Fluffy

Fluffy Trooper - that's the name given to her by Ilham. Fluffy, because her fur was sooo soft and Trooper, because he's into Star Wars at the moment :)

We had to buy her about a month ago when Ilham refused to budge from the cage and insisted that he was big enough to care for a pet. Who would have thought that a shop (well, a big one) selling plants and gardening tools would also sell pets like hamster, rabbit and fish! He said the hamster would be his pet and friend, and that he had no one to play with at home. But now, he could play with her and would not bother mama anymore especially when she's cooking...

So, that's how Fluffy ended being part of the family. Despite my initial disapproval of having her around, I had to admit that Fluffy grudgingly won me over. I looked forward to seeing her playing on the merry-go-round every night. Our quite nights watching the movie was never the same again, for Fluffy also liked to go on the merry-go-round during that time!! And the thing made so much noise that it drowned out the volume from the TV.

As for Ilham, even though he said that he would like to play with Fluffy, he's so ticklish that he couldn't bear to hold her in his bare hands!! He had to use this so called Anti Fluffy Biting and Scratching Gloves (see pictures above). He even looked scared when holding her, scared in case Fluffy climbed up the sleeve!! Shame on you Ilham...

But Fluffy was so quiet yesterday when we got home from school. She did not come out to play while we were watching TV that night and I realised that I did not hear the merry-go-round in the morning and afternoon either. In fact, I was sure I did not hear her the night before as well. So I asked Ilham to check in the small house in the cage. He had to pull out a lot of cotton before he could touch her, but Fluffy did not try to climb out, she did not even bite him for disturbing her sleep. She laid there unmoving... for Fluffy had died.

Ilham cried and cried becoz he had lost a pet and a friend.

Diary Of A Smart Kid

A few weeks ago, I bought the first three books of "Diary Of Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney to read and was hoping that in a few years Ilham would be able to read them as well. So it's kind of like killing two birds with one stone :) I really enjoyed reading the books especially the first one. It's so funny I just couldn't help smiling and laughing from the first page. It is definitely an excellent choice for reluctant readers - as stated by one of the reviews. When Ilham saw me reading the book, he wanted to read as well, now, and not when he is in grade 4 ( I told him earlier that he could read them when he's in that grade at least). Since he insisted to read the book, I gave in. Ilham loved the book, he finished it in a few days time. Now he thinks that he is big enough to read big kids' books !!! Reading the book gives him the idea to have his own diary as well, and asked me to buy one for him. Thinking that it might be good to encourage him to write at home as well, (he has a journal to write in school) I bought one for him. He called it "Diary Of A Smart Kid" and this is what he wrote.....

He even drew himself like "Greg" the main character in the book :) . I do hope that he writes as often as possible.

I'm Sorry Teacher

Dear Ms Kimura,

Sorry of what happened about the broken ruler. I feel sorry. And I will never do it again.....

This is the apology letter that Ilham wrote to his teacher for breaking the school ruler in class. I suppose it's not so much about breaking a small plastic ruler but it's about instilling a sense of responsibility inside a kid not to destroy common property. By making the student write it down, he is aware that he has done a wrong and should do something about it. Not only that, the letter should also be acknowledged by a parent.

There was no angry lecture, just a calm explanation that the behaviour is not acceptable.

2JK

My intention of writing about Ilham's schooling here in The Netherlands has somehow been sidetracked by all this snow thing. I couldn't help writing about it because for one thing, Holland had not had this much of snow for years and who knows, there might be no snow next year right? The Dutch certainly did not expect it because they run out of salt in the stores and also the companny that supply it. Imagine that, the roads would be dangerous and slippery because of that!!!

I suppose I should now start something on Ilham's schooling. As I said earlier, Ilham is in class 2JK. It's a cheerful,colourful and interesting room with lots and lots of books. The walls are decorated with children's work and writing and there are a lot of materials to use, coloured papers, scissors, glue sticks, coloured pencils, folders etc... Each child has a small drawer of their own to put their personal stuff like pencils etc. I certainly love it, I suppose if I were kid, I would look forward to come to school everyday.

The school encourage parents participation. Every month, there is a "brain game" in the class and 4/5 parents would volunteer to come and be involved in the game with the children. They also has Mystery Reader every 2 weeks. Parents/sibling are invited to be the reader. The children would try to guess whom the Mystery Reader is. There are also volunteers to help the teacher. I am one of the volunteers at the class. Every Wednesday afternoon from 1 until 3.30pm, I would help the teacher doing small things like photostating, cutting, pasting paper and laminating. Another mother comes in on Thursday to help out. By being a volunteer, I have access to the classroom and have a chance to see the childrens' work. It's nice to be involved in that way....

Snow and Fun, Fun, Fun

It has been amost three weeks since my last posting and it's not because I didn't have time to write, but it's simply because of internet problems. It's very frustrating !!! Somehow I feel lost when I couldn't read the news and of course those blogs I frequently visit :)

Anyway, so many things have happenned in the last two weeks. Ilham fell off the bike on the slippery snow turned ice on the first day back to school. Luckily there was no car at the time and no injury either. We were still in the housing area when it happened but that's where the danger is. The area was slippery because of the ice, once you were on the "fietspad" or cycling path, the road was free of snow/ice.

During the first week of January more snow had fallen. In fact, right now there is still snow in our garden and the opened space but it's starting to melt now. It was snowing heavily one day, when we were going home from school. It's an interesting experience cycling on the fresh snow, the sound of crunching ice accompanied us as we pedaled along and sometimes you could hardly see as the snow flakes kept getting into the eyes. The normally 15 minute journey took almost 45 minutes to reach home, longer because someone kept stopping to play in the snow and of course the photography sessions....

In front of ISA ..................... Cycling home

Ilham had a chance to snow sled again on the small hill not far from the house. Here's some photos and video of him enjoying himself :)

Goodbye 2009

The year 2009 has just ended, hopefully taking with it all the unsettling things and the uncertainties that been happening around us and may the year 2010 will bring rahmat and hidayat from Allah. The transition to the Netherlands has not been as easy as I had hoped for but alhamdulillah, my dear Ilham seems to be adjusting well to the situation. I do hope that he will grow to be anak yang soleh InsyaAllah.