A secret gem in Marrakech

  
 
  

A lovely oasis in the suburbs behind the Palmeraie.
A place of peace, beauty and inspiration.
A secret gem of natural blessings in a bohemian style.  
A firework of colors and wonderful little details.
A café with lovely food, juices and cakes.
A retreat for the whole family far from the smoggy, noisy town.

A dear friend in Marrakech recently showed me her favorite place to be with children. It is a real oasis and I immediately felt in love with this place which is so unusual inMoroccoand offers really unique things here. For people like me, who live already several years out here, things like children playgrounds, eco-food and hippy-style-locations are something special.  

I love the Flower Power Café and I really recommend it to everyone who needs a break from busy life in the red city. Happy weekend!

Simply Breakfast and a Quote

« There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea »

                                                                           Bernard-Paul Heroux

(Tea cup: Fès-pottery, metal-plate from Marrakech and bowl with dates from Tamegroute-Zagora)

Raising

“Parenting is a path of maturation and growth if we dare to learn more and teach less” (Naomi Aldort)

 

Every single day I grow deeper into my role as a mother and from year to year I realize more that being a good mother means being ready to educate myself, not the child.

Islam teaches us to strive to better our character everyday with every mundane act.
I think this is especially true concerning parenting. To become a good parent I have to better my self, I have to change, to question, to develop my own personality every moment from new – I have to grow with the child.

I look with awe and wonder at my children, I see them as a beautiful gift from God, subhanallah, and I have to admit with humbleness that it is mostly me who has to learn.
I have to learn to give unconditional love and empathy.  
I need to be taught to let them be and to take them as they are.
I need to step back and to hold back my inner pressure to intervene.  
I must learn to hold back my will to teach, my will to criticize and to give advice.  
I have to learn to get rid of old patterns and schemes.
I have to work on my own preconceptions and on old behavior I stuck in.
I have to accept and to trust.  

I simply have to love, myself and the child.

There is a lot to say about all of this, and a lot to work on. But today I simply want to recommend again the very wonderful book of Naomi Aldort “Raising our children, raising ourselves” (“Von der Erziehung zur Einfühlung”) and her website which both are an  incredible source of inspiration on the path of growth as a parent.
I am thankful to be on this path. Happy Friday, friends!

“When your child presents you with a challenge, you have an opportunity to take a step toward your own self-realization, and by doing so regain your clarity about your child.” (Naomi Aldort)

On Children

 

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

 

from Kahlil Gibran in “The Prophet”

…things to do…

 

Already a is week gone since I wrote my last little post… mashaallah, time flies and there are so many things to do, alhamdulillah :

- praying Istikhara about all those things to come, 
- organizing some medical visits for our little girl who has a very bad hearing since her birth. We already removed some growth and put some grommets in her ears (your treatment recommendations are very much appreciated if you have some experience with the same problem!) but need now to see if things go better or if there is a deeper problem (please keep her in your dua’. JAK).
-  leading the enrolling for the next school year.
- a lot of things to plan and to think about for the future of the school, about exams and a curriculum to prepare and about the youth project in general (inchaallah I will write more about it soon).
- keeping care of our new little rabbit family and an extended garden with a lot of things in growth, alhamdulillah (thanks God we had a lot of rain during the last week).
- a whole pile of things to store, to mend, to clean … and some many other ideas in my head about what I want to re-organize, to sew, to make new, inchaaallah.

I got a pile of really great new books from friends which are a wonderful inspiration and which I recommend to you.

So when I find a little moment to just be, I try to calm down, to re-center my thoughts, I drink tea (yes, I got a new Swiss mug) and I read in those books:

John Seymour: “Das neue Buch vom Leben auf dem Lande” (“New complete book of self-sufficiency”),

Naomi Aldort: “Von der Erziehung zur Einfühlung” (“Raising our children, raising ourselves”),

Susanne Fischer-Rizzi: “Medizin der Erde” (“Medicine of the earth”) and “Mit der Wildnis verbunden”,

Ursel Bühring: “Mit Ursel Bühring durchs Pflanzenjahr”,

and the ever great Sisters-magazine, which is a wonderful way of boosting my ‘deen (faith).  

Happy week’s end, happy reading and happy May to you!