That's mostly because Mona is now big enough to understand a bit more about this Baha'i Holy Day and that it's time to be happy, to share, to give thanks and to PARTY!!! lol...
This year's celebrations feels just like the kind of celebrations I use to have back home in Mauritius and reminds me a lot of my childhood.
First off, let me tell you a bit more about Ayyam-I-Ha (for those who don't know):
The Baha'i year consists of 361 days -- 19 months of 19 days each. To bring it into conjunction with the 365-day Roman calendar, a four-day period is set aside in late February and early March. These four days, referred to as "the time outside of time", stand apart from the rest of the Baha'i calendar and commence the Holy Day cycle.
Known as Ayyam-i-Ha (pronounced: Ah-YAHM-ee-hah), the four days are traditionally a time of gift-giving for Baha'is. Baha'i children often await Ayyam-i-Ha the way Christian and Jewish children anticipate Christmas or Hanukkah.
It is also a time of sharing and bringing joy and happiness to other, and Baha'i families typically visit nursing homes, bring food and clothing to homeless people and shelters or clean up neighborhood parks during Ayyam-i-Ha, like we are suppose to do all year round.
Ayyam-I-Ha is also a period of spiritual preparation for the 19-day fast, which flows into the New Year's celebration of Naw Ruz. "Naw Ruz'' means "New Day'' in Persian. The holiday symbolizes new life and spiritual renewal.
Christians fast at Lent, Jews at Yom Kippur, Muslims at Ramadan. Prayer and fasting are twin pillars of most religious traditions. Likewise for us Baha'is, who fast for 19 days as part of our annual cycle of holy days, which begins February 26 with Ayyam-I-Ha and concludes with the celebration of Naw-Ruz (Baha'i New Year) on March 21.
Like i mentioned, Ayyam-i-Ha starts on the 26th of February each year, but this year, I decided to start celebrating with my daughter a little bit earlier, actually two days earlier.
So Mona and myself we wish you all a very happy and joyous Ayyam-I-Ha Celebrations!
I'm sure you are asking why we are celebrating a bit earlier, well because I really want Mona to get excited about this Holiday. She was bombarded with Christmas absolutely everywhere during Christmas time and well before, and I want her to understand that this is our Celebration and this is a big deal. And also because she really deserves it, she has gone through a lot lately and none of it was her fault and just recently she felt abandoned and was totally forgotten by someone who means a great deal in her life.... And I hate to see her hurt and sad, so I needed to do something to cheer her up also....
So I decided to buy her a small inexpensive toy, starting today, and for each day of Ayyam-i-Ha's celebration. I talked to her about Ayyam-i-Ha this morning and will do so everyday and we sang prayers and songs about it together. We will keep a cheerful and happy spirit and we will show and share our love and happiness with everyone we meet!
We also have 4 different parties to attend to this year and we are excited about those!!
We are celebrating Ayyam-I-Ha with the children at our Tender Seedlings Class and we are having an 'Ayyam-I-Ha Bollywood Night' and a picnic in the park with the Baha'i friends in our Community, and we also have another party at a friend's house with lots of other kids and friends too.
Mona was really excited to get her gift today! And she was just so happy and exclaimed clear and loud to all those that could hear: "I love Ayyam'-I-Ha mum, it's so fun!!!"... lol...
Here are some pictures of her and her first gift:
(Gift No 1: Playdoh and accessories)
(Mona so happy to have her first gift for Ayyam-I-Ha)
And she didn't wait too long to play with them and get busy!!She made pancakes with them, she also made me a had and shoe with them... lol
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