Be Prepared For Ramadan

There are so many things that parents need to keep track of and I'm often asked how I stay on top of things. My answer is: I plan things. I like to be prepared. I have a planner and journal for different aspects of my life. I have a goals planner, a university planner (I'm currently doing research), a personal planner and yes, a Ramadan planner. 

The secret to planning though, is not to stick to it rigidly. You write down the things you need to do for that day and you try your best to do it. But if something happens that you're unable to do that thing then, Alhamdulillah, let it go and put that in your planner for tomorrow.

The important point to understand is that we can plan all we like but the fact is, if Allah has other plans for us then we put our trust in Allah and go with it. There needs to be a balance. This is like tying your camel and trust in Allah.

Anas ibn Malik reported: A man said, “O Messenger of Allah, should I tie my camel and trust in Allah, or should I leave her untied and trust in Allah?” The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Tie her and trust in Allah.” (Sunan al-Tirmidhī)

I wanted to make that clear as some people plan their days and if they don't achieve all then they become stressed. That's not what we want. The point of a planner is to make us less stressed!

Back to planning and Ramadan, if you want to make the most of your Ramadan this year then please get yourself a planner. A good planner will let you track what you need to do most on each day. It will also let you reflect on how your day was and what you can do tomorrow to improve on today.

This is one of the reasons that I like Muslimommy's Ramadan Journal. There's a Ramadan log that's like a checklist. You can check off every day as you do each thing. There's space at the end to reflect. We can't change our behaviour and improve ourselves if we don't critically think about it and make intentions to do better. This space is gold. Interspersed throughout the journal are Quran and hadith quotes about Ramadan and fasting to remind us of what's important. 

If you're looking for a children's Ramadan Journal then try my Ramadan Colouring Activity Book. I've tried to make it fun by including 10 colouring pages that reflect the verses of the Quran on Ramadan and fasting. There are 4 trackers, one for fasting, one for charity, one for gratitude and one for mood. I've included a one month calendar, Quran journaling stickers for the 5 activities on Quran journaling. There's also an Eid card to colour! And of course, the journal page with tracking for the good deeds to do. This is a PDF download.

Some other children's Ramadan journals that you might like to look at (I don't have copies of these so I can't tell you exactly what they're like but they look good):

My Ramadan Journal

My Awesome Ramadan Journal

Little Explorers Ramadan Journal

Ohh these are free children's Ramadan journals to download:

My Perfect Ramadan Journal 

Ramadan Journal

I haven't yet found a good free Ramadan journal for parents, if you know of any let me know.