During the summer, we took our children, age 2,3, and 7 to the US for a fortnight to see family and to enjoy some national parks. We asked them on the return what was the best part of the holiday.
‘The boat’ says Asim, the 3-year old – he is right we did all go on a boat, albeit briefly, and no-one fell overboard so by that standard it was very positive! ‘McDonalds in America’ says the 2-year old Amaani – we were a bit surprised, 2 years old and hooked on Ronald! We had only visited it once, but it obviously made a big impression. But hopefully little people have little memories. And the 7-year old just said ‘Sky’, the 8-year old neighbour of one family member. Next time, I’m tempted to leave her at a friend’s house, it would be far cheaper.
But for young children, the journey home itself is exciting. It starts with the ‘magic’ airport toilets (i.e. automated flush!), and the excitement regarding toilets carries on once in the aeroplane. I would never normally appreciate quite how many buttons there are to press and bits to pull out, with wet wipes, tissues, folding changing tables, mirrors etc crammed into an unbelievably small space, which seems even smaller when the 3-year old insists on bringing Spiderman in too for the occasion.
My husband thought he spotted Sheikh Hamza Yusuf at the airport, and sent our eldest, Safiyya, to ask him if that was his name. And she did and he was. So I told Safiyya how he knew lots about Islam and Muslims and that if she wanted to go up and ask him a question I was sure he wouldn’t mind. She started to think about this but then spied some children that she might be able to persuade to play with her. There was no way a scholar could compete with such an attraction.
I explained take-off to Amaani, the 2 year old, telling her she was going high in the sky. That turned out not to be such a hot idea as during take-off she insisted on me singing her the ‘Amaani high in the sky song’ – I concocted and delivered something at as low a volume as I could get away with. There are certainly not many people I would do that for – and not many people who would appreciate it either!
Food is another exciting event. All those little pots and cutlery in separate sachets, with both the 2 and 3 year old wanting each item identified. Asim enjoyed making his very own cocktail of milk and water, and fortunately didn’t notice the orange juice that he would otherwise have added too. I didn’t confess to the air stewards the various grapes that made their way under the seats, but did put a stop to the ‘my spoon is bigger than yours’ contest that the 2 young ones engaged in, which seemed to involve standing on the seats and waving them around as key elements of the competition.
As we descended though the clouds to London, Asim announced excitedly and loudly to a rather bemused audience: ‘this aeroplane is going backwards’. Back on land, we bumped into Sheikh Hamza Yusuf again at Baggage Reclaim. My contribution to the conversation was limited by the need to rescue various children from being whisked off by the conveyor belt and explain to the youngest why we couldn’t actually go to the park right now, but my husband managed to stay focussed in the way that only men can! Safiyya listened intently for a few minutes and then came up with her contribution, that she had had approximately 10 hours of flight-time to think about. ‘I’m going to Year 3 in September’ she said. And so she was. The holidays were truly over.
Join us on a journey to explore deeper meaning in everyday life. Connect with a like-minded community seeking greater purpose. Subscribe now to stay inspired.