Abdullah...my name is.

I had been quite busy last week that I didn't have the opportunity to post any entry. Hmm...Wafitos was still reluctant to go to school every morning, crying and mopping, claiming that the 8-4 school session really made him exhausted and bored. Afafita Mi Amor had started to make new friends at school. Among the most repeated names are Aishah and Inta (I guess the girl's name is Intan, knowing that Afafita has this kind of attitude of omitting the last few letters of her friends' name). And I was still the same me..., still searching the right tempo for me, to manage my new career as a homemaker.

There are few positive changes (or I may say it as progress) in my kids since they start schooling here. As for afafita, she can utter few Arabic words that she learnt at school. And among the famous words are "ista'id- istirahan" which mean "sedia- senang diri". I guess she picked this up during the morning assembly at school. And alhamdulillah, now Wafitos knows some basic zikir, and happily humming the zikir every now and then at home. (sometimes during shower too!)

One evening, upon reaching home from school, Chichi eagerly said to me: "Mama, I learnt a new nasyid at school".
"Sing it for me, I would like to listen", I asnwered.
"It's about Prophet Muhammad's children".
After singing that nasyid, Chichi asked me. "Mama, I want to change my name. Please change my name".
"What? Changing name? But why?" I responded to him.
"I love the name 'Abdullah'. It sounds nice, not like my name. I want that name. I want to be called as Abdullah".
"No, you can't change your name. Papa had chosen this name specially for you. Do you know how long it took me to find and choose the best and suitable name for you?" Chichi's father interupted our conversation.
"But why can't I change my name if I don't like mine now?" Chichi argued, as usual, urging for a justification from us.

Actually, I was taken aback by this issue. Hmm.... when I was young, about 13 or 14, I fancied several of my friend's name, which I thought more up-to-date and glamorous. I guess it's normal, especially for teenagers. I must confess that I used to dream of being named with such modern names. Names like Aminah, Khadijah or Fatimah had never been on the list. :) But I never thought my son would love classic names such as Abdullah. Apart of that, I never thought he would ever thought of changing his name at the age of 6. Compared to me, at the age of 6, I just started learning to write and spell my name correctly.

Kids nowadays are more advanced; in a sense that they can think of complex issues and complicated problems, compared to kids twenty years ago. Their brain's capacity are better and advanced too. A 5 years old child can think of who orders or asks the sun to arise every morning, who switch off all the street lights every morning and how does he do it, how to create a robot that can help his mother to finish house chores so that his mother can spend more time with him, why people must use money to buy things, etc. Well, I guess, as our kids become more advanced in thinking and questioning, we too should be prepared and be advanced in giving reasonable answers and justification.

And Chichi....is Chichi, Chichi would never be Abdullah.