Best of 2017 on 'by Shahira'

2017 started with big plans for my blog. I was at the peak of my blogging enthusiasm. Let’s say, I didn’t do as much as I wanted to due to some unforeseen circumstances. That being said, 2017 was still the best year for my blog, in terms of collaboration opportunities, networking with people and traffic on the blog. Some of the articles have been a big hit surprisingly, yet some of the articles where I have put in hours of research and reading has gone unnoticed.

Here I am sharing some of my most read blog posts of the year. Most of the traffic for these blog posts are from Google and Pinterest – two awesome tools for bloggers. It also signifies the different groups of readers on my blog – mothers looking for support, Muslim moms searching for information or ways to attune their parenting journey in the spirit of Islamic teaching and Doha moms – for resources not found elsewhere.

Without much ado, here it is :

1) 7 books for Muslim moms-to-be

During the initial days of my parenting journey, I searched for a list of Muslim Parenting books. I could not find a comprehensive list hence, voila, I made one on my own with the limited number of books I have read. Considering its popularity, I understand this is an often-searched query by Muslim moms, especially first-time moms.

Most often, we take our parenting cues and tips from our own parents, but often, their tips and tricks were more apt for their times and more attuned to the culture/country they were raising their children (us) and so with changing tides/cultures/countries, we might need to stream our own parenting path. That is where books help us – especially Islamic Parenting books. To go back to our roots – to tune our parenting style with the Quranic teaching and Prophetic practices.

Currently, I am working on the second part of this blog post – Pregnancy and other resources for Muslim moms. Do check back on to the blog or subscribe to the newsletter to read more.

2)Quiet books + A tutorial

I am not surprised at the popularity of this blog post. Quiet books are the rage now especially due to the endless possibilities of entertaining a child. They are made of a compressed fabric called FELT and these books contain many quiet activities to entertain young children. The activities can vary from shape/colour sorting, dressing up a doll, moving beads to develop fine motor skills, creative thinking etc.

This post was written by Haifa from Paper Batter Banter and it has many beautiful tutorials done by the very talented Esha from Quiet Books, Canada.

Do check the post out to know more about Quiet books especially if you have young children.

3) Cloth diapering resources in Qatar

This is a surprising one! I mean who writes about cloth diapers…well, who reads about them would be another question – but the stats on this post tells a different story. My intention with this post was to compile information I have gained over the last 2 years before I forget them. Whoever knows me well enough know that I have been crazy about CD for a little while now.

This post has information on the different types of cloth diapers, CD friendly detergents, washing techniques and finally sites that have international shipping.

4) 10 tips to survive the first year of motherhood + Free Adult colouring sheets.

100 days of darkness – they call it. Every mother knows the first year of motherhood is the toughest one, especially if you are a first time mom. We often lose track of day and night. Everything is a blur. Hence the popularity of this post.

This post also has free colouring sheet freebies done by the very talented Fahima from InkTangle.

An indication – collaborative post with other talented bloggers, designers work very well!

5) Expat childhood in the Middle East

I wrote this post when I was feeling quite emotional about the fact that my parents were packing up and getting ready to leave Doha ( Fun fact: They did not leave Doha then, instead they extended their stay for a year more. Alhamdulilah) Living in the Middle East has its own pros and cons. It is a culture like no other. A sad fact of living in the Middle East is having to leave suddenly – I often remind myself – this ephemeral nature of having to leave suddenly represents precisely the life of this Dunya.

Before I wrote this article, I searched far and wide for other documented accounts of childhood in the Middle East. I could not find any, though I am sure there are many interesting anecdotes from people who have grown up here since the 70’s. Would love to compile the anecdotes into a book on Middle East childhood – Anyone interested in a collaboration? 😀

That sums up my top posts of the year. For the year 2018 insha’Allah, hopefully, I can have a better blog-plan in hand irrespective of the huge changes we will be having inshaAllah.

Personally, 2017 came with its own share of ups and down. Career-wise, my plan was to get back to clinical dentistry. Exams, studying, filling forms, all the running about – well, nothing worked – I am back to square one. But then, We plan and He plans. He is indeed the best of Planners. He has blessed us with something bigger. Alhamdulilah

InshaAllah, I hope 2018 is fruitful and brings more joy, success and fulfilment to our lives. Wish you and yours a happy holiday season!

This post is part of the Muslimah Blogger’s Blog-hop. I am joining a few of my bloggy buddies to bring you the best of our blogs.

You can visit the most popular posts by other Muslimah Bloggers below. Each blogger has chosen their five most popular post from 2017. Hop on over and check them out.