Teens being constantly online.
Gaby Del Valle from The Verge:
Nearly half of US teens are “almost constantly” online, though the platforms they spend their time on vary significantly, according to a new Pew survey.
Notice how the apps that require you to read (X, Threads, Reddit) are less frequently used compared to YouTube, Instagram, TikTok. Threads is relatively new, but, just a curious observation.
I wonder how this would compare to adults’ usage of social media.
Are we just as likely to watch instead of read?
Gaby Del Valle from The Verge:
Nearly half of US teens are “almost constantly” online, though the platforms they spend their time on vary significantly, according to a new Pew survey.
Notice how the apps that require you to read (X, Threads, Reddit) are less frequently used compared to YouTube, Instagram, TikTok. Threads is relatively new, but, just a curious observation.
I wonder how this would compare to adults’ usage of social media.
Are we just as likely to watch instead of read?
8 hours to learn, and then another hour to actually learn.
This is why you have to homeschool.
If you can’t read, you can’t succeed.
Imagine 8 hours of schooling only to find out you need to spend an additional hour to teach your child how to read.
This is why you have to homeschool.
If you can’t read, you can’t succeed.
Imagine 8 hours of schooling only to find out you need to spend an additional hour to teach your child how to read…
Don’t starve your soul.
Working in the healthcare industry makes you realize how much of a blessing there is in Islam.
The illusion that the Western lifestyle is one of wealth and bliss is just a disguise of the rampant depression and addiction that wealth buys.
They feed only the body, but the soul is starving.
Working in the healthcare industry makes you realize how much of a blessing there is in Islam.
The illusion that the Western lifestyle is one of wealth and bliss is just a disguise of the rampant depression and addiction that wealth buys.
They feed only the body, but the soul is starving.
How to make your kids love learning about Islam.
If you're not teaching your kids the Seerah, you're missing out.
And I don't mean some other teacher.
I mean you.
Your enthusiasm and personal teaching relationship with your family goes a long way.
Not just for the Seerah, but for anything.
It's the same reason why there might be 80 different people on YouTube who review a product, but you choose to watch one particular person because you like their style.
If you start early with your kids, they will like your style because you will not be nervous when teaching them, and you will be yourself.
You will not be putting on a charade.
There will be those "family quirks" that will be referenced while you teach your kids, and all of those quirks, plus your personality and relationship with them will make learning any subject more fun and engaging.
When they see that "genuineness" within you, they will not only listen to you, but they will enjoy what you have to say.
What do I use for the Seerah?
I use Yasir Qadhi's Seerah transcripts you can find here:
Download them, annotate, and communicate!
If you're not teaching your kids the Seerah, you're missing out.
And I don't mean some other teacher.
I mean you.
Your enthusiasm and personal teaching relationship with your family goes a long way.
Not just for the Seerah, but for anything.
It's the same reason why there might be 80 different people on YouTube who review a product, but you choose to watch one particular person because you like their style.
If you start early with your kids, they will like your style because you will not be nervous when teaching them, and you will be yourself.
You will not be putting on a charade.
There will be those "family quirks" that will be referenced while you teach your kids, and all of those quirks, plus your personality and relationship with them will make learning any subject more fun and engaging.
When they see that "genuineness" within you, they will not only listen to you, but they will enjoy what you have to say.
What do I use for the Seerah?
I use Yasir Qadhi's Seerah transcripts you can find here:
Download them, annotate, and communicate!
Teacher quits because of excessive cell phone use in schools.
NPR:
He was a high school biology teacher in Tucson, Ariz. and his students' near-constant smartphone use was taking a toll on his well-being. So when summer rolled around after his eleventh year in the classroom — he quit.
"I came to realize that the phone addiction that the students were struggling with was causing severe mental health problems for me, preventing me from being a good husband," Rutherford said.
During the 2023-2024 academic year, Rutherford says his students were significantly more disengaged. He felt like he wasn't making a difference.
"Most of the people in the class, they've got their headphones in, they've got their phones on. They're not actually listening," Rutherford said.
He says that as a teacher with ADHD, he fed off the energy of his class.
"I'm really aware of whether someone's listening to me or paying attention to me." Rutherford said. "And this year," he told NPR at the end of the 2023-2024 school year, "I was just like, 'I can't…They're not interested in what I have to say.' And that, frankly, is the reason that I had to leave."
To further compound children’s decreasing mental state, let’s hyperfocus on their emotional states, always reminding them of their “issues and problems,” leading to worsening symptoms:
In addition to the phone use, students were not interacting with each other, sometimes writing in journal entries that they were anxious, depressed and lonely — which made them burrow further into their devices, Rutherford said.
What happens to students if you have a partial phone ban? Another teacher in Minnesota describes the situation:
Right after it went into effect, she noticed students were more engaged and some admitted in feedback forms they appreciated it.
"[It] forced them to kind of learn how to socialize again, how to be entertained by each other, how to turn toward the learning, even in moments of silence, even in moments of boredom," Brisse said.
It's not a bell-to-bell policy — but Brisse is OK with that. Although they are on their phones during passing periods, she said "there's plenty of chatter in the hallways" as well.
What happens if you have a full ban, where students hand in their phones at the beginning of the day, and receive their phones near the end of the school day?
Since 2018, her school has collected students' phones every morning as they come into the building. The phones are returned during the last hour of the day.
"The students are focused. There's still definitely lots of chatting, lots of relationship building," Osborn said. "I've also found that students are more willing to work together in groups when they don't have their cell phones."
At the end of the day when the cell phone bin is delivered to class, Osborn says students crowd around it "like vultures."
Once the phones are passed back to students, she says they immediately look at them. In her view, that shows that "they don't have the self-control to be able to handle the demands of school and access to a cell phone."
They benefit from not having to think about their phones the entire day.
Having little to no phone exposure during class leads to increased productivity, better mental health, and less expenditure on mental health resources. These resources can then be used to actually develop productive programs instead of constantly funding the mental health conglomerate that is artificially induced by social media.
Hopefully more schools adopt the full ban.
NPR:
He was a high school biology teacher in Tucson, Ariz. and his students' near-constant smartphone use was taking a toll on his well-being. So when summer rolled around after his eleventh year in the classroom — he quit.
"I came to realize that the phone addiction that the students were struggling with was causing severe mental health problems for me, preventing me from being a good husband," Rutherford said.
During the 2023-2024 academic year, Rutherford says his students were significantly more disengaged. He felt like he wasn't making a difference.
"Most of the people in the class, they've got their headphones in, they've got their phones on. They're not actually listening," Rutherford said.
He says that as a teacher with ADHD, he fed off the energy of his class.
"I'm really aware of whether someone's listening to me or paying attention to me." Rutherford said. "And this year," he told NPR at the end of the 2023-2024 school year, "I was just like, 'I can't…They're not interested in what I have to say.' And that, frankly, is the reason that I had to leave."
To further compound children’s decreasing mental state, let’s hyperfocus on their emotional states, always reminding them of their “issues and problems,” leading to worsening symptoms:
In addition to the phone use, students were not interacting with each other, sometimes writing in journal entries that they were anxious, depressed and lonely — which made them burrow further into their devices, Rutherford said.
What happens to students if you have a partial phone ban? Another teacher in Minnesota describes the situation:
Right after it went into effect, she noticed students were more engaged and some admitted in feedback forms they appreciated it.
"[It] forced them to kind of learn how to socialize again, how to be entertained by each other, how to turn toward the learning, even in moments of silence, even in moments of boredom," Brisse said.
It's not a bell-to-bell policy — but Brisse is OK with that. Although they are on their phones during passing periods, she said "there's plenty of chatter in the hallways" as well.
What happens if you have a full ban, where students hand in their phones at the beginning of the day, and receive their phones near the end of the school day?
Since 2018, her school has collected students' phones every morning as they come into the building. The phones are returned during the last hour of the day.
"The students are focused. There's still definitely lots of chatting, lots of relationship building," Osborn said. "I've also found that students are more willing to work together in groups when they don't have their cell phones."
At the end of the day when the cell phone bin is delivered to class, Osborn says students crowd around it "like vultures."
Once the phones are passed back to students, she says they immediately look at them. In her view, that shows that "they don't have the self-control to be able to handle the demands of school and access to a cell phone."
They benefit from not having to think about their phones the entire day.
Having little to no phone exposure during class leads to increased productivity, better mental health, and less expenditure on mental health resources. These resources can then be used to actually develop productive programs instead of constantly funding the mental health conglomerate that is artificially induced by social media.
Hopefully more schools adopt the full ban.
“Just do it,” doesn’t do it.
Don’t just tell your kids to do something.
Provide them with a story from the Quran, the Sunnah, or the Seerah to inspire them to do that same thing.
It will have a much greater and longer lasting effect.
For example: don’t tell your kids to donate to charity. Tell them how the Prophet ﷺ used to donate and how he changed people’s hearts from how much he donated.
If you do that enough times with passion, they will give you money to donate on their behalf!
If you don’t have a story of Islamic reference, use a worldly example instead.
The point is, stories inspire people to take action.
Don’t just tell your kids to do something.
Provide them with a story from the Quran, the Sunnah, or the Seerah to inspire them to do that same thing.
It will have a much greater and longer lasting effect.
For example: don’t tell your kids to donate to charity. Tell them how the Prophet ﷺ used to donate and how he changed people’s hearts from how much he donated.
If you do that enough times with passion, they will give you money to donate on their behalf!
If you don’t have a story of Islamic reference, use a worldly example instead.
The point is, stories inspire people to take action.
What happens when you have an absent father?
Chaos.
What happens to boys?
1. Loss of purpose
2. Urgent need for guidance
3. Acting out and more likely to be violent
4. Desperate to fit into any social group that will take you in
5. Potential future school shooter
What happens to girls?
1. No male affirmation and attention from a respectable figure
2. More likely to seek male attention from strangers
3. More likely to be sexually exploited and indulge in salacious sexual behaviors
4. More likely to be single mothers
The cycle repeats itself.
Lives are ruined.
Chaos.
What happens to boys?
1. Loss of purpose
2. Urgent need for guidance
3. Acting out and more likely to be violent
4. Desperate to fit into any social group that will take you in
5. Potential future school shooter
What happens to girls?
1. No male affirmation and attention from a respectable figure
2. More likely to seek male attention from strangers
3. More likely to be sexually exploited and indulge in salacious sexual behaviors
4. More likely to be single mothers
The cycle repeats itself.
Lives are ruined.
They are not kids anymore..
Muslim parents need to realize that when your child hits that 12-13 year old mark, they are more than likely at a stage where they are accountable for their actions.
They are not kids anymore.
To treat them as such is a disservice to them.
If they die as a teenager, they have probably hit puberty, which means they will be held accountable just like any adult on the Day of Judgment.
Muslim parents need to realize that when your child hits that 12-13 year old mark, they are more than likely at a stage where they are accountable for their actions.
They are not kids anymore.
To treat them as such is a disservice to them.
If they die as a teenager, they have probably hit puberty, which means they will be held accountable just like any adult on the Day of Judgment.
The definition of a teenager.
Officially sanctioned definition:
teen·ag·er (ˈtēn-ˌā-jər) - someone who is between 13 and 19 years old
Actual definition:
teen·ag·er (ˈtēn-ˌā-jər) - a made up construct that just delays maturity for young adults by another 7 years.
Officially sanctioned definition:
teen·ag·er (ˈtēn-ˌā-jər) - someone who is between 13 and 19 years old
Actual definition:
teen·ag·er (ˈtēn-ˌā-jər) - a made up construct that just delays maturity for young adults by another 7 years.
I am “just” a mother…
“I am just a mother.”
Do you see anything wrong with that sentence?
The word "just" is in the wrong spot.
Do you see how the word "just" brings about a negative connotation, as if being a mother was some stupid thing to be?
Or how being a mother is not really much work, and you need a real job?
To all the stay-at-home moms out there, you're not "just" a mother:
You are a just mother.
You see the difference?
Let that sink in for a moment, and realize the blessing and responsibility that has been put on your shoulders.
You are someone who will raise the future generations that will carry this religion اِن شاء الله .
You are raising someone who will اِن شاء الله be a form of Sadaqa Jariya for you.
In multiple ways:
Abu Qatadah reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“The best of what a man leaves behind are three:
1. A righteous child who supplicates for him,
2. Ongoing charity the reward of which reaches him,
3. Knowledge that is acted upon after him.”
Source: Sunan Ibn Majah 237
As a mother, you can benefit from all 3 of these methods!
Your child can be a righteous child that will pray for you.
Your child can give charity and give to the Ummah because you taught them to.
Your child can act upon the knowledge of Islam that you taught them.
You are giving your children the nourishment and time that they need, especially at that young age.
Those critical years where most of a child’s understanding of the world is formed and solidified.
So no, you’re not “just” a mother.
You are a “just” mother.
“I am just a mother.”
Do you see anything wrong with that sentence?
The word "just" is in the wrong spot.
Do you see how the word "just" brings about a negative connotation, as if being a mother was some stupid thing to be?
Or how being a mother is not really much work, and you need a real job?
To all the stay-at-home moms out there, you're not "just" a mother:
You are a just mother.
You see the difference?
Let that sink in for a moment, and realize the blessing and responsibility that has been put on your shoulders.
You are someone who will raise the future generations that will carry this religion اِن شاء الله .
You are raising someone who will اِن شاء الله be a form of Sadaqa Jariya for you.
In multiple ways:
Abu Qatadah reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“The best of what a man leaves behind are three:
1. A righteous child who supplicates for him,
2. Ongoing charity the reward of which reaches him,
3. Knowledge that is acted upon after him.”
Source: Sunan Ibn Majah 237
As a mother, you can benefit from all 3 of these methods!
Your child can be a righteous child that will pray for you.
Your child can give charity and give to the Ummah because you taught them to.
Your child can act upon the knowledge of Islam that you taught them.
You are giving your children the nourishment and time that they need, especially at that young age.
Those critical years where most of a child’s understanding of the world is formed and solidified.
So no, you’re not “just” a mother.
You are a “just” mother.
TikTok will ban “kids” from signing up to their platform due to mental health issues.
“Under-18s will, in the coming weeks, be blocked from artificially making their eyes bigger, plumping their lips and smoothing or changing their skin tone.
The restrictions will apply to filters – such as “Bold Glamour” – that change children’s features in a way that makeup cannot. Comic filters that add bunny ears or dog noses will be unaffected. The billion-user social media company announced the changes during a safety forum at its European headquarters in Dublin.
The effectiveness of the restrictions will depend on people using the platform under their real age, which is not always the case.”
Why ban it for those under 18 only? Do you think older women can handle the anxiety and depression or need that anxiety and depression?
If you are 13 years old or less, you will be banned from signing up at all:
“TikTok also announced it was tightening its systems to block users under 13 from the platform, which could mean that thousands of British children are turfed off the platform. Before the end of the year, it will launch a trial of new automated systems that use machine learning to detect people cheating its age restrictions.”
How effective are these systems that currently enforce the age limit?
“…the effectiveness of TikTok’s age restriction enforcement is “yet to be established”. It is due to start strictly enforcing over-13 age limits for social media users next summer, requiring “highly effective” age checks.”
I wonder how many parents talk to their kids about the harms of social media and how fake it is. TikTok is just one of the plethora of platforms where unrealistic beauty is championed and promoted.
An impossible standard.
The irony of it all is stress and anxiety caused by social media can affect your skin, leading to acne, rashes, etc., further compounding the problem because now you need more concealer and makeup to keep that smooth skin!
This will harm not only our daughters, but our sons as well.
Boys who are addicted to seeing a standard of beauty that doesn’t exist, and girls who are used to seeing a standard of beauty that they can’t achieve.
This is the kind of behavior that will further the marriage crisis that we have.
Under-18s will, in the coming weeks, be blocked from artificially making their eyes bigger, plumping their lips and smoothing or changing their skin tone.
The restrictions will apply to filters – such as “Bold Glamour” – that change children’s features in a way that makeup cannot. Comic filters that add bunny ears or dog noses will be unaffected. The billion-user social media company announced the changes during a safety forum at its European headquarters in Dublin.
The effectiveness of the restrictions will depend on people using the platform under their real age, which is not always the case.
Why ban it for those under 18 only? Do you think older women can handle the anxiety and depression or need that anxiety and depression?
If you are 13 years old or less, you will be banned from signing up at all:
TikTok also announced it was tightening its systems to block users under 13 from the platform, which could mean that thousands of British children are turfed off the platform. Before the end of the year, it will launch a trial of new automated systems that use machine learning to detect people cheating its age restrictions.
How effective are these systems that currently enforce the age limit?
…the effectiveness of TikTok’s age restriction enforcement is “yet to be established”. It is due to start strictly enforcing over-13 age limits for social media users next summer, requiring “highly effective” age checks.
I wonder how many parents talk to their kids about the harms of social media and how fake it is. TikTok is just one of the plethora of platforms where unrealistic beauty is championed and promoted.
An impossible standard.
The irony of it all is stress and anxiety caused by social media can affect your skin, leading to acne, rashes, etc., further compounding the problem because now you need more concealer and makeup to keep that smooth skin!
This will harm not only our daughters, but our sons as well.
Boys who are addicted to seeing a standard of beauty that doesn’t exist, and girls who are used to seeing a standard of beauty that they can’t achieve.
This is the kind of behavior that will further the marriage crisis that we have.
Homeschool Curriculum Quick Review: The Good and the Beautiful
We have been using "The Good and the Beautiful" curriculum for 7 years now. Here are some pros and cons from both parents and students:
Pros from PARENTS:
Very structured and easy to follow.
Covers phonics, writing, reading, grammar and punctuation, spelling, literature, geography, art.
Faith based curriculum - it’s based off Christianity, but you can easily talk about interfaith and discuss what we believe vs what Christians believe.
There is organically less parent involvement as the grades get higher giving the kids more independence and parents freed up time.
Older grades have answer keys.
Pros from KIDS:
Fun and Easy - explained to me as challenging and fun by my son.
Younger kids like the independent practice by themselves. Gives them a dose of freedom.
You get to draw even in the older aged grades.
Cons:
The spiral binding falls apart slowly over time. The less aggressive the child handles the book, the longer it will last.
Another “con” from my 12 yr old:
"Too many essays as you get older, and too many reports."
Started since 1st grade with our now 7th grader. The best thing is when you stick to one curriculum, you don't have to reinvent the wheel when younger siblings go through the same books.
We have been using "The Good and the Beautiful" curriculum for 7 years now. Here are some pros and cons from both parents and students:
Pros from PARENTS:
Very structured and easy to follow.
Covers phonics, writing, reading, grammar and punctuation, spelling, literature, geography, art.
Faith based curriculum - it’s based off Christianity, but you can easily talk about interfaith and discuss what we believe vs what Christians believe.
There is organically less parent involvement as the grades get higher giving the kids more independence and parents freed up time.
Older grades have answer keys.
Pros from KIDS:
Fun and Easy - explained to me as challenging and fun by my son.
Younger kids like the independent practice by themselves. Gives them a dose of freedom.
You get to draw even in the older aged grades.
Cons:
The spiral binding falls apart slowly over time. The less aggressive the child handles the book, the longer it will last.
Another “con” from my 12 yr old:
"Too many essays as you get older, and too many reports."
Started since 1st grade with our now 7th grader. The best thing is when you stick to one curriculum, you don't have to reinvent the wheel when younger siblings go through the same books.
What Surah Kahf says about the relationship between parents and children - Part 3
The incident after Khidr kills the boy takes us directly to the next scene, where Musa and Khidr have been traveling for a long time, and they reach a town and ask for some food and assistance but they get denied.
In that same area, there is a wall that is collapsing, and Khidr helps the townspeople put the wall back up.
Why did Khidr help them without payment or food, even though they were rude and inhospitable to him?
Khidr helped them because underneath that wall was a treasure that belonged to two orphan boys, and at this stage, the orphan boys would have been taken advantage of and the treasurer would have been stolen from them since they have no authority or strength.
Allah inspired Khidr to rebuild the wall in order to keep the treasure hidden until the boys grew up and were strong enough to retrieve the treasure themselves.
But there’s another important factor in this story:
The father.
Allah mentions it in the Qur’an directly:
وَأَمَّا الْجِدَارُ فَكَانَ لِغُلَامَيْنِ يَتِيمَيْنِ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنزٌ لَّهُمَا وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ أَن يَبْلُغَا أَشُدَّهُمَا وَيَسْتَخْرِجَا كَنزَهُمَا رَحْمَةً مِّن رَّبِّكَ وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُ عَنْ أَمْرِي ذَٰلِكَ تَأْوِيلُ مَا لَمْ تَسْطِع عَّلَيْهِ صَبْرًا
“And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and under the wall was a treasure that belonged to them, and their father had been a righteous man. So your Lord willed that these children should come of age and retrieve their treasure, as a mercy from your Lord. I did not do it ˹all˺ on my own. This is the explanation of what you could not bear patiently.
Surah al Kahf 18:82”
What did Allah say about the father?
The father was a righteous man.
Because of his righteousness, Allah willed the father’s hidden treasure to reach his two boys at a later time.
This is an important lesson not in just being righteous and having taqwa, but also in taking action.
This righteous father didn’t just sit in the masjid and pray all day.
This father was a provider, and not only did he provide, he made sure he left something substantial for his family.
He put his trust in Allah, and tied his camel.
He put his trust in Allah, and also put in the work, the effort.
You probably heard this phrase before, but it comes from a famous Hadith about belief and action:
“Anas ibn Malik reported: A man said, “O Messenger of Allah, should I tie my camel and trust in Allah, or should I leave her untied and trust in Allah?” The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Tie her and trust in Allah.”
Sunan al-Tirmidhi 2517”
We can’t just keep making dua and not take the next steps in our lives.
If you want results, you have to do your part while putting your trust in Allah.
The incident after Khidr kills the boy takes us directly to the next scene, where Musa and Khidr have been traveling for a long time, and they reach a town and ask for some food and assistance but they get denied.
In that same area, there is a wall that is collapsing, and Khidr helps the townspeople put the wall back up.
Why did Khidr help them without payment or food, even though they were rude and inhospitable to him?
Khidr helped them because underneath that wall was a treasure that belonged to two orphan boys, and at this stage, the orphan boys would have been taken advantage of and the treasurer would have been stolen from them since they have no authority or strength.
Allah inspired Khidr to rebuild the wall in order to keep the treasure hidden until the boys grew up and were strong enough to retrieve the treasure themselves.
But there’s another important factor in this story:
The father.
Allah mentions it in the Qur’an directly:
وَأَمَّا الْجِدَارُ فَكَانَ لِغُلَامَيْنِ يَتِيمَيْنِ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنزٌ لَّهُمَا وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ أَن يَبْلُغَا أَشُدَّهُمَا وَيَسْتَخْرِجَا كَنزَهُمَا رَحْمَةً مِّن رَّبِّكَ وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُ عَنْ أَمْرِي ذَٰلِكَ تَأْوِيلُ مَا لَمْ تَسْطِع عَّلَيْهِ صَبْرًا
And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and under the wall was a treasure that belonged to them, and their father had been a righteous man. So your Lord willed that these children should come of age and retrieve their treasure, as a mercy from your Lord. I did not do it ˹all˺ on my own. This is the explanation of what you could not bear patiently.
Surah al Kahf 18:82
What did Allah say about the father?
The father was a righteous man.
Because of his righteousness, Allah willed the father’s hidden treasure to reach his two boys at a later time.
This is an important lesson not in just being righteous and having taqwa, but also in taking action.
This righteous father didn’t just sit in the masjid and pray all day.
This father was a provider, and not only did he provide, he made sure he left something substantial for his family.
He put his trust in Allah, and tied his camel.
He put his trust in Allah, and also put in the work, the effort.
You probably heard this phrase before, but it comes from a famous Hadith about belief and action:
Anas ibn Malik reported: A man said, “O Messenger of Allah, should I tie my camel and trust in Allah, or should I leave her untied and trust in Allah?” The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Tie her and trust in Allah.”
Sunan al-Tirmidhi 2517
We can’t just keep making dua and not take the next steps in our lives.
If you want results, you have to do your part while putting your trust in Allah.
Getting arrested for letting your child walk alone??
A Georgia woman was arrested and accused of allegedly endangering her son — all because the unsupervised 10-year-old walked less than a mile away from home, officials said.
Brittany Patterson, 41, had taken another son to a doctor on Oct. 30, and she became mildly annoyed — but not at all worried — when the Fannin County Sheriff's Department called to say her son Soren had wandered from their rural home in Mineral Bluff and into town.
"It's not a super dangerous or even dangerous-at-all stretch of road," Patterson told NBC News in an interview that aired Wednesday. "I wasn't terrified for him or scared for his safety."
Deputies drove Soren, now 11, home and that was that, or so Patterson thought.
But then hours later, the sheriff's department went back to the family's home near the North Carolina border, where Patterson was handcuffed, arrested, booked on suspicion of reckless conduct and forced to post $500 bail.
"It was anger and frustration, of course, because my children were having to witness that all," she said. "They asked me to put my hands behind my back and all that stuff, and I realized what was going on."
The laws in each state differ when it comes to leaving children alone outside. Just as an example, here are the laws in Georgia, and here are the laws in Texas.
The more “blue” your state, the more restrictive the law is against what parents can do.
Your kids can't even walk outside anymore without being supervised all the time.
Or else you go to jail.
And then people wonder why these future adults are still momma's boys and act like children when they're 30.
A Georgia woman was arrested and accused of allegedly endangering her son — all because the unsupervised 10-year-old walked less than a mile away from home, officials said.
Brittany Patterson, 41, had taken another son to a doctor on Oct. 30, and she became mildly annoyed — but not at all worried — when the Fannin County Sheriff's Department called to say her son Soren had wandered from their rural home in Mineral Bluff and into town.
"It's not a super dangerous or even dangerous-at-all stretch of road," Patterson told NBC News in an interview that aired Wednesday. "I wasn't terrified for him or scared for his safety."
Deputies drove Soren, now 11, home and that was that, or so Patterson thought.
But then hours later, the sheriff's department went back to the family's home near the North Carolina border, where Patterson was handcuffed, arrested, booked on suspicion of reckless conduct and forced to post $500 bail.
"It was anger and frustration, of course, because my children were having to witness that all," she said. "They asked me to put my hands behind my back and all that stuff, and I realized what was going on."
The laws in each state differ when it comes to leaving children alone outside. Just as an example, here are the laws in Georgia, and here are the laws in Texas.
The more “blue” your state, the more restrictive the law is against what parents can do.
Your kids can't even walk outside anymore without being supervised all the time.
Or else you go to jail.
And then people wonder why these future adults are still momma's boys and act like children when they're 30.
Make sure you recognize them..
As parents, we will continue to make mistakes.
You cannot avoid them.
After all, we are imperfect creatures.
The solution though, is not to make mistakes.
The solution is to recognize them.
If you don’t recognize a mistake, how can you fix it?
If you are knee-deep in ignorance, how can you even know you’re doing something wrong?
Allah subhana wata'aalah told us with His first command to the Prophet ﷺ that we do not have the luxury to be ignorant.
What was the first command revealed in the Qur’an?
It was captivated in a single word:
Iqra!
Read!
Learn about your religion, so you can recognize your mistakes, and correct them before it’s too late.
As parents, we will continue to make mistakes.
You cannot avoid them.
After all, we are imperfect creatures.
The solution though, is not to make mistakes.
The solution is to recognize them.
If you don’t recognize a mistake, how can you fix it?
If you are knee-deep in ignorance, how can you even know you’re doing something wrong?
Allah subhana wata'aalah told us with His first command to the Prophet ﷺ that we do not have the luxury to be ignorant.
What was the first command revealed in the Qur’an?
It was captivated in a single word:
Iqra!
Read!
Learn about your religion, so you can recognize your mistakes, and correct them before it’s too late.
“And remind, for indeed, the reminder benefits the believers.”
Notice how your kids read the same books dozens of times?
Kids love repetition and each time they read a book, they get something new out of it.
You can use that to your advantage.
Whenever you want to teach your kids something, be it Islamic or anything else, don’t hesitate to repeat what you taught them.
Each time they hear the lesson, they will learn something new.
Notice how your kids read the same books dozens of times?
Kids love repetition and each time they read a book, they get something new out of it.
You can use that to your advantage.
Whenever you want to teach your kids something, be it Islamic or anything else, don’t hesitate to repeat what you taught them.
Each time they hear the lesson, they will learn something new.
What Surah Kahf says about the relationship between parents and children - Part 2
The second story regarding the relationship between parents and children comes much later in the surah, where Musa AS is following Khidr to gain some knowledge from him.
Khidr surprises Musa AS by killing a young boy, which was by the command of Allah SWT. Musa AS considered Khidr's crime to be a "horrible crime," but Khidr himself explains why he killed the boy:
And as for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared that he would overburden them by transgression and disbelief. So we intended that their Lord should substitute for them one better than him in purity and nearer to mercy.
وَأَمَّا ٱلْغُلَـٰمُ فَكَانَ أَبَوَاهُ مُؤْمِنَيْنِ فَخَشِينَآ أَن يُرْهِقَهُمَا طُغْيَـٰنًۭا وَكُفْرًۭا ٨٠
فَأَرَدْنَآ أَن يُبْدِلَهُمَا رَبُّهُمَا خَيْرًۭا مِّنْهُ زَكَوٰةًۭ وَأَقْرَبَ رُحْمًۭا ٨١
Khidr also tells Musa AS that what he did was not from his own desires, but from what he was commanded to do:
وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُۥ عَنْ أَمْرِى
And I did it not of my own accord.
This boy was going to grow up to be a disbeliever, backed by the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ:
Narrated Ibn 'Abbas that Ubayy bin Ka'b narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:
"The boy that Al-Khidr killed was destined to be a disbeliever the day he was created.'"
(Jami’ At-Tirmidhi 3150)
If the boy had lived, the righteous parents would have been happy in the beginning, but devastated in the end. They would have seen their innocent, sweet, child grow up to be a rebellious disbeliever, and that sadness would last with them till the day they died.
On top of that, their child will not be with them in Jannah.
But because Allah took the boy early, the boy died a believer, and will be reunited with his parents in Jannah. Not only that, but Allah SWT gave the parents another child who was a righteous child.
In the second scenario, the parents will go through immense grief in the beginning, but in the end, they will be even more happy and rejoiceful.
They will be with both children instead of one in Jannah.
If you read from the Tafsir as-Sa'di about this ayah, you will find another reason why Allah ordered the boy to be killed. The parents themselves would have ended up as disbelievers, due to the child either forcing them to disbelieve and transgress, or due to the parents' love for the child, or need for the child.
This is a phenomenon we see today, where a child’s decision to do something against Islam leads to their parents reluctantly agreeing at first, and then out of love for the child, end up fully advocating for that same cause which goes against Islam. (Feminism anyone?)
In conclusion, this story is just one of many examples that answers the age-old question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
What we consider to be "bad" is actually a blessing in disguise that we won’t know about until later on, either in this life or the next.
In the case of the boy killed by Khidr, three lives were saved!
The boy was saved from disbelief, and the parents were also saved from disbelief.
This is a huge lesson for us, because when a parent loses a child, one cannot even imagine the kind of pain that parent goes through. It is a huge test, and one that the parent will have to live with for the rest of their life.
In the end though, we just have to always remember that Allah wants what is best for us, and put our ultimate trust in His divine decree.
The second story regarding the relationship between parents and children comes much later in the surah, where Musa AS is following Khidr to gain some knowledge from him.
Khidr surprises Musa AS by killing a young boy, which was by the command of Allah SWT. Musa AS considered Khidr's crime to be a "horrible crime," but Khidr himself explains why he killed the boy:
And as for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared that he would overburden them by transgression and disbelief. So we intended that their Lord should substitute for them one better than him in purity and nearer to mercy.
وَأَمَّا ٱلْغُلَـٰمُ فَكَانَ أَبَوَاهُ مُؤْمِنَيْنِ فَخَشِينَآ أَن يُرْهِقَهُمَا طُغْيَـٰنًۭا وَكُفْرًۭا ٨٠
فَأَرَدْنَآ أَن يُبْدِلَهُمَا رَبُّهُمَا خَيْرًۭا مِّنْهُ زَكَوٰةًۭ وَأَقْرَبَ رُحْمًۭا ٨١
Khidr also tells Musa AS that what he did was not from his own desires, but from what he was commanded to do:
وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُۥ عَنْ أَمْرِى
And I did it not of my own accord.
This boy was going to grow up to be a disbeliever, backed by the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ:
Narrated Ibn 'Abbas that Ubayy bin Ka'b narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:
"The boy that Al-Khidr killed was destined to be a disbeliever the day he was created.'"
(Jami’ At-Tirmidhi 3150)
If the boy had lived, the righteous parents would have been happy in the beginning, but devastated in the end. They would have seen their innocent, sweet, child grow up to be a rebellious disbeliever, and that sadness would last with them till the day they died.
On top of that, their child will not be with them in Jannah.
But because Allah took the boy early, the boy died a believer, and will be reunited with his parents in Jannah. Not only that, but Allah SWT gave the parents another child who was a righteous child.
In the second scenario, the parents will go through immense grief in the beginning, but in the end, they will be even more happy and rejoiceful.
They will be with both children instead of one in Jannah.
If you read from the Tafsir as-Sa'di about this ayah, you will find another reason why Allah ordered the boy to be killed. The parents themselves would have ended up as disbelievers, due to the child either forcing them to disbelieve and transgress, or due to the parents' love for the child, or need for the child.
This is a phenomenon we see today, where a child’s decision to do something against Islam leads to their parents reluctantly agreeing at first, and then out of love for the child, end up fully advocating for that same cause which goes against Islam. (Feminism anyone?)
We need to be loving and firm from the beginning with our children, letting them know that our love for Allah SWT and the Prophet ﷺ is our priority, even at the expense of our kids being displeased with us temporarily.
In conclusion, this story is just one of many examples that answers the age-old question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
What we consider to be "bad" is actually a blessing in disguise that we won’t know about until later on, either in this life or the next.
In the case of the boy killed by Khidr, three lives were saved!
The boy was saved from disbelief, and the parents were also saved from disbelief.
This is a huge lesson for us, because when a parent loses a child, one cannot even imagine the kind of pain that parent goes through. It is a huge test, and one that the parent will have to live with for the rest of their life.
In the end though, we just have to always remember that Allah wants what is best for us, and put our ultimate trust in His divine decree.
Clean vs cluttered home.
As a parent I feel like you have 1 of 2 choices:
Cluttered house with children’s books everywhere.
Clean house with rarely any books, and kids with phones.
Choose wisely.
As a parent I feel like you have 1 of 2 choices:
Cluttered house with children’s books everywhere.
Clean house with rarely any books, and kids with phones.
Choose wisely.
Homeschooling and flexibility.
When homeschooling your children, you have to establish a routine and a system that fits your family’s lifestyle.
Everyone will have a different routine.
Our routine is starting later in the day, and ending later in the day.
Sometimes, we are doing classes till after isha prayers, but these are all planned.
On other days, we skip school on Fridays, and do school on Saturday.
There are other activities and appointments going on during the day, and it becomes easy to adjust as you need to.
You can make it your own.
Just like entrepreneurship.
When homeschooling your children, you have to establish a routine and a system that fits your family’s lifestyle.
Everyone will have a different routine.
Our routine is starting later in the day, and ending later in the day.
Sometimes, we are doing classes till after isha prayers, but these are all planned.
On other days, we skip school on Fridays, and do school on Saturday.
There are other activities and appointments going on during the day, and it becomes easy to adjust as you need to.
You can make it your own.
Just like entrepreneurship.
Phenylephrine never worked for decongestion.
Jeffrey Kopp from CNN:
The US Food and Drug Administration announced a proposal to remove oral phenylephrine – a common ingredient in many popular over-the-counter decongestants – from the market, citing evidence that it doesn’t work.
Phenylephrine, found in products like Sudafed PE, Vicks DayQuil and Mucinex Sinus-Max, has been widely used as a nasal decongestant for decades. The FDA’s proposal isn’t an immediate order; it launches a six-month public comment period, after which the agency will make a final decision on whether to pull it from shelves.
I could have told you long ago that this garbage doesn't work.
You know what else doesn't work? Dextromethorphan, which is listed on the bottle in this article.
What does work for cough? Honey.
What does work for nasal congestion? Pseudoephedrine. You know it works if you have to show your driver's license to get it.
Jeffrey Kopp from CNN:
The US Food and Drug Administration announced a proposal to remove oral phenylephrine – a common ingredient in many popular over-the-counter decongestants – from the market, citing evidence that it doesn’t work.
Phenylephrine, found in products like Sudafed PE, Vicks DayQuil and Mucinex Sinus-Max, has been widely used as a nasal decongestant for decades. The FDA’s proposal isn’t an immediate order; it launches a six-month public comment period, after which the agency will make a final decision on whether to pull it from shelves.
I could have told you long ago that this garbage doesn't work.
You know what else doesn't work? Dextromethorphan, which is listed on the bottle in this article.
What does work for cough? Honey.
What does work for nasal congestion? Pseudoephedrine. You know it works if you have to show your driver's license to get it.