The Positive and The Negative *copied*

"I got two A's," said the little boy,

His voice was filled with glee.

His father said, "If you studied more,"

"You might have gotten three."

"Mom, I've got the dishes done,"

The girl called from the door.

Her mother answered sharply,

"Well I hope you swept the floor!"

"I mowed the grass," the tall boy said,

"And edged the sidewalks too."

"I hope you improved," his father said,

" On the job you usually do."

The children in the house next door,

Seemed happy and content.

The same thing happened over there,

But this is how that went:

"I've got two A's," the small boy said.

His voice was filled with glee.

His beaming father said, "That's great!"

I'm so proud you belong to me!"

"Mom, I've got the dishes done."

The girl called from the door.

Her mother smiled and softly said,

"Each day I love you more."

"I've mowed the grass," the tall boy said,

"And edged the sidewalks too."

His father answered "Thank you!"

"For all the helpful things you do!"

Give a hug, or thanks or praise,

For the tasks your children do,

If they're to lead a happy life,

So much depends on you.

Thank You Mother!

“Oh God! Please grant me one wish. I want my mother to love me more than my siblings. Please God, I promise I’ll always be a good boy. Please grant me my wish.” This is what Omar asked God every day after his prayers. Omar was an eight year old boy who lived with his parents, older sister Iman, aged eleven and a brother Khalid, two years younger to him.


Omar’s mother, alike every mother, loved her son a lot. She woke him up every morning, dressed him up for school, packed his lunchbox, dropped him to the bus, picked him back from school, served him food, played games with him, helped him with his studies and homework and took really good care of him. Twice a week she would cook his favourite dishes for lunch. Every night after putting him to bed, she would pack his bag, polish his shoes and iron his uniform for next morning.


In spite of his mother doing so much for him, Omar wasn’t really happy because he always thought that he was the least loved in his family. According to him, his sister being the only daughter was his father’s pet and his brother being the youngest at home, was the most loved and pampered by all. He always felt that his mother loved his siblings more and did a lot of special things for them.


Omar wished to be the apple of his mother’s eyes. Every night he used to pray to God that his mother should love him more and take better care of him. He wanted to be his mother’s favourite so his siblings would be a little jealous of him. Throughout Ramadan he prayed for just this one wish to be made true; not realizing that a mother loves all her kids equally.


One night while Omar was sleeping, he had a dream of an angel coming to him. He suddenly opened his eyes and was amazed to see a bright ray of light. At the tip of the ray was a butterfly like creature with glittery pink wings and a hallo overhead. Yes – it was an angel. Omar was slightly frightened but smiled at the magical creature he saw. He had seen pictures of fairies only in story books. With all his innocence he asked, ‘Are you one of Sleeping Beauty’s Fairy Godmothers?” The angel smiled and spoke to him in a very sweet voice, “Omar, I am Halima, an angel sent by God. God knows that you have been a good boy and He has decided to grant your wish.” “Really??” asked Omar with glee filled eyes. “Yes. Today onwards your mother will love you more than usual and you’ll feel special. Hope this makes you feel happy.” replied Halima. Soon the angel disappeared and Omar looked a bit lost. He went back to sleep.


As usual, his mother woke him up the next morning along with his siblings. When he opened his eyes he couldn’t believe that an angel had visited him the previous night. He thought of going and checking out for himself if his mother loved him more now. He watched each of his mother’s actions closely and wrote down all that she did for him. He kept writing all day, 21) Mummy played checkers with me, 22) Mummy helped me with my English paragraph writing. And so on...


At the end of the day Omar read all those points again and he felt really special. He realized that his mother polishes his shoes, but not his sister’s; she spent more time helping him in studies than with his brother; and many more such things. The happiness on his face slightly dimmed as he realized that his mother always did all these things for him. It was just that he never appreciated it. Next morning as soon as he woke up, he went up to his mother and thanked her for all that she’s done for him. In return his mother just smiled and kissed him.


We all have a mother like this. Its just that we take her for granted and don’t realize how much pain she takes for our well being. Though we forget to thank her, she continues to care for us the same way and love us more each day. She does so much for us without expecting anything in return. So stop waiting for your angel to remind you and go thank her!!

Friendship is Just a Smile Away

In the silence of the night and the stillness of my shadow, I was gazing at the night sky. It was pitch dark and I suddenly noticed a bright beam of light, peeping from behind the clouds in a corner. At that moment anybody who looked at the sky would fall in love with the moon. For a moment I felt pity for the moon being lonely though beautiful.

The rest of the world was asleep except for me and the moon, meditating on each other’s face and expressing our loneliness. 12:45 a.m. I was pretty bored that I thought of making friends with the moon. I looked up at the moon and asked her what she was doing up there, all alone, and that too so late at night.

She replied, “I’m always here watching the waves of the deep blue sea and the greenery of the earth. But one half of the world doesn’t see me and the other half shut their eyes when I come up.” But she was still shining brightly up there, all alone. I was just thinking, why do we people feel so sad when someone close to us do not care about us? Though sad at heart, why can’t we face the world with a smile, just like the moon?

I said to the moon, “But there are few people who keep gazing at you all night. How can you feel lonely when they admire you that way?” I continued, “They even risk their lives and come to space just to click a photo of yours. You should be feeling like a celebrity!” The moon had a slight smile on her face. She said, “Oh! You mean the scientists behind telescopes! They look at me because they get paid for it. And the astronauts come to me for fame – from the very first Neil Armstrong. How typical of you humans! But I surely love posing for them. Ha-ha!”

How true, I thought. We humans would do anything if paid – be it staring at the moon or the sun. These days we even have to pay someone to keep secrets or make them speak the truth! Wealth and fame are all that we think of. Money is our ultimate aim and we think that money can buy everything. How can we be so greedy and materialistic? The moon continued, “But I do have friends like you, who make me smile and keep the night sky shining.” I said to the moon, “Hey, whenever you wish to smile, just pull your cheeks apart or try saying CHEESE. He he!”

Our chat flowed through a lot of topics. We spoke about my family, my school, my friends; then the moon told me about few of her friends, just like me in different countries. She spoke a lot about earth’s natural beauty and about the present day pollution. It seemed like she had a very good view of the blue planet from up there.

At 3:15 a.m. we wished each other a very good night. I saw the moon leave me and go back behind the dark clouds. We had been such good friends in just a few hours time. I promised her to meet every day... sorry, every night. I think when I left she got new company on the other side of the globe. I at least hope so.­­­­­­­­­­­

Finally I went to bed with peace. And I was content that I made my new friend smile. But nobody saw the moon smile except me, because half the world couldn’t see her, and the other half was asleep! It’s so easy to make friends. All it costs you is few hours of talking and a slightly warm smile; or in my words just say “CHEESE”!! Friendship is not a light year or even a mile far, it’s just a smile away!