EID and What our family has planned.

What I really want to talk about is what it’s like for a revert on EID. Please remember that I grew up Christian with all the Christian Holliday’s and looked forward to them every year.
I am trying to show my husband how it can be such a great thing for teaching kids to behave. For the last week, I have been telling Nyla that she will not get any EID gifts if she is bad.  I know this is against what his family is used to. They do not believe in correcting children the way I do. And they give kids stuff all the time and don’t make them wait for a special reason for them to get stuff.
When we were growing up all year long we knew we had to behave or we would get coal in our stockings. This was reinforced on all of the TV shows and cartoons and books about Santa Claus.
But in Islam there is no Magical person who brings gifts and watches you all year long. With a naughty or nice list.  Yes!! God (Allah) is watching you all year in fact he is watching all your life but we do not find out until judgment day if you have to pay for your sin. So children can’t conceive of judgment day. It’s so far in the future.
Ok back to what really happens or I should say what happens in our family.. Everyone in the house rushes around doing the last min stuff for the EID party. Along with getting all dressed up in our fancy new EID clothes, Then we go to pray, either at the big mosjc where you have to fight over parking and a spot on the floor to pray. Or we go with my in-laws who go to a smaller mosjc that holds their pray in a different location knowing that they have more people show up for this prayer. (I liked this last year even though it was the tennis building at OSU it was really nice everyone brought sheets to put on the floor to sit on for the halaqa (lecture) before the prayer. I had room for Nyla to be in her stroller right next to me, Where as the big mosjc there isn’t enough room for strollars they are all parked in the downstairs hall way. 
I am having an Open house again for EID this means that any of my friends can come over and visit and eat between the times I have stated. I am having it kinda early so that I can go to other open house later in the day. This will be my third one. The first one was only supposed to be just family and I was just planning on making breakfast stuff. But when we were at the prayer we invited friends home with us. So the Next EID I planned to do the same but to have it more of a brunch and hold it just a little later so I could have time to go pray and come back and cook, but that didn’t work out and I ended up missing prayer to have everything ready. But this year I am trying something different I am planning a lunch. I am serving:


Appetizers- Cold Shrimp, chips and salsa, a relish tray.


Main course- Cold sandwiches like (egg salad, chicken salad, and Kema meat), Green Salad, Deviled eggs, Veggies and dip.


Dessert- Pink Stuff (Jello Fluff), Seviya Kheer, Rasmalai.


I can prepare all of this ahead of time so I can go to prayer and then just come home and put it out on the table.