Eid Mubarak

Eid Mubarak! (Blessed Eid)... We had a great family celebration this past weekend - and the kids have officially declared, "Eid is the best Mom!"







Other than the unraveling of gifts we were blessed to give our children, our holy month, Ramadan, allowed us to devote some extra time to the learning, understanding and celebration of our personal faiths - of being thankful to God, reflecting on our individual selves, and spending time with our loved ones...





Teaching our children about our religion can be somewhat trivial for Aaron and I - as both of us respectfully practice different faiths. And at the same time, very natural to the two of us, as we both teach from our hearts -

And while we have Ramadan each year to help us reset - and then the wonderful festivities of Eid, there are also opportunities within each day to parent from this perspective as well. As the kids continue to grow, continue to question... our answers to sometimes the unexplainable are under scrutiny by the most curious minds. With the passing of my cousin this past summer, I shared my sadness with Ava. Truth be told, I felt she was too young to understand - but she amazed me in her sincerity and compassion (my, what our kids teach us!). And talking about these complex facts of life at such a young age, I have discovered, is a natural part of who we are as a family - questioning, answering, and figuring out what it means, together -

This past Ramadan was a good time for us to talk more about our faiths, and introduce more concepts... We spent one afternoon recreating a chapter from My First Quran using shapes I had cut out of construction paper the night before.



Together they pieced together night and day... mountains and trees... and then used stickers to place animals, fish in water and humans...










After wards, the kids wanted to paint pictures for God...



The entire activity was mesmerizing to watch - and how each interpreted the familiar - the sun, sky, clouds, rain, trees - all the things they have always been drawing - but today, under a different set of eyes... Ava asked, "Mom, what does God look like?" [smile] and I heard myself pause for a moment. What do I think God looks like?



And that is another blessing in itself - of how our own children bring us closer... While reflecting on this, Noah shouted, "Hurry. I have to finish. God will be here in 2 minutes!"