Anyway, both weekends were completely full (one with an Al-Maghrib seminar, and one with a tiny vacation with my husband), plus I had a number of additional appointments scheduled to wrap up the first phase of a health/nutrition program I'm participating in. Then a get-together with a friend, which ended up laying me out for the rest of the day. Then volunteering to teach a short halaqah (which became two), and then a last-minute birthday party too!
Even as my son kept asking when we would decorate for Ramadan!
There was always something I needed to do first--including cleaning the house, which itself felt more of a Sisyphean effort. Tonight, at last, it was time. Never mind that Ramadan officially started at maghrib today. While my husband took my son to the masjid to pray, I returned from another masjid and was able to quickly declutter my living room enough to prepare for decorations.
And sure, we were up a bit late. And the decorations aren't anything particularly special. But my son was excited to pull out these decorations (especially the lights.) He was excited for days, and already associated the coming of Ramadan with setting up the decorations. While it seemed to me a minor (and sure, slightly tedious) task, it served as a memorable tradition and a few moments (maybe an hour?) of delight. That made it all worth it.
