Eid Mubarak everyone! This is that time that we're celebrating Eid ul-Adha, which centres on the story of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and his sacrifice of a sheep in place of his son, Ismail, as Allah commanded. My teacher and Imam spoke about the significance and the lesson in this particular Eid just days…
It's hard being a parent. I think it always has been hard being a parent. Even with the village. Sometimes because of the village. These days it's hard because mostly, parents have to wade that ocean of raising their children alone. Inevitably, we look to the "golden olden" days where babies were passed from mother,…
The morning of the fateful day was a hectic one for me. In fact, any day that I need to leave the house by a set time in the morning is busy. Trying to feed two girls under 5 and myself, dressing us all to look presentable to the world, packing bags with nappies and…
I have always been insecure about my appearance. Being of Uyghur/Uzbek descent, culturally Turkic groups located in Central Asia wedged between China and Russia, my features are decidedly 'Asian'. I carry my ethnicity on my face, for all the world to see, to puzzle over, or to label prematurely, ignorantly. I grew up in the…
Hi all! Here is today's Best On The Net. From beautiful things coming out of very difficult situations to a book that teaches your little one (or you) 'how to code,' and something musical too. Enjoy <3 1. Strangers at Home: Uyghurs in the land of the Hui "However, Fatima and Mohammad reflected a new kind of story,…
I am travelling overseas later in the week with my family, minus Z (yes, I KNOW! How am I going to do it?! But I also can't do it WITH her, so...). I haven't actually been overseas since my honeymoon, which was SEVEN years ago, and am feeling slightly anxious about it. We'll be gone…
Continue reading ➞ Practical ways to make the most out of your travels
2016 has been a particularly testing year. There has been tragic event after tragic event of mass killings, police brutality, domestic violence, civil war and the ever increasing growth of displaced peoples receiving very little compassion. How does one cope with such harrowing trauma? How do we not descend into a depressive spiral, where we…
Parenting is one of those things that can spectacularly divide people, like Pokemon Go, or the colour of some dress. Ok, maybe the parenting divides can be a bit weightier than those. The nature of parenting is so personal that the moment you begin to discuss some aspect of it, such as food, or television,…