Lailat al Qadr, You Say? I’m Not Feelin’ It….

Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim

Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah

Okay, so tonight is the 27th of Ramadan.  We are instructed to look for Lailat al Qadr, the Night of Power, in the odd nights of the last ten days, with particular emphasis on the 27th.  My husband left for the masjid before iftaar, and I am here home with the kids.  Sigh. 

The kids.  The one who came home crying from school because his brother got a bottle of soap bubbles to play with from the prize box in his class and he didn’t.  The one who was whiny all day because she didn’t like the incense I used in the bathroom and wanted me to drag her potty out into the hall. The one who was fussy all day, wanting to nurse constantly and play in the cats’ litter box and eat their food.  Those kids.  Oh, and did I mention there’s a hurricane on the way?

I went out today to get some last essentials.  Alhamdulillah, it wasn’t too bad.  I think most of the commuters from Washington D.C. were still on the road coming home so the worst press of humanity had not hit Wal-mart when I went.  Being the super wonderful mom I am, I bought soap bubbles for all so the crying son would be happy.  That lasted as long as the bubbles did.  I refilled everyone’s bottle twice, but that was not enough to stave off tears from the whiny girl or the sad boy when I said enough and made them come inside.  Because, you know, there’s a hurricane on the way.

Home again, my husband asked me to email the customers whose packages are late because he’s behind due to making itikaaf.  Sigh.  I love answering angry emails.  I tried to rest for a few minutes then headed to the kitchen to make a simple dinner, burgers, chicken patties, pretzels, chips, and soda.  Did I mention I’m burned out on iftaars?  Two of the kids refused to eat at all, one nibbled around the perimeter of the chicken patty.  I could have just let them have cereal for all the effort was appreciated.  I cleared the table and my son neglected to wash dishes or fill the water bottles so I have gently remind him.  Because, you know, he only has to do it every day of his life so naturally he forgot.  Oh, and did I mention there’s a hurricane on the way?

 

So now it’s 9pm and time for the kids to go to bed.  I did manage to make some mango frozen yogurt, a necessary task before the mango turned bad.  I’m waiting for the second batch to process and then I’ll put it in the freezer to harden up.  It will be a treat for hubby tomorrow inshaAllah for iftaar.  Assuming, of course, that we don’t lose electricity and have the contents of our fridge and freezer melting away.  Because, you know, there’s a hurricane on the way.

I woke up tired.  The kind of dopey tired that makes even simple tasks like tying shoes into monumental ones.  Alhamdulillah there were no aftershocks last night – remember we had an earthquake just a few days ago – but late to bed and early for suhoor then kids with two different school schedules makes for an early and hectic morning.  The baby wouldn’t let me go back to bed so I was up, stumbling through my daily tasks and looking forward to nightfall not, I have to admit, because I was looking for Lailat al Qadr but because I was desperately looking for bedtime   I slammed down a couple of Mountain Dews with iftaar so the sugar and caffeine are keeping me going for now, so I’m just waiting for the kids to go to bed like I told them four or five times so I can settle down, read Qur’an, then listen to Qur’an, and maybe get a bit of my mojo back. 

I know raising kids is ‘ibaadah, and I consider myself a dedicated mommy, but I am so looking forward to all of them being a little older and more independent so I can focus on myself more.  I want my Ramadan to be tarawih and lectures and companionship and learning.  At the moment it is cooking and laundry and diaper changing and moderating battles over toys.  Speaking of diaper changing, my kids are informing me that their baby brother has done a poopy so I’d best take care of that so the little booger doesn’t develop a rash.  And I have to yell at the boys because they keep running out of their room and fighting.  And the baby is trying to get under the bed to get the kittens – did I mention the cat had another litter?  – and Mervat is running around shaking some maraca-like toy and oh, by the way, did I mention there’s a hurricane on the way?