Even before we received the confirmation, my MIL has volunteered to come over to Kajang to ‘supervise’ Bibik and my kids while Shahril and I are away. Alhamdulillah, we are lucky that we don’t have to worry about the kids. Bibik is reliable and having my MIL to supervise her is exactly what we needed. I am a little worried my MIL would be bored staying in Kajang – she is afterall a very active lady, ayamlah, kolam ikan lah, berkebun lah, macam2 activity kat kampung. Kat Kajang where got ayam ikan? Tanah sekangkang kera kat belakang rumah tu, tanam pokok pandan & kari je dah penuh. :) But she assures me she will be fine and it’s comforting knowing that she gets along very well with Bibik too.

So among the first things we did after knowing the date was breaking the news to Afiq & Mariessa. Adreena was there too of course, but si kenit ni belum faham apa2 lagi. :)

We told them that we would be going for Umrah, and that Madinah and Mekah is very, very far that we will be gone for fourteen days.

Afiq (mata terbeliak): FOURTEEN days, Mama??? Laaaaamaaanyaaaaaaaaaa…  * menung *

Mariessa: Mama, kenapa Mama dengan Ayah kena pegi Umrah?

Mama: Sebab.. Mama nak pegi solat kat sana.. Mama nak berdoa kat sana. Mama nak doa utk anak2 Mama… Mama nak..

Mariessa: Mama nak doa untuk Opah?

Mama: *tersentak & terdiam*.. pause.. Ye sayang, Mama nak doa untuk Opah

Mariessa: Ohhhhhh….

Afiq: Fourteen days, Mama???  (still in shock, hehe)

Mama: Iye.. Nanti bila Mama Ayah takde, Wan datang sini tolong Bibik jaga Abang, jaga Kakak, jaga Adik ok? Nanti Wan hantar Abang and Kakak pegi sekolah. Kena dengar cakap Wan tau?

Afiq: Ok!

Mariessa: Tapi…. Wan tau ke macam mana nak pegi Little Caliphs?

Afiq: Takpe, nanti Abang tunjukkan jalan kat Wan! Abang tau jalan!

Alhamdulillah, so they took it well. I was actually amazed by how well the took it. Except for Mariessa’s initial question as to why we are performing the Umrah, they never asked why again, after that. It’s amazing how they could ‘understand’. I had anticipated at least one of them to wail ‘nak ikut’ or asking why the both of us have to go at the same time, but Alhamdulillah they didn’t. I think it helped knowing that their Wan will be there to look after them. Of course they also know Wan is not as garang as Mama and Ayah lah kan, and that Wan will layan their requests more! :P

Next: The preparation