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Planning ahead: Nurin’s Ramadhan wishlist and a secret mission

Before Ramadhan in 2017, Nurin made a vision board of fifteen wishes. Around the same time she planned a 4:30 am surprise for Ummi, step by step.

At home we try to get the children used to planning ahead: to set a vision, lock in some targets and then go with it. A vision board is one simple way in. This one is by Nurin.

My Ramadhan wishlist

Nurin made it in 2017, when she was about eleven. Under a row of bunting spelling RAMADHAN she wrote fifteen wishes, each in a different colour. The first is "Pass my PSLE (nxt yr) with flying colours".

Nurin's Ramadhan wishlist: fifteen wishes in rainbow colours under paper bunting
Nurin's Ramadhan wishlist: fifteen wishes in rainbow colours under paper bunting

Some wishes are about school: "Win the Science compatittion", "Win a gold medal for sportsday", "Get good marks and good Akhlak in school". One is for the pupils a year above her: "Wish all the P6's to pass PSLE this year."

Some are very big: "Give a talk to the universe" and "Get the highest Jannah". Some are very practical: "Get my shoe pencil case b4 schl re-opens".

And a few of them look a long way ahead:

  • "Be famous for my lecture and Akhlaq"
  • "Go to a good university and continue IQRAsaurus."
  • "Give talks and lectures around the world."

We like that the big wishes and the small ones sit on the same page. A child learns to plan by planning real things, including a pencil case.

OUBS: it's up to us

Around the same time, Nurin wrote a secret plan on three loose sheets, addressed to Daddy. The first sheet is a cloud with the code name "OUBS" and the line "Its up to us its our mission". It is signed:

"From: Your Princess Warior motivational speaker doctor mad scientist biologist hafizah and daughter of daddy"

She shortened all her titles to PWMSDMSBHDOD.

A cloud drawn on paper with "OUBS" and "Its up to us its our mission", signed with Nurin's long list of titles
A cloud drawn on paper with "OUBS" and "Its up to us its our mission", signed with Nurin's long list of titles

The second sheet is "MISSION #1: wake up early in the morning". She drew it as a mountain. Up one side: buy cake, buy spray, wake up at 4:30 am, set up the balloons. At the top, at 5 am: surprise Ummi. Down the other side: eat cake at 5:30, go to school, bye.

Mission #1 drawn as a mountain timeline, from buying the cake up to the 5 am surprise and down to going to school
Mission #1 drawn as a mountain timeline, from buying the cake up to the 5 am surprise and down to going to school

The third sheet has one rule, in big letters.

A sheet that reads "REMEMBER UMMI MUST NOT KNOW THE CAKE"
A sheet that reads "REMEMBER UMMI MUST NOT KNOW THE CAKE"

Her list of titles is how she saw herself in the future, written in a candid, innocent way. The mission is planning too, put to use for someone she loves.

Try it at home

Before Ramadhan, or before a school term, ask your child for a wishlist. Let the big wishes and the small ones go on the same page, and keep it somewhere you will both see it.

Nurin wrote the mission notes sometime between 2014 and 2018. We are not sure the surprise went to plan. Most likely she tried it, and it only partly worked.

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