Motherhood has its bad days

Motherhood has its bad days. Some days your toddler is a charming prince (mashaAllah) and OTHER days he's slapping you on the face, yelling your name at the top of his lungs "FIYA! FIYA!", refusing to eat or drink anything except for his milk (aka his addiction), taking down all the wet laundry five minutes after you put it up to dry, not taking his nap and instead managing to remove his clothes AND diaper and deciding to use the crib as a toilet bowl. Those are the types of days where you just want to roll up in a ball and cry, or at least sleep, because you know haven't done that in a while. -.-

And just when you're ready to give up, and you've almost cried yourself to sleep as the little guy removes all his diaper wipes from the container, you get a tiny little "haag" and "kees" from his milk-dripping mouth. And no, it doesn't mean all the pain and suffering goes away in that moment.. but it does tug at your heart JUST enough for you to say... Alright, let's keep on going. That tiny little tug at your hearts, my friends, THAT is the Rahmah (mercy) that Allah has put inside of you. SubhanAllah, Allah said He named the mother's womb (Rahim) by His own name (Ar Rahmaan). He honored the mother so highly by giving her womb a name from His own. That's because the mother and her child have one of the closest relationships of love and mercy. The child in the womb is cared for in ways it cannot even imagine. After birth, the mother is overcome with a sense of Rahmah that causes her to do anything and everything for that child despite the fact that all she may get in return are cries and tantrums, loss of sleep and sometimes health.

Then what about us and our Lord, Ar-Rahman? If He has sent down to all of creation just 1% of His Rahmah and that is seen exemplified in every mother's mercy for her child (even on those bad days), then imagine how much mercy Allah has been showering upon us, and will continue to shower upon us - even on our bad days. Don't despair, the mercy of Allah is near. For the mamas out there, just know you're not in it alone, and that inshaAllah you WILL get through these days. And regardless of how grim the days may seem, you are reaping the greatest amount of reward that you can imagine. As long as you set your niyyah (intention) to please Allah through these children, inshaAllah EVERY single act becomes a form of Ibadah (worship) - from cleaning up the food plastered on the wall to changing those awful diapers to losing countless hours of sleep. Though it may all seem like a mountain on your shoulders right now, I pray it will be a mountain of good deeds for you on the Day of Judgment. Because Allah says " Surely, We do not let the reward of anyone who does a good deed go to waste" (Surah Kahf:30)