It was snowing hard outside. Again. Dawood looked out the kitchen window glumly – the trees were covered in white, nobody was out jogging today, and the playground behind their house looked very lonely. He heard his baby sister gurgling happily to their mom and followed her voice into the living room.
‘I really wanted to go to the park today, Mama’ , Dawood said. ‘I’m tired of all this snow! Why can’t it be spring already? And I hate being stuck at home because of this storm! Why does winter have to be so long?!’ He was not a happy camper today.
His mom and baby Amal both stopped playing and looked up at him. ‘Well, hello there big brother. Are we having the blues?’, asked his mother.
Dawood knew what having the blues meant – it was when you were unhappy about something. But he wasn’t sad. He was angry! ‘ I’m tired of missing my friends, Mama. And I’m bored of playing in the snow. I wish we could live where it’s sunny all the time instead of here’, Dawood complained.
‘It sounds to me like you’re having a case of the complain pox‘, said his mother. ‘Dawood, what’s the rule honey?’
Dawood bit his lip. He had forgotten about the rule. He fidgeted for a bit and then muttered it out : “If it’s something silly then let it go, but if it’s a real problem , you let Mama know.”
His mother smiled. ‘ I’m glad you remember. So what is it that’s making you mad? And is it a real problem?’, she asked.
Dawood sat down and started to think. He really was tired of the weather. But that couldn’t be helped. He was also bored staying at home, but didn’t want to go out and play in the snow anymore. Maybe he could tell his mom that.
‘Mama, I’m so tired of staying at home for the past three days. I want to go to the playground, but I know it’s too cold. Are the roads safe to drive now? I really want to do something fun. Maybe we can go to the arcade?’, he asked longingly.
‘Hmm, thought his mother. Well I don’t think it’s a good idea to drive just yet. But we could ask your friend Andy from next door to come over. Maybe we can bake cookies together. Or build a fort. How about it?’, suggested Mama.
Dawood grinned. ‘Cookies!! Yes! I want those bars with caramel in them, please please Mama??’, he requested jumping.
‘Sure thing, Dawood. We definitely have all the ingredients for that. And I’m happy you stopped complaining. Remember what we talked about? Nobody likes a person who whines. And did you forget to ask of Allah when you were upset? When you talk to and ask from Allah – it’s as if you’re making duaa. So you get rewarded for it, even if you’re kinda upset about your situation. But if you whine a lot to people, then it’s as if you’re not being thankful.’, reminded his mother.
‘I remember now Mama. And don’t worry, I almost always complain only to you. Or Daddy. Or Allah, of course. I’m going to go see if Andy wants to come over now, okay?’, Dawood said putting on his snow gear and running out the door as his mother nodded happily.
Dawood and his friend baked cookies. And built their fort. They ate the cookies inside their fort, and baby Amal decided to crawl in and join them too. The boys had a big laugh over that. All in all, the snow day ended on a much better note than it began. Alhamdulillah in all situations.
Story inspiration :
“..I only complain of my suffering and my grief to Allah..” [Quran, 12:86]
“..’inna-maa ashku baththii wa huznii ‘ilaa ‘allaah..”
[This is the du’a of Prophet Ya’qub (Jacob) (a.s.)]