It’s that time of year again where we have one month of hectic ness in full force! School runs, Iftar, Sehri, taraweeh, late nights, early mornings!!!
What are us ladies supposed to do?!
To make the most of our ramdhaan lets follow some easy and rewarding tips!

Cooking
Let’s try not to go over the top and cook a 100 dish kings feast! Yes we haven’t eaten all day, but we should also limit how much we eat and what we eat. By cooking simple food we will be saving time and looking after our health. Also remember to make the intention of feeding a fasting family. With this intention, we will also be rewarded for their fasting Aswell. We should also engage in adhkaar whilst cooking. Subhanallah astagfirullah ect. Or better still, listen to some Quraan whilst cooking. This way even cooking becomes an ibaadah.
Also if we hear of people breaking fast in the masjid, or if jamaat are coming to the masjid, we should feel an urge to send some food for them. Not only because they are in the path of Allah but also looking at the reward for feeding your fasting brother. We should try to send food to our neighbours too.
Also when frying food, if possible leave the time before breaking your fast free. This is the most essential time to do Dua, don’t spend that time frying when you could have fried earlier. If possible, fry, then put the food in the oven to keep it warm. Don’t loose out on the time of acceptance of Duas.

Ibaadah
Let’s make a routine for ourselves and write down how much we intend to do and when. After each salaah prescribe ourselves with a specific amount of ibaadah that we can engage in. Fix this from before and stick to it! If needs be, write it down to keep account of it. It is also a good idea to write down any missed fasts, so making up for them later is made easier. Make a habit to pray tahajjud, remember the merits of praying tahajjud and the Duas being accepted at these times. As mothers  Duas for our children are essential!

Naps
Take naps in the day. Remember to take naps with the intention of being able to do more after being energised, can also be very rewarding!!

Role of a mother
Being the mother of the house, the household routine has a big say of ours! Let’s try and encourage our children to do good in ramdhaan, read them stories, teach them about Islam! Try to teach them about the wisdom of fasting. Get them involved in any type of ibadah you do. Make it spiritual for them too. Remember Children copy what we do, so if they see good things happening around the house, they will follow. Take out books musallahs tasbeehs, or even make for them a specific area in the house to do good deeds.
The electronic tasbeehs are something the children love. Give them one with a Tasbeeh of the day. I’m sure they’ll enjoy it. If you have older children encourage them to read the Quran. Teach them the importance of reading Quraan from a young age. Keep on top of them, and ask them how much have u prayed? Reward them and inshaAllah they will continually pray.
We also can help our husbands by encouraging them to go to the masjid, pray Quraan ect

Be organised
Let’s try and get all our shopping ect done in advance. Extra trips to the shops is highly unnecessary! Fill your house with everything you will need in ramadhaan. Another way to make life easier is to make a menu from before hand! This way, we know exactly what ingredients we will need and can make sure we have them from before. Be organised by making a set routine in the house. By doing so, you’ll leave more time to do ibaadah. It is also advisable to get Eid gifts and eid clothes prior to the month of ramdhaan.

Time
Time is precious
So use every minute wisely, even whilst dropping the children off to school, be productive! I’ve heard people say, but how much Ibadah are we going to do? This is something we should avoid saying. Think about how much extra reward we are getting for doing these ibaadaat! If we’re not going to take this golden opportunity to fill our bank balances of the hereafter I don’t know what will boost us to do more!

Substitute
Substitute all the things in our house to things that will benefit us.
Instead of having the sound of the tv in the background, play some Islamic lecture!
Replace CDs with Quraan and nasheeds!
Take all the Islamic books, quraan ect out.

Tech free zone!
Try to create a zone of no technology! No iPads laptops ect!! And limited usage of phones!! Encourage children and try to do the same too. Many people even delete all social media for the period of Ramdhaan. Some even keep their phone in flight mode. This can be handy in not wasting valuable minutes as we do usually.

Lastly, pray to Allah that he grants us a spiritual most peaceful and easy Ramadhaan. The last thing we want, is to regret not being able to do enough. For who knows if this could be our last…