Khairina and Puasa

Khairina first started fasting last year when she was 6 years old,  we didn't force her to but she was persistent to do it because she wanted to join the 'jingang' during iftar because if not she will not have the opportunity to sit at the dining table during iftar.  Anyway, last year she managed to get 18 days of puasa penuh, not bad, I would say for a first timer, however Nabil still holds the record of completing the 30 days of puasa at the age of 6 (I tell you that boy is made of steel), even during the fasting month he can still find the energy to play football in his agama school field.  Not only that, he has not missed his terawih yet (not sure where this scrawny boy gets his energy from).

Back to Khairina, her first day of puasa something funny happened, we woke her up for sahur because again she insisted she wanted to fast, she was half asleep as she could not open her eyes, I carried her downstairs, washed her face and told her to rinse her mouth (nasib baik anak Ibu ni kurus, bolehlah nak dukung2 lagi).  Put her down on the chair and told her to eat, she went 'I can't open my eyes', and I went 'Ok Ibu suap, Nina bukak mulut aje, tak yah bukak mata' and she went 'Ok Ibu, thank you Ibu'.  So I fed her and when she said she was full I carried her back to bed.  The next morning (actually it's the same morning), while getting ready for school, she asked me 'Eh Ibu, Nina ni puasa ke?'  and I replied 'puasa' and she went 'Tapi Nina tak bangun sahur pun', and came my reply 'Nina makan sahur, Ibu suap sebab Nina ngantuk sangat' and she went 'Oooooh....jadi Nina kena puasalah kan?' and I just nodded my head.

Off she went to school,  I came home at around 2.30 pm and she greeted me at the door by saying 'Ibu, Nina tak puasa, sebab Nina rasa Nina mimpi jelah Nina sahur tapi Nina tak sahur kan Ibu?  Ibu answered '  'Masya Allah Khairina, Nina sahurlah Ibu yang suap Nina makan' and came her answer 'Ya ke Ibu?' and Ibu answered 'Takpelah Nina, Nina dah makan pun, jadi Nina memang tak puasa ok' and she answered 'Tapi Nina nak'.  Haiyoo... 'Nina terlupa takpe, tapi Nina makan banyak ke tadi?' I just wanted to make sure maybe she ate some food by accident because she has forgotten that she was supposed to fast and she went 'Nina beli satu pinggan nasi lemak dengan air sarsi, Nina makan sampai habis'.  Oh my dear girl itu memang bukan terlupa, itu memang dah tak puasalah and came the whine 'Nina nak!' and she continued to fast refusing to eat and drink after that and she was adamant to join us during iftar because according to her she 'termakan'.  Suka hatilah ko nak oi....tak kuasa nak layan.  ahak ahak.  The subsequent days after the incident, she has been fasting for the rest of the days and so far, she is doing ok and am glad.

Unfortunately, the thing that I can't stand is when she asks the question of 'how many hours more to berbuka?' and after 5 mins she will be asking the same question again and again and again.  To solve the problem, we bought her a watch that she always wanted and my my whaddaya know she seldom bothers us with the question again.  Pretty good trick, I would say.

The thing about fasting month is, cooking has been a fulfilling affair because the are all eager to eat and nothing goes to waste and everything I cook is delicious to the kids (which is an achievement because I'm a lousy cook) and that shows when people are hungry, anything goes.