Sunday 3rd February 2018:
6:30 am: I felt really energized waking up as I slept as early as 9am on Saturday. My kids made several unsuccessful attempts of waking me up earlier as I managed to convince them that it was still night and that they had to fall asleep!
7:00 am: I get out of bed and wake up the kids early so they can sleep early later at night since they will be going to day care. I perform my ablutions and pray the first prayer of the day.
7:30 am: I make breakfast for the kids on me, as well as consider whether I should go on a water diet ? My eating habits have been unhealthy recently!
7:45 am: I sit down with the kids to have breakfast and decide that I should have some yogurt and Black English Breakfast Tea. My son asks me about what I will eat, and I tell him, just Yogurt.
8:15 am: My kids are finishing up eating their breakfast and I ask them to clean their hands and mouth so that they can play together. My son always loves to wash his hands with soap and water, as well as my daughter who likes to make bubbles.
8:25 am: My kids play together as I watch an Arabic drama, located in Kuwait about a family and their lives called “Memories that Don’t Die”. I hear my kids in the background demanding another cartoon to watch on Netflix kids, so I try to pick Moana, as they love that movie.
8:40 am: I think that I should watch one last episode, and prepare for my class tomorrow. I love making lesson plans! So I try to make one on introducing the second assignment for my students and maybe include some of the readings that we can discuss that day.
9:00 am: I am still lesson planning. I have a power point ready to go and some exciting class excercises.
9:30- 10:45am: Finished lesson planning and got my son ready to go to the Arabic school. It is his third week and he has learned the first “Surah” of the “Quran” by heart. I’m so proud of him. Although he does not know what the Arabic words means, he memorized the words. I try to prepare his bag with pencils and a notebook for the teachers to write a daily report on Sundays, when he goes to the Arabic School.
10:45 am: I wake up my husband so he can take our son to the Arabic school and they go together.
11:00-11:55: My daughter refuses to take a nap, as she keeps singing etsy bitsy spider all over again. She wants to talk to me and tell me stories too, like how to make gingerbread cookies, a children’s story she loves!
11:55_ 12:50: My daughter is still up, and I go back to reading one of the new books I received and summaries the major points of each chapter to use in my dissertation. With life happening around me I always think about my dissertation and I have a notebook close by just in case I need to work on some ideas as I do housework, cooking, and washing clothes. I give my daughter her lunch and try to make her eat it by herself using a spoon.
1:00 1:30: My daughter wants me to brush her hair and I make a pony tail for her. She loves to dress up and play an English Lady, as well as pretending to drink tea in her own “fake” tea set. I pray for the second time. This prayer is called “Duhur” meaning midday.
1:30- 2:30: My husband brings my son back from the Arabic School and we decide to make burgers for dinner. So, we decide to go to the supermarket to get burgers, bread, lettuce, French fries and cheese.
2:30- 4:30: As we prepare to head out, I remember that it is the super bowl and that I have never watched a full game. I love the advertisements that come out each year. Some of them are very funny. Me and my husband perform the third prayer of the day. Every time I pray, I try to promise God that my next prayer will be better, as I can’t help but to think about what I need to do, like dress the kids, or get my clothes ready for tomorrow. I feel guilty that I think about everyday stuff and I try to stay focused. They told us as little children that every time we pray, we should imagine that our angels are praying too and that the angel of death is always looming behind you! As scary as it sounds, I promised myself that my kids will never hear that version of prayer. I want them to pray and really feel the amazing calmness that comes to praying. They used to tell us that story to make us scared and pray as kids, but I do not like it as it still troubles me to think that the angel of death is looming behind my back.
4:30- 5:45: We go to the Mall, window shopping. I found a ruby scarf that I really love, and so I buy it. I’m glad that there are new stores opening up in the mall. Every time we go passed the bookstore I promise that I will go there in my leisure time and just read. I hope I can do this this week.
5:45- 6:30: We decide that me and L should head back home and that My husband and son should go to the supermarket to get things for dinner. I pray the 4th praryer, called “Maghreb” and we have it when the sun begins to set.
6:30- 7:30: I prepare the burgers as well as fries. I try to suit everybody’s needs and add as much ketchup as everyone likes. They can never get enough ketchup!
7:30- 8:00: Me and the children eat as my husband doesn’t want any dinner. He told me he had some Pizza earlier and that he is full. He is a great cook and I love it when we cook together and eat. I pray the last prayer of the day and ask God to forgive me as well as ask for mercy for my two aunts who have passed away as I miss talking to them. I promised one of them that I would visit, but I never managed to go back, as my study schedule was crazy.
8:00: 8:30: My children are done eating so I take them to brush their teeth, as well as wear their pajamas. I feel really tired so I decide to sleep too.
8:30- 10:30: My children are sleeping quietly in their bed as I make sure that the room temperature is an appropriate one for a long night’s sleep. It amazes me how long nights are in the winter! I go back to watching another Arabic Kuwaiti episode and I contemplate on the different themes the episode seems to referring to. I wonder if they are true or real in Kuwait! I also think about Arabic Drama in general, as to what ways they are becoming more realistic or NOT! I think I fell asleep halfway through the episode.