Weekly Photo Challenge: Letters

April 25, 2014

By znjavid

My son was being naughty while playing with his box of sand and construction toys so we told him we would put away his box if he continued. He quietly got a marker and wrote his name down on the box as if to tell us “It’s MY box!” Even though the ‘N’ was upside down this is the first time I saw him write down his name. He also with one stroke of a pen (marker) was able to tell us who’s really the boss around our house!
Weekly Photo Challenge: Letters

Weekly Photo Challenge: Monument

April 13, 2014

By znjavid

The Pakistan Monument was completed at the end of 2006 and inaugurated on the National Day of Pakistan on March 23rd, 2007. It’s about 20 minutes drive from my home in Islamabad where I used to pass it by without bothering to visit for nearly 4 years until I left my home city to live in Dubai. Last week I was there for the spring holidays with my son and finally went to see it.

The Petal Monument

The mural inside each Petal

The Museum and Pakistan Flag

View of the city from the monument

The four main petals of the monument represent the four provinces, while the three smaller petals represent the three territories. The inner walls of the petals are decorated with murals depicting the history and culture of Pakistan. The monument is located at the west viewpoint of the Shakarparian Hills, and is spread over a total area of 2.8 hectares. The high location makes the monument visible from all over the capital city of Islamabad.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Monument

Weekly Photo Challenge: Threshold

April 4, 2014

By znjavid

Threshold: That moment when in a flash you see yourself driving a BMW in the future.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Threshold

Weekly Photo Challenge: Street Life

March 28, 2014

By znjavid

When I visited San Francisco with my husband many years ago, I had the chance to photograph Lombard Street; its 8 sharp turns have made it known as the crookedest street in the world. We walked up the street as cars zigzagged by and we wondered how difficult it must be for someone who would have to commute by here daily. Apparently it was designed this way to negotiate the steep incline of the hill.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Street Life

Hanging Sleepers

March 23, 2014

By znjavid

I’m the kind of sleeper who even manages to sleep when hanging from one edge of the bed because her 4-year old decided to claim the bed in the middle of the night.

These days I’m sleeping late because I’m working on some freelance writing and I have a project to complete. Once I’m in bed I drop off to sleep quickly, but I’m a light sleeper generally. Sometimes I’m really tired and I don’t even notice when the little fellow slips into my bed but at other times I wake up when he comes. It’s a very funny sight to watch since he’s half asleep and literally drops into my bed.

I know I should actually be putting him back in his bed when he does that but instead I just kiss him and go back to sleep. It’s amazing how little space I need to sleep and how much the little rascal needs. The best position to sleep in when you’re confined in space is on your back with your arms folded behind your head. That is a strange position to sleep in but I’ve got to optimize my space.

I usually wake up before the alarm rings on school days and at the same time on weekends as well. My son has the same sleeping and waking routine on school days and holidays. I remember the time when before I was married I used to get up late on holidays. I remember, but just barely.

Daily Prompt: Mr. Sandman

Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflections

March 21, 2014

By znjavid

I’ve often talked about the lake near my house where I take my afternoon and evening walks. As I walk around this man made lake, I reflect on the day’s happenings, about my son and his future and generally about life. It’s a nice way for me to clear my head and I always go home refreshed and more hopeful. For this challenge I am posting photos of this lake that I have taken at different times during my stay in Dubai.

Dubai, UAE

Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflections

Linger a little

March 17, 2014

By znjavid

My husband and I go out for lunch and a movie every weekend. We always go in the afternoon because I don’t like leaving my son in the evening or at night. I really enjoy this time we have as a couple. The rest of the week my life is focused on my son and my schedule revolves around him.

Sometimes, at the end of the movie, when it’s time to go home I wish I could linger a little longer. Maybe just do a little window shopping. Or have some coffee. But then my guilt takes over and I’m rushing to go home. Even though I know my husband and I deserve to have some time together I still feel bad when I leave my son at home. The poor fellow never makes a fuss about it; he just wants to know if the movie we watched had any monsters in it. Sometimes if I’m feeling especially guilty and I want to reward him for something I buy him a toy before we leave for home.

Every parent knows that caring for a child is no easy task. So when you sometimes get “time off” you just want it to last a bit longer. For me, coming back home after the movie is like coming back to reality.

Daily Prompt: Linger

Sweet cravings

March 15, 2014

By znjavid

: Jalebi

: Pistachio burfi

: Gulab jaman

: Kheer

I’m so sick of eating my son’s favorite chocolate cake (that we have to bake every week) that I’ve been craving for some traditional sweets. The syrupy, melt-in-the mouth ‘gulab jamans’ that envelop you with their sweetness, the creamy milky ‘kheer’ that you can’t have enough of, the crumbling rich sweetness of ‘burfi’ and the crispy pretzel shaped ‘jalebi’ dripping with sweet syrup.

Yes that would do very well.

They need to make one of those sweet shops that sell all of the above somewhere near my house. I would be their most loyal customer, in fact if they were on Four square I would be the undisputed Mayor.

What makes it worse is that my fridge is full of chocolates and I’m still craving for sweets. You might be wondering why I don’t just open the fridge and indulge myself. That’s because chocolates are boring. They are not syrupy so your fingers get all gooey with sweetness. They don’t come in different colors (yes I know about the M&Ms but those are for babies) like the dark maroon ‘gulab jamun’, the orange ‘jalebi’, the white ‘kheer’ and the green pistachio ‘burfi’. Chocolate doesn’t have different textures and it’s always at one temperature not warm like the ‘gulab jaman’ and cold like ‘kheer’. It’s just plain boring.

(With apologies to my husband who works in a chocolate company and brings home a packet of assorted chocolates every Thursday.)

Daily Prompt: Pour Some Sugar On Me

Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside

March 14, 2014

By znjavid

My son at various ages inside a car…

As a newborn

At 1 year

As a cool dude at 3 years

Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside

How Do I Get My Son To Go To School

March 11, 2014

By znjavid

If you want to meet stubborn, meet my son. He’s 4 years old and once he’s made up his mind about something there’s no way he’s going to budge.

He has lately decided that he doesn’t want to go to school. I have tried every way to make him change his mind but it hasn’t worked. I have given him incentives like the promise of a prize if he goes. I have threatened him with punishments of taking away his toys, that did make him go one day but the next day he was back to usual. . I have tried to get him as bored as possible if he misses a day to show him how staying at home is not fun. He keeps following me around as he hates being on his own and loves company. But that is also difficult for me as I have started doing some freelance work and I was counting on having the mornings to myself.

Once I do manage to get him to school, he settles down quickly and doesn’t have any problems for the rest of the day. He interacts with his classmates and does all the activities as instructed. He even has his lunch well. He comes home and tells me he has had fun but the next morning he is refusing again. He doesn’t mind getting up early and we are generally not even rushed as his school is just nearby.

I have asked him many times if he has a problem in school or if someone said something to him but he hasn’t told me anything of significance. Neither has he told his teacher anything. Today I even asked his older cousin, my nephew who is a very sensible boy to talk to him and ask him if he has any problem in school. He talked to him but couldn’t ascertain any problem that he might be facing. He likes to talk a lot and if he had a problem I think he would have confided in someone. I can only come to the conclusion that he has no issues with school itself.

Yet he continues to show his stubbornness and refuse to go to school. Today his dad came along too and it took so long to get him inside that he got late going to office. I am at my wit’s end and in desperation I have decided to seek professional help. I have booked an appointment with a clinical psychologist in the hope that she might give us some good advice.

Till then I have to keep trying to get him to school because if gets into the routine of not going it will get even more difficult to make him go. I have nightmares of my only child becoming a dropout. I can only hope that when he grows up we will just be laughing about this – the time when he nearly dropped out of nursery.

Daily Prompt: Never Surrender