Food drive update

ELL parent center food drive was a success. Thank you for all the families who donate canned food for Niles Township food pantry. When we loaded up the food to the car, we were really happy about what we accomplished.
Here are pictures for our food drive.

Banner on ELL parent center

  

  Devonshire school collection box

 

Old Orchard Junior High

ELL parent center, all the canned food we collected.

If you couldn’t make your donation this time, you can always donate food or money to any local food pantry or organization like feeding America. It is never too late to help others in need.

Final Week

Finally our food drive for Niles Township food pantry is over, which was pretty successful. People brought a lot of items for the drive for which we are very thankful for them. I was personally very disappointed from the school whom I asked for the help and they did not give a single item, but that’s fine because so far it was our first try and experience and blogger moms did wonderfully.


We bloggers also had a mother’s day lunch which was fun and we talked about different things. Basically that was our last day of our weekly class, so it was our class ending, mother’s day, and food drive success lunch at the same time.


Now the summer break is approaching so I have to think and plan for the whole three months of full house. I am very happy that my kids will have a break of sleep and comfort because believe it or not but these kids also need a break from school, but at the same time when I think of a messy house, arguing, and sitting all the time doing nothing, it gives me a lot of ideas to spent the three months for a little bit with work and fun if they are happy or not.. Oh God, it will be a long summer.

Every Day Is Happy Mothers Day

When I came to America I observed for the first time the celebration of Mother's Day. I was surprised to see the one special day for parents to celebrate because back in Pakistan we did not have special day for parents. Over there since most of the population live in extended family system, so it’s like every day is mother's or father's day.

Well in my opinion, mothers do deserve the most respect, love and passionate in same way that mothers feel for their children. That’s why in Islam it is very strongly suggested the most respect and love for mothers which can be described very easily in this saying that,

                                                  “Heaven is under or at the feet of your mother.”

Since I am in America for such a long time, I miss my mom a lot (she is in Pakistan). I feel like I am missing very great opportunities of  loving, caring for and respecting her. She is a diabetic and whenever she is not feeling well, I feel so sad and sometimes cry because these are the days that I am suppose to be with her for comfort and care. Instead of that she is the one who always give comfort to me and prays for my happiness, safety, health and my return to Pakistan for at least a short visit.

In elementary school my kids used to make small gifts for me which I kept them, now they just say happy Mother's Day which also feels good because I think  the best part of being a woman is motherhood. My husband always takes me for the dinner (with the kids) for the past fifteen years, but I want to say that every day is suppose to be a Mother's Day because there is nothing that equal to mother.
                               Happy Mothers Day mom (miss you a lot) and to every mother out there.

Heaven is under my mother's feet

In my opinion every day is a mother's day. A mother deserves love and respect every day because she cares for her family every day every minute. Her love for her children is unconditional. A lot of mothers take care of their children 24/7. Many support their children all alone.Well, what else does a mother do for her family? The list is too long to describe here in a blog.

Do all mothers receive the love and care, they deserve? Specially when they need it in their older age? Well, I think some do and some don't. Some are lucky enough to have a caring family all the time while others wait for certain days of year to be remembered by their families. They wait long very long,to spend some happy moments with their loved ones.

Every Mother's Day, I think of the lady that I saw sitting on the couch in the lobby of our apartment building.That was a few years ago when I was coming back home with my family after spending a happy ''Mother's Day" at Botanic Garden of Chicago and enjoying a family dinner at my favorite restaurant.When we were in the lobby of the apartment building, there she was sitting all alone looking very sad. She was also a  tenant in the complex and we often smiled and said hello to each other whenever we saw each other in the elevator or lobby, but never got to talk more then that before. But that day she spoke for the first time.

"Did you had a good mother's day''? she asked me.

''Oh, yes,'' I said happily, but then realized that she looked sad . ''What about you?" I asked her. She told me that her children live in other states.I tried to comfort her by saying that ''At least they called you didn't they?"

''Yes, but its not the same '', she replied back.A year later she told me she was moving to live closer to her children. I was happy for her because I couldn't forget her sadness on that Mothers Day.

I also live far away from my mother.Some times I miss her so much that I just want to fly back to Pakistan to see her .But of course it's not that easy. I have to plan ahead and wait for summer when school is over and my kids can go, too. Its an expensive trip and I can't take it every summer. But whenever we do go, memories of those happy moments become part of my life which keeps me going for a while.

Every religion teaches respects for parents and in Islam too, respect for parents, especially mothers, is so important that there is a Hadith (saying) of Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) that "Heaven is under a mother's feet." That says it all, how much a mother matters. And yes I believe in that strongly because that's truly what all mothers deserve.

My Mother's Day

Mother’s Day is a good time to honor all the mothers’ hard work for her family and children. In China, children are educated to respect their parents and older people.

On Mother’s Day, I called my mom to say Happy Mother’s Day to her. After I moved to the USA, I missed my family even more for every holiday. Therefore, I always call my family whenever I'm available. 

I still remembered when I was in Hong Kong on Mother’s Day, my siblings and I were always spent the whole day with my mom. Early in the morning, we would go the restaurant having Dim Sum together. Then we would go shopping and after lunch would play Mahjong because my mom loves to play. In the evening we'd go out for a nice dinner with my mom. Of course we would give her a gift, too. Although my siblings in HK are still doing the same thing to my mom, I can’t join them.

This year I celebrated Mother’s Day with my husband and kids. We had a nice dinner in a Japanese restaurant. The Japanese food was delicious. I ordered a Beef Teriyaki and Salmon dinner set that came with Miso Shiru (soybean paste soup), salad, shrimp and vegetable tempura and a bowl of rice.

My husband ordered a sashimi (raw fish eat with soy sauce mixed with wasabi) dinner box with soup, salad, shrimp tempura, shrimp cocktail and a bowl of rice.

And my kids ordered Chicken Teriyaki and Beef Teriyaki.

We all enjoyed all the food and had a good time together. I hope everyone had a Happy Mother’s Day.

Niles Township ELL Parent Center Food Drive

The Niles Township English Language Learners Parent Center is hosting a food drive to help Fight Child Hunger.

All donations will go to the Niles Township Food Pantry, which serves residents of Skokie, Morton Grove, Niles, Lincolnwood, Golf and Glenview.

Donations can be dropped off at the Center, 9440 Kenton Avenue in Skokie from May 10-14. The Center is located just East of the Jewel-Osco that's bounded by Gross Point Road and Skokie Boulevard. Protein foods such as peanut butter, canned tuna, salmon, chicken and trukey are especially needed at this time.

Please take a moment to read our posts below on hunger and poverty.

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day