“I Love My Daily Routine,How About You?”Fatima Shares Her Day

written by Ngo Hnadesigned by Christine Legg

Hello! Hello! My name is Fatima. I am twelve years old and love to learn new things. Do you like to learn new things, too?

I moved from another country with my family to a new home. It is different here so I am learning new ways to do things by myself.

Let me tell you what my day is like in my new home.

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7:00 a.m.My day starts early on school days. In my house, my mom wakes me up in the morning. She knocks on my door and says it’s time. My friend has an alarm clock that wakes him up in the morning.

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The first thing I like to do when I wake up is to make my bed. I make sure my blankets pulled up and my pillows are at the top of my bed. My bed looks nice and neat. Now, it is time to make myself nice and neat.

Before I went to bed last night, I picked out my clothes for today. My brother likes to pick his clothes out in the morning when he wakes up. I like to spend time selecting my clothes so I do it at night.

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How do you wake up in the morning?

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After I get my clothes, I go to the bathroom to take a shower and brush my hair. Sometimes, I take a bath at night before I go to bed. Then I do not need a shower in the morning. When I am done getting cleaned up, I check to make sure that:

The towel is hanging back up on the hook

My pajamas are picked up

Before I go to the kitchen for breakfast, I stop in the bedroom to put my pajamas away so that I can find them tonight.

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What is your favorite color to wear?

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7:30 a.m. It is time to leave for school, so I go back to the bathroom to brush my teeth and check my faceand hands to make sure they are clean. I also put on my sneakers so that I can play in the gymat school today.I am almost ready for the school day. I need to find my homework folder and put it in mybackpack. Then, I get my coat and tell my mom “good bye.”My brother and I walk to the bus stop together. And, we are off to school!

What is your favorite thing to do in the morning?

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8:00 a.m. When we get to school, I wait until the bus driver tells me when it is my turn to get off the bus and go to my classroom. Before I get off the bus, I look around my seat to make sure that I have everything. Most days I eat breakfast with my friends at school. When I get off the bus I go to my locker and put my coat away. My teacher takes us to the lunchroom where we have breakfast.

After we are done eating, we walk back to the classroom and get busy learning!

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What is your least favorite thing to eat at school?

What is your favorite thing to eat at school?

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3:00 p.m. (Home Again!)

After my brother and I get off the bus, we go straight home. I take off my coat and hang it up on a hook by the door so that I can find it next time I go out. I put my backpack in my bedroom for now. I will get my homework out later. First, I’m hungry and ready for a snack. Sometimes, I ask my mom what we have to eat.

2:30 p.m. At the end of the school day, we get our coats and backpacks. Our teacher tells us what we need to remember for the next school day.

Most days my teacher lists the homework and when it is due. Sometimes we also have papers to give to our parents. When everyone is ready to leave, our teacher walks us out to our bus.

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3:15 p.m. Today it’s raining, so I am going to stay inside. Some days I like to go outside and run around the yard or visit with my friends. Other days, like today, I like to watch tv and color pictures in my room. Some days my uncle comes over to take me to the park with my cousins.

What do you like to do after school?

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4:30 p.m. My mom says it’s almost time for dinner. So, it is time for me to turn off the tv and put away my paper and colored pencils. I finished coloring a picture so I am going to show it to my family before we eat dinner.

I stop by the bathroom and wash my hands before going to sit down for dinner.

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How do you help prepare for dinner?

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5:00 p.m.Sometimes when my mom cooks there is an alarm that beeps very loudly. At first I was a little scared. I asked my brother if we could turn off the alarm because the sound scares me. But my brother said that it protects us. If there is fire in the kitchen or anywhere in the house, the smoke alarm will beep to let us know we have to check around the house to see if there is fire. If we find a fire, we should call 911. Actually there are two types of alarms in my house, the smoke alarm and the carbon monoxide detector. I never heard of carbon monoxide. My brother told me that it is a gas that has no smell and can make people very sick. I always thank my brother for teaching me many things.

Do you have a smoke alarm in your house?

Do you ever hear it beep?

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Who cooks the meals in your house?

5:30 p.m. Everyone is sitting down at the kitchen table. Dinner smells great and we are so hungry! My mom always says the dining room table is where we should eat, not in the living room, or bedroom. She never allows us to bring food to our room, otherwise, we will mice and cockroaches.

Today it was my brother’s turn to set the table. He put a plate, silverware, napkin, and a cup at each of our places. Since he set the table it will be my turn to clean up after dinner. My mom takes the pots of food from the stove. They are hot so she will put the food on our plates for us. We wait until she sits down to begin eating. Yum!

We talk about many things at dinner. Sometimes we talk about our life before in a refugee camp. I was young, and I do not remember as much as my brother does. My mom would always remind us how blessed we are.

6:00 p.m. Everyone is finished eating so it’s time for me to clear the table. I pick up the dishes very carefully and put them near the sink. My mom will scrape the leftovers into the garbage and then she puts them into the sink to wash, dry, and put back onto the shelves.

Before I leave the kitchen I ask my mom if there is anything else that I can help with. Sometimes she asks me to sweep the floor and she asks my brother to take the garbage out.

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What kinds of things does your family talk about at dinner?

6:30 p.m.Time for homework. I go to my bedroom and take out the homework that is due tomorrow. Ineed some help with the math problems, so I go to find my brother. He said he would help mein a little bit, so I go back to my room and work on the other problems. Later, he helps me finishmy math. I love my brother very much. He is always my role model. Now it’s time for bed. I put my homework back into my backpack so that I won’t forget it tomorrow morning.

Sometimes I finish my homework early and I play with my younger siblings or watch some t.v.before bed. My two youngest siblings always like to watch cartoons. Then I ask my mom if I canswitch to the show that I want to watch.

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What are your favorite subjects in school?

When do you like to do your homework?

8:00 p.m. I pick out my clothes for school tomorrow and make sure that I have everything ready for the morning. I put my pajamas on and put my dirty clothes in the laundry basket to be washed. My shoes and clean sweater go back into my closet. Before I get into bed, I go to the bathroom to wash and brush my teeth.

8:15 p.m. If I am ready for bed on time, I like to read for a little while before I fall asleep. My mom stops by to say “good night, I love you” and turn off my light. I fall asleep fast and I cannot wait to see my friends tomorrow.

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What time do you go to bed?

8:00 a.m.I sleep a little later on Saturday and Sunday because we don’t have to catch get on a bus forschool. Sometimes my mom wakes me up, but today the smell of pancakes cooking in the kitchenwoke me up!

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.Today, my mom made pancakes. I like to pour syrup on my pancakes. Syrup is very sticky andI have to be careful not to spill it everywhere. One time I did pour too much syrup and I made amess. I told my mom and then I got a wet towel to clean it all up. So, after I cleaned up most ofthe mess, my mom wiped down the table with special cleaning soaps.

When I finish eating my breakfast, I scrape the leftover food into the garbage and put my plateand fork in the kitchen sink. It is important to make sure that food never goes down the sink drain.It can block the pipes and cause a BIG problem. Our social worker told us that.

My brother and I take turns washing the dishes. Today is my day to wash and rinse the dishes. Wehave a special rack to place the clean, wet dishes so that they can dry.

My days are very different on weekends. We don’t have school, but we have a lot to do!

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9:00 a.m. We like to keep our home looking pretty, so Saturdays are the day we clean the house.

I start by picking up my bedroom, and making sure my clean clothes are put away in the closet and my dirty clothes are put in the laundry basket. Then, I get the vacuum and clean the floors.

As soon as my room is clean, I look for my mom to find out what needs to be done. She asks me to pick up the living room. I find some papers that need to be put away and a pair of socks that my brother left by the door. So, I put the socks in the laundry and give my mom the papers. Then I vacuum the living room.

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Do you have a cleaning day?

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In our house, since Saturday is cleaning day, we all clean together. My brother sometimes tries not to clean and uses the excuse that he will visit my cousins’ house. But my mom says if you want to sleep over, you have to clean your room before going there. So he has to clean Friday sometimes.

When the garbage gets to be too much I call my brother to take it out. This can be complicated because some types of garbage go in a green container and some things go in a blue container. My brother made a mistake and put everything in one container. So now we always remember the rules. This helps recycling plastic, glass and cardboard to keep our world clean.

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What day is your garbage pickup day?

12:00 p.m.Sometimes on the weekend we try different foods. On typical days we eat rice. This week it is my turn to set the table. I feel very lucky because I don’t have to do a lot of work.. I don’t have to do a lot of work. I wipe the table before I put the plates out and my mom makes sandwiches. I love chicken sandwiches, but my brother loves everything. He is not picky. After lunch, we put our dishes in the sink. When it is my day to wash the dishes, I carefully wash and dry them and then put the dishes back on the shelves.

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On weekends, I also babysit my younger siblings. My mom has lots of things to do on the weekend.

There are a few things that I have to make sure of when I babysit:

My siblings want to play with toys, so I make sure that they don't put toys in the toilet, because the toys can block the water.

My youngest sister always puts her milk bottle on the couch. So I have to take it quickly and put it on the table or, if she is finished, I put it in the kitchen. Otherwise, if it spills on the couch, it will make the couch smell very bad.

I make sure to lock the front door. If someone comes to ring the bell, I have to tell my mom. I would never open the door if there was someone that I didn't know.

My mom counts on me, and she is always proud of me. I love her too and always want to make her happy!

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1:00 p.m.Sometimes on the weekends we go to the park or to the community center, or we visit friends. This afternoon we are going to see a movie at the rec center. So, after lunch, I wash my hands and face and brush my teeth. Then I brush my hair and wait for everyone to get ready.Later, when we return, we will all sit down for dinner and make plans for tomorrow. Every day might be different but one thing that is the same, is my daily routine.

I love having a daily routine, don’t you?

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Notes

Author’s Note

First, I would like to thank my nephew, Samuel, and niece, Emily, for giving me ideas for writing Fatima’s story. Also, I thank very much Daniel Howard for all his contributions to this book. Our lovely Fatima was inspired by one of my first high school friends in the USA.

Second, I would like to thank Mike Coniff, the CEO of RRRS, Henry Fittts, the grant manager for (Cities RISE) for giving me the opportunity to write a children’s book.

Third, I thank Cathy Sweet who is not just our editor, but also our illustrator and the one who makes sure that the story is smooth and coherent. Special thanks are due to our book designer, Christine Legg, who gave us an exceptionally designed book in a very short amount of time. If she didn’t spend night and day on this book, we would never have finished on time.

This book was made possible by funds provided by the Cities Responsible Investment and Strategic Enforcement (Cities RISE) grant program. This is an initiative of the New York State Attorney General’s Office, administered by Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.

Finally, I would like to thank Djifa Kother, Operation Manager of RRRS and all RRRS staff and volunteers.

Last but not least, I thank the many refugee families who shared their time and their stories to make this and other projects possible.

Copyright ©2021 by Rochester Refugee Resettlement Services

This book belongs to:

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Rochester Refugee Resettlement ServicesP.O. Box 15733

Rochester, NY 14615rochesterrefugeeservices.org