“Ummi, may I call you by your first name?”

“No, you can call me Atticus.”

I love all kinds of seafood but it is a bit of a rarity here in Islamabad. Most Islamabad folk will stick to chicken and red meat, thank you very much.

My mother-in-law will eat a little fish if I cook it but has to stop herself from wrinkling up her nose – she has yet to get used to the smell. (Much of the fish here is fresh-water fish so I think there is always that pungent smell that is so hard to get rid of?)

My father-in-law, who had once worked in Karachi (where most of the seafood comes from), loves fish. He promptly hands over all marine acquisitions to me since other members of the family won’t touch them with a ten-foot pole!

My sister-in-law has declared that she “does not eat fish” but she will eat my tuna sandwiches… But then, tuna isn’t really a fish, is it? It comes from a can!

Tuna Salad/Sandwich

Ingredients & Method

1. Drain a 425 g can of tuna.

2. Break up the tuna with a fork and combine with:

• 2 chopped hard-boiled eggs
• 3 chopped spring onions
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
• 1 chopped celery stick
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup sour cream
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

3. Serve with lettuce leaves on bread rolls. I also like to include sliced cucumbers in the sandwich. Sliced tomatoes, steamed baby carrots and slices of crunchy Fuji apples on the side are my girls’ favourite!

• I LOVE books.
• It was my father who nurtured my love for reading.
• One of my fondest memories of childhood is taking a drive with my dad to a quaint second-hand bookstore in Serangoon (in Singapore) and then going home to BURY myself in my new acquisitions.
• I don’t really like libraries.
• I love re-reading books.
• Books I have re-read: The Sealed Nectar (I have to read and re-read it because of my studies but I really do it because I love any book on the life of the Prophet ); To Kill A Mockingbird (still not sick of it and what’s more, what joy! Ms M loves it too!); Hilyat-ul Awliya Wa Tabaqat al-Asfiya (I love inspirational snippets!); all of James Herriot’s books (he describes everything so aptly and beautifully and always has me in stitches…) and of course, To Kill A Mockingbird
• I don’t like giving away or selling books I have read, although I have done so in the past.
• I am therefore running out of room and am having an awful headache trying to pack everything for the return home to Singapore.
• Much of my time in Islamabad (and allowance… ahem!) is spent on second-hand bookstores.
• The rest of the time is spent making up wishlists online… :)
• I don’t read as much as I used to.
• I love reading with my kids.

There are times when I wish ‘well-meaning’ people would just back off and stop trying to add value to my children’s education.

If you cannot impart knowledge to my kids in a positive and encouraging way, then please be so good as to recognise your shortcoming and leave them alone.

Please, before you start quizzing Ms M on the finer points of Geography, check that you can ask her questions without GRILLING her and making her feel as if a wrong answer would diminish her in your eyes. Please do not ask her to repeat things that you had taught her in front of company. She is not a performer and it is certainly not her job to validate you. She is learning and learning a lot each day, so I would appreciate it if you would not act as if there are numerous gaps that you need to fill on my behalf.

She loves you and I know you love her, but really, you must stop this.

Stories of the Prophets by Ibn Kathir (on-going)

Malcolm X : A Fire Burning Brightly by Walter Dean Myers & Leonard Jenkins
Pompeii: The Day A City Was Buried by Melanie & Christopher Rice (DK)
Usborne’s Enclyclopedia of World History (on-going)
Voyages of Discovery – Viking Explorers by Luidi Prunetti (McGraw-Hill) (on-going)

Animal Talk from Singing Birds & Fireflies by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
Australia The Gift by Steve Parish
Fire! (DK)
Kangaroos & Marsupials by Lionel Bender
Koala Kate Talks Ablout Koalas by Denise Burt
Longman’s Inquizitive books: Bushfire
Longman’s Inquizitive books: The Desert Gallery
On The Trail from Animal Tracks & Traces by Kathleen V Kudlinksi
People & Animals: Work & Leisure by Barry Silkstone
The Magic School Bus Chapter Book: Amazing Magnetism
The Magic School Bus Chapter Book: Expedition Down Under
The Magic School Bus Chapter Book: The Giant Germ
The Magic School Bus Chapter Book: The Truth about Bats
The Magic School Bus Chapter Book: The Wild Whale Watch
The Magic School Bus Chapter Book: Twister Trouble
Travelling Through Time (DK)

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

A Bargain for Frances by Russel Hoban & Lillian Hoban
Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping by Peggy Parish & Lynn Sweat
Best Friends for Frances by Russel Hoban & Lillian Hoban
Beryl’s Box by Lisa Taylor & Penny Dann
Bedtime for Frances by Russell Hoban & Garth Williams
Bread & Jam for Frances by Russel Hoban & Lillian Hoban
Days with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel
Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel
Frog and Toad All Year by Arnold Lobel
Owl at Home by Arnold Lobel
Koala Lou by Mem Fox
Miss Lily’s Fabulous Pink Feather Boa by Margaret Wild & Kerry Argent
Mom Can’t See Me by Sally Hobart Alexander
Possum Magic by Mem Fox
The Gold Coin by Alma Flor Ada
The Pudding Like a Night on the Sea by Ann Cameron

DK Readers
Beastly Tales
Dinosaur Detectives
Disasters At Sea
Free At Last: The Story of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Horse Show
Outback Adventure: Australian Vacation
The Story of Anne Frank
The Story of Muhammed Ali
Zeppelin