Ayyam'i'Ha 2011

Happy Ayyam'i'Ha ("Days of Joy")! This is a special celebration in the Baha'i Faith, a time for service to others as well as fun parties and exchange of gifts. Ayyam'i'Ha stars Feb 26th, and goes until March 1st.

To celebrate this year, we made new decorations (garlands of yarn and beads), and hung our "pockets" -- banners that hang on the wall and hold small gifts for each other. I made these a few years back, my own design. There is a fifth pocket (for leap years) that folds under and snaps for hide-away on non-leap-years.

We also enjoyed a trip to an Amerk's hockey game (Malcolm's first time going to a game!). This was a gift from my brother, Darin, and his girlfriend, Pat (who we absolutely adore!!) Malcolm loved the hockey game, and has asked several times to go back. These requests seem to have absolutely nothing to do with hockey and sound like this: "Mom, remember when we went to the place with hot dogs and chicken fingers and french fries and sugar juice and ice cream? Let's do that again some time!" Or, "Dad, can we go to the place with the balloon animal clown lady again? That was really fun!" And "I miss the Really Big Moose! Can we go play at his house

again?"

We wrapped up Ayyam'i'Ha with a party at Malcolm's preschool. Sadly, Matthew had to work, but Malcolm's B-Ma (birthmom) was able to join in, and fun was had by all. The party included story time and a chat about "what makes us feel joyful," followed by a craft, a pinata and a snack time.

Why Does It Sound So Different When He Says It?

This afternoon, we hosted a small gathering at our home, Baha'i Feast (this is a once-a-Baha'i-month (aka every 19 days) event, that is comprised of three parts: the spiritual portion for saying prayers and such, the administrative portion to talk about events in the community, and the social portion). Most Baha'i Feasts in our community tend to take place in the evening (past bedtime for Malcolm), so it is a rare treat when Feast falls on a weekend. It did this month, so we offered to host the event in the afternoon. It was great fun, with a wonderful turn out, including the other Baha'i family in our community with young children -- twin girls about a year and a half younger than Malcolm.

Malcolm has been very excited to host Feast, helping to clean the apartment, helping me to decorate a cake to serve, practicing reciting a prayer from memory, even picking out all his musical toys to share with the guests to sing songs together (a common part of the spiritual portion). Often, when the administrative portion starts, the kids will go off to play, returning for the closing prayer and joining in on the social portion. So when we got to that part, I told Malcolm that he was welcome to stay, or that he could invite the other children to go to his room and play with toys.

For the record, my exact words to my son were "Malcolm, you may invite your friends to see your room and share in your toys." See how I model good behavior? How I use words of courtesy and welcome, like "invite" and "share"?

Does he say "Friends, please be welcome"? No. How about "Would you like to play with my toys?" No. Heck, I'd even settle for "Let's go to my room!"

Instead, he goes running by the other kids, and as he reaches the start of the hallway, he turns around and yells at the kids "Keep up!"

On the 1st Day of Ayyam'i'Ha . . .

Ayyam'i'Ha is a time of reflection, celebration, and preparation for the Fast (more on that in a later post).  It's also a time for Matthew, Malcolm and me to share gifts with each other.  This year, we got Malcolm a Doctor's Kit.  His favorite parts are the stethoscope and the anesthesia mask, both of which he greatly enjoyed trying out on the rest of the family, including Mom & Dad, the dogs, and his stuffed Elly Bean.

Here he is, listening to his own heart . . . 

We also splurged on a toy kitchen for him.  (We got the kitchen used, but bought him new food and pans for it.)  It's been a huge hit!  And, I'm pleased to say, it has also provided ample opportunities to successfully practice our "clean up" skills -- every night, just before we start our bedtime routine, we pick up all the many, many toy foods and tiny plastic frying pans, and put them away in a bin.

Check back tomorrow (okay, maybe Wednesday) for more Malcolm!  Coming up . . .  a video of Malcolm and his Treasure Ball!

Happy Ayyam'i'Ha!

This week, our family celebrates Ayyam'i'Ha ("Days of Joy").  This is a special holiday in our religion, the Baha'i Faith.  Each Baha'i family celebrates a little differently, though most include elements of service & charity, parties, and gifts.  Our family celebrates by decorating our home with ribbons and stars, sharing gifts, and being of service to those around us.  This year we made small gifts for Malcolm's classmates, cookies for his teachers and our co-workers, and volunteering to help with the community's party.  Malcolm's teachers also decorated his classroom!

My favorite part of Ayyam'i'Ha this year, so far, has been seeing Malcolm's joy in the holiday.  Despite being able to say both "Happy" and "Ayyam'i'Ha" with ease, when he puts them together, they come out a little funny . . . 

A Moment of Grace

(So this evening's blog-entry has no pictures to go with it, but I hope you will take the time to read it, nonetheless, because it shares one of the sweetest moments in my life since Malcolm first slept in my arms.)

As many of you may know: tomorrow is a very big day for me.  I will have my final interview for the Child Life Internship position.  There were over 100 applicants for this session, and they usually take about 3 interns.  Yikes!  But I've made it to the final round, so tomorrow's interview will decide it.  Besides being a wonderful chance to learn hands on skills, this internship is a mandatory step to becoming certified, and being able to work in the field.

So, on to tonight's sweet moment.

Malcolm's bedtime routine is the same every night: we brush our teeth, put on our jammies, then we have 2 books, 2 songs, and a prayer.  We finish up with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Malcolm turns out the light, and we tuck him into his crib, where he drifts sweetly off to sleep.   We have a few prayers we choose from each night, and tend to go with whatever Malcolm's recent favorite has been.  For a long time, it was the drumming prayer, which Malcolm could drum out the rhythm for, much to all our delights.

For the last several nights, we've chosen one of our favorite Baha'i prayers.  Malcolm sits in my lap (or Daddy's) and I sing the prayer:

"O God, guide me, protect me,

make of me a shining lamp and a brilliant star.

Thou art the Mighty and the Powerful."

Tonight, before I sang the prayer, I said to Malcolm, "Tomorrow is a very special day for Mommy.  When we say our prayer tonight, we can ask God to help me do well at my interview."  Then I began to sing.

And so did Malcolm.

His sweet voice joined with mine, perfectly in tune, though with only a few of the words.  I've never been very good at praying.  It's not a skill that comes to me naturally.  I struggle to feel that connection to the Divine that so many others seem to find so easily in prayer.  But tonight, as Malcolm raised his voice to pray with me, I felt it.  I also felt a sense of awe, humility, gratitude and joy.  My son, not quite yet two years old, is helping me learn to pray.  And that is an amazing thing.