Bribery

I don't have much against it. The Muslim world rotates around it. It's morally and legally wrong, of course and I abhore people who deal with it. But it suddenly hit home when I asked Boss for a kiss and cuddle on my way upstairs to offer salah the other day and he said, "Have you got some chocolate?" with a silly, hopeful grin on his face. I most certainly *did* have some chocolate, not that that I intended to give *him* any. So we bartered for five minutes; no chocolate no cuddle. So I explained to him that as his mother I had a moral (and I'm sure an Islamic) right to have a cuddle any time I choose. *Did I have any Polos then*. That really isn't important right now. Cuddle, please. "You go do salah and you get cuddle when you come downstairs insha'allah". OK. That's a promise. So I belted upstairs to offer my salah which was getting nearer to qazr with every passing second.

Came down stairs. "OK, I'll have my cuddle now. You promised." "ABU LAHI MIN SHAYTAN RAJIM (his way of saying "A'uzu billahi mina shaytan ir rajeem") I DID NOT SAY DAT".
You bleeding little liar. First bribery now lies!! It boiled down to a headlock in the end when I forced my agreed cuddle out of him, which he rubbed off immediately afterwards.

This morning I awoke to find his curtain pulled off the rails, and we have issues with curtains which he yanks when he looks out of any window and I think I have told him at least 40 times a day not to pull my curtains. Right. So imagine the look on his face when he saw a "I told you! How many times have I told you?!?" coming towards him looking like Oprah without the make-up. "WHO DID THAT"... his reply: "I don't know". *Starts fiddling with his hands in a nervous manner* "DID YOU DO IT?!"... his reply: "It fell off by itself", "No it didn't - things don't break by themselves - how did it happen?", then my boy really made me proud; he said, "I did it. But it was an accident..." Aw.... he told the truth. My incessant messges of how important it is to tell the truth have sunk in insha'allah. I immediately stop my tirade and praise him, "Well done for telling the truth. Mummy is happy when you tell the truth. And if it was an accident I'm not angry. *Cuddles him* Well done you are a GOOD boy masha'allah". To which I am treated with the punchline, "Daddy did it as well".

We are halfway there. Now all we have to do is work on the bribery, which let's face it is all my fault anyway. What do the Sufis say? If you turn a murderer into a mere thief then you have made progress...

I'm hoping that'll suffice on Judgement Day for me :S