The Little Things

I’m a full time working mother and wife. My alarm goes off at 6:15 am every morning, and ironically my 11 month old is sitting upright in his crib ready for action at 6:18 am. Note, even if I get up earlier or later, within 3 minutes, he is too. So I attend to him first. I change his diaper, dress him up, give him some milk, then pass him on to his father so that I can get ready.

Meanwhile, I’m pumping milk for while he’s with grandma, getting dressed, preparing breakfast, and double checking that the diaper bag is replenished. My husband is also getting ready, and we all know that all but takes 5 minutes for them, while keeping an eye on our son.

Keeping an eye on our son. So helpful for me, who is running around like a mad woman every morning thinking to myself, I will wake up a little earlier tomorrow (doesn’t happen).

Finally, once we’re all ready to go, I go out first to start the car and take out the bags. My husband dresses our son in his hat and jacket.

Dresses our son in his hat and jacket. So simple. So little. But all this really goes a long way. For those mornings that my husband leaves for work earlier, it takes me almost twice as long until I’m finally driving off.

I try to remember to thank my husband before we part, but with our busy mornings I’m not sure if the message always clearly get’s across. But I appreciate every simple helping hand and eye. May Allah reward him.

So the day calms down a bit once I’m at work and things start to go slow again. But then it all starts again when I pick up our son at 3:50 pm. Driving around the traffic, trying to make it home before he starts getting fussy. We’re home around 4:10 pm. I feed him, change him, and put him in his crib for a nap. He’s down by 4:30 pm for at least an hour. Time for me to unwind. Oh, the beautiful nap time. So little, but so important. At that time, Allah replenishes me with renewed energy so that I can now take care of my home and family. Elhamdulela.

Hoda

Hoda a wife and a mother to a stillborn daughter in heaven and an almost one year old son. She is an elementary school teacher in public school and lives in Virginia.