweden and so throughout my pregnancy etc have helped those little brain cells.(He also loves the stuff, especially with ketchup).

H ‘What are chairs made of?’
I discuss the various possible materials…
H ‘What’s boxes made of?’
Me: as above
H ‘What’s sand made of?’ (He’s asked me a few days ago what glass was mad of so I guessed this was where the idea came from.)
I talked about ground up rocks by the sea
H ‘What’s rocks made of?’
Me: v briefly discussed sedimentary and lava, (my own knowledge all thanks to S’s earlier interest where we looked up about this in some books- go home-ed, go)
H ’What’s snow made of?’ (Throughout this conversation he’d been ‘playing’ with the flour we’d used to roll out pizza, and he was trying to convince me it was snow he was decorating the kitchen with…aah!)
Me : Ice, which ironically must have reflected the look on my face when I turned round and saw the mess.

Life still went on..

Now I’ve got that off my chest, here’s some bits and pieces about the kids.
Hafsah’s started whole-hand pointing, especially interested in the light in her room. As well as the TV (oh no). She actually said ‘da’ as she pointed to the light, are these words coming out of my little one’s mouth?!! Any sort of rhythm/ music she hears, the back starts bouncing and arms waved up and down, another M aaah! When I asked her where her dad was, she turned to look to the front door, it was sooo cute.
Favourite toys just now: nappy changing box, especially emptying out the cotton buds and pretending to smoke with them, does make one seem rather stylish, not? Carrying on the bathroom effect, we have the rapid unrolling of toilet-rolls, except with not quite the same beauty as the Andrex adverts as we just have grey recycled stuff here (comes as standard, you either have grey or white, and with the latter may your conscience be forgiven). On the hall front, we have emptying the recycling box (we’re very green here in Scandinavia you know), and then the gloves and hats from the rack, all jolly good fun to be had, and keeps mum busy as well for a good ten minutes while she clears up all that mess, everyone’s a winner, no boredom in this house.
Did I also mention the funny neck business when she eats yoghurts? Her double chin squashes over her neck which then disappears as she swallows, it’s hard to explain but looks very funny. I can feel a little madam developing now. This age of 10 months is my favourite with babies, they’re mobile, they sleep (mostly) and do not answer back. However if she wants a breastfeed or wants to sleep she refuses to sit, but pushes herself into a lying position.

Hoping the boys are not losing too much of their English skills, H showed me today he could hop but said he was ‘jumping on one leg’ this is the literal translation of how they say it in Swedish. When I said to the others to ‘hop’ they jumped.. ‘Hopp’ means jump in Swedish, so had to re explain this!
The kids never made it to school today as although we now have 2 cars, both have some affliction which renders them either unsafe or illegal or both. Tried to get them to do something educational, but after requests to write a story (S had started one yesterday but had given up for some reason) we went back to our rendition of ‘Countdown’ using the scrabble letters and the white board. I did not have a ticking clock so had to sort of make that up with my tongue. Anyhow they quite enjoyed this, and I think M managed to get an obscure word by chance (as his limits to spelling are dog, cat, ox and a few more common words). S got ‘quean’ which I guessed would happen as we had only one ‘e’ and it turned out to mean an impudent girl derived from Old Norse. As it turns out Swedish for woman is ‘kvinna’ the ‘kv’ a bit like the ‘kw’ in queen/ quean. Well you learn something every day.
Other questions from S were how did people discover how to make bread (after we’d made pizza).
M made a tiny tot house as inspired by CBeebies website, clever him had saved a box from the clutches of the recycling bins…..

a post-viral rantette

Well the cold progressed into what I would call flu, shivering and then waking up sweating, and the nose front had got through much more than the average amount of kitchen roll. (Did I mention boxes of tissues are not quite so common here and are much more expensive when you do get hold of them?). So had about 3 days where I was dragging myself from my bed to do whichever child’s bidding and back again. It’s especially harder for the younger ones to understand how come mum can’t be her usual ‘helpful’ self, and is just groaning between the blows into the ever-increasing mountain of tissues. The 2 weeks DH has been away have been some of the longest I can remember. Poor kids, bouncing off the walls as I had no energy to take them out. I mean if I was seeing black spots in front of my eyes just getting to the bathroom then a trip to the Post office would probably end in me flat out on the pavement.. (Dear mum had posted me some gravy granules so I can have a proper roast dinner).
Anyhow I think the road to recovery is almost in sight, although there are still road works ahead, trying to flush this virus/bacteria or whatever it is out of my system and regain my strength. Alhamdulillah, from hearing about other flu victims I seem to have come off lightly.Now for the real moan, it’s that time of year again for Swedish tax returns, and I was dreading having to calculate everything myself, but somehow DH’s company have kindly authorised PWC to do it again. Still, I have to sort out all the boring info for them to calculate it. The UK authorities have very benevolently decided I no longer make enough profit to warrant any more tax returns. The fact that they give a personal allowance before they start taxing you seems to have helped a lot. From the Swedish side who volunteer no such reasonableness, brings me to ponder if it would it be better just to leave the flats empty?! Or better sell them (which is what I really want to do and would remove quite a few headaches, I’m telling you), but then there would be capital gains tax, but we’re living in a post-socialist country. Hmm, so how come I see so many 1 or 2 year old Volvos driving round , oh yes, tax relief on interest, just to make sure the capitalism gets a look in too, and the world continues to run on thin air, i.e. riba (usury).

Just about sums up Sweden

not writing much as cold has progressed on to flu-like symptoms, but while the paracetamol works, I'll continue. Well I read this article just now, and as the roller-blading Dad pushing the doublebuggy on the road I once saw, and the lady who was probably approaching 80 cycling along quite fast, this link shows some of Sweden's quirky traits, this time feminism gone loony. http://www.thelocal.se/6551/20070228/

I think my kids would've been expelled, maybe making guns from lego, or pretending to be firemen. Sweden has got to wake up to the fact that equality can never exist and equity via Islam is the key.

love kids, hate admin

S and M Hama beading non-stop yesterday, alhamdulillah I needed to do some important stuff so I could get on with that. The younger ones do find it hard to make their own patterns esp H, and want me to do it for them which defeats the point somewhat! The iron's been seeing a lot more use than normal, it's hardly ever used on intended items ie clothes!
We're all still cold-inflicted so off school today(M is well but enjoying a day at home). I had to make lots of phonecalls (admin stuff) and I just don't know how the permanently homeedding families manage, as most institutions are only open in the day when kids are awake. Then you have to hope you will not be put on hold for half an hour while you grab a quiet opportunity when the littlies are napping. Then, when you finally get to speak to a human being, someone wakes up, and you find yourself apologising for the noise, screams and hope they have kids and understand. Alhamdulillah I think because of the illnesses, today I managed to get the calls done within the nap time! (Apart from the British embassy which say they're open from 9 am but have all their lines closed, is there some holiday going on I don't know about ? so I've had to make do with an e-mail which they'll probably ignore..)

bits'n bobs from the past few weeks

Ok, been meaning to write stuff after kids are in bed but then I’m too zonked to do much so let’s see how I get on whilst kids are occupied. Having quite an anxiety-filled day as we were to go out to meet friends, but can’t due to snow (car blocked in and dodgy steering so thought best to leave it). Hence there's been lots of arguing, moaning.
S is doing a Hama bead set, M was doing some mazes but now driving a car around so probably some more trousers will need patching in the not too distant future. H is just lying in bed (was up 6 am this morning) and Hafsah is trying to get in on the act with M I think. Ah H has just told Hafsah to spit something out which she obediently did. It turned out to be a raisin. I’m a bit stressed with as he’s not eating v well at the moment and seems to have a constant cold. Giving the Sanatogen from England (you can only get vit A & D for under 6 here in Sweden) so hope that’s keeping him going.
Past tenses in English continue to give me reminders of my speech therapy days:
H ‘eated’
Me ‘ate’
H ‘no,eated’

Today he seemed to be able to snap his fingers.
H ‘What’s snap mean?’
I tried to explain it’s like the noise/action when you break something e.g. a stick
H ‘I don’t want to break my fingers’

He made up a lot of stories about a monster and a boy, starting with ‘One upon a time..’, strange that as I don’t recall reading many with this type of beginning. Most bedtime ‘stories’ seem to be the factual ones S requests, e.g. the Lego DK book. I do try to plead for a more traditional type story as it’s so much more enjoyable to read. H also like his Dora phonics ones which are also a bit of a strain to read, at least they’re short. Then it’s up to M’s choice as to whether I get to hear a story I’d like!

A few small steps in H’s speaking. He’s made noises and ‘f’ sound for thirsty (I may have already mentioned that) and laughed out loud when the kids at nursery made popping noises with their puffed up cheeks. He’s not shy with his teacher, grabbing her top for attention! He said ‘hej’ to a friend’s daughter (out of earshot of her mum) and said ‘hej då’ (bye) in the changing rooms at nursery when no teacher was actually there.

Hafsah has become fascinated with looking at books (the pictures), she sits at the bookshelf selecting books, and coos/ makes happy noises as she looks at them.
She seems to know how to annoy the boys by taking apart their games e.g. the snowboard/ sledge ramps they’d made with cards and blue tak on the tilted whiteboard the other day. She’s had a bad cold recently and has only just regained her normal voice; it was a bit husky before.
S asking me to wear niqab on a few occasions, he says I’m too shy! Hmm..
Other questions from S include why salt is bad for you? Came up as they want salt on their chips. Found out a bit from internet that basically it raises blood pressure. The sodium in salt makes more water go into the blood which increases its pressure, to which he concluded we shouldn’t drink water!
Another question to follow up is ‘why do they talk English in the US?’
M: ‘Why does Allah need angels? (Subject of Mikael came up after Magic school bus weather story)

M went shopping with his Dad last weekend and came back happy as had won a cd computer game from doing a ‘tips promenad’ at the local supermarket. This is where you walk around and answer questions. Basically a healthier type of quiz. M had managed to get all the answers right mashaAllah, with DH and staff members helping to read the questions in Swedish. It sounded like they were food related e.g. where does milk come from? They were pleased as it was a Mulle Meck game (approximating Bob the builder but for older kids) which we often have trouble getting from the library. It also shows how their Swedish has improved as in the game there are many instructions, all in Swedish (Norrland accent a bit like Punjabi!)and they seemed to understand everything.

Trying to instil in S (and hopefully other kids and myself )‘to finish what we start’, getting a bit fed up clearing up half-embarked on projects.

M enjoyed his stable course, learning to brush, clean hooves, put on the tack and had a few turns riding. He stopped short of cantering although S was egging him on to make the pony go faster! It brought back nice childhood memories of when I learnt to ride.
As I said snow has hit south Sweden and so managed a few goes down the man made slope near us. Older 2 were ok, but hard to keep the other 2 warm as weren’t running up and down the slopes, even though I brought a hot water bottle and cocoa. Abu Jaan, you’re needed! (where he is its 35C I think)

Just a quick post

as having a pretty bad cold at the mo', with 2 younger ones also affected. Hafsah also has 3 teeth coming at the top so nights have been giving me unwelcome reminisences of the earlier months.
It snowed the other day so have been sledging twice. M's been horseriding earlier in the week as it's half term and many of the sports clubs have free or fairly cheap try-out courses the kids can attend. Haven't made as much of it as could due to having little ones to drag along as hub is away plus now I can't get the car out due to snow drift.
I'm beat so that's it for now.......