Boys and their toys – Part 2

Yesterday DH took the kids to the recently opened skate park in Arabian Ranches, down by Al Reem.  Almost mid-July in the desert summer, and it is hot.  It currently reaches around 45 degrees celesius during the day (probably more during the peak time of noon – 3pm).  Add any percentage of humidity to the mix and the climate is pretty unbearably sticky, yukky and feels like 60+ degrees celsius!

When I took the kids to the park, I sat on the bench and watched them earn their scootering and skateboard spurs on the half pipe and other funnily named ramps.  They are novices in both disciplines but, like most their age, they love the thrill of the ride and are hellbent on improving their technique.

However, last night, DH decided it would be a good idea for him to mount a skateboard (something he hasn’t done in approx. 30 years!) and show DS1 how to control it on a slope.  Now……I have known DH for almost 16 years…..and this is the first time I had heard him speak of skateboarding.  A true Englishman, he is au fait with football, rugby, cricket, darts and snooker (in no particular order of preference)…..but skateboarding???????  I just couldn’t see it.

Well, it seems my gut feeling was correct.

Minutes into displaying his rusty boarding skills on a ramp (a piece of equipment which probably didn’t exist in his day), DH described the board as ‘running away from underneath him’….leaving him battling for his balance.  He fell backwards.  2 outstretched arms broke his fall.  Thankfully he didn’t break either of the 2 outstretched arms; he got off lightly, with a sprained wrist……..

Upon his coy return home, he was silent.  It was DS1 who blabbed that Daddy hurt himself……..

I was taken aback.  DH hurt himself?

Let the grilling of DH begin.

He sheepishly admitted he boarded the skateboard to ‘flop’ station and is now sporting an injured wrist……and a very bruised ego!

This got me thinking about DH’s recent activities.  A few weeks ago when we were at the Dubai Kardrome, DH, who was slightly frustrated at DS1’s ‘cornering’ technique, decided to hop in a kart and ‘show him how it’s done’!  As his tracktime wore on, and DH was getting tired…his concentration began to lapse.  In an exhausted, dehydrated stupor, he careered into the barriers at high speed on the second last lap.  Who’d have thunk it that the adult go karts do not have seatbelts???!!!  At the time DH didn’t realise he had gashed his leg against some part of the kart.  When he wriggled out of his jumpsuit, he noticed a gooey, melting 6 inch abrasion on his lower leg……….

As a DW and a Mummy to 3 my 6th sense radar just kicked into overdrive…….DH will be celebrating a milestone birthday this year…Go karting and skateboarding are not activities in which I would expect a man completing his 4th decade on this planet to attempt to display his skill.

I am guessing I should let DH play more golf………

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Boys and their toys

I am not quite sure how we ended up here, but for the past few weeks, my family finds itself at the Dubai Kartdrome every Friday and Saturday morning.  So keen are we that yesterday it felt like we arrived before the staff!  DS1 is crazy about speeding around the track.  DD enjoys it, but is not as obsessed.  As the first ‘drivers’ there, DS1 and DD got the first slot.  We thought DS1 and DD would just be racing against each other and the clock, aiming to beat PBs.

BUT, to make it more interesting another 7 year old boy showed up.  He emerged from the changing room looking more like a mini Sebastian Vettel.   He was wearing his own racing overalls, shoes, gloves, balaclava and helmet (starting price for this piece of equipment is AED2,500/Euros500/GBP450).  Perfectly perched on the top of his helmet was a camera.  This left me speechless.  Instinct told me he knew what he was doing and my son might not be too happy leaving the track.

My instinct was right.

The ‘camera wearing’ chap was a lightning bolt around the track.  Sure he bumped into the plastic barriers at every bend but his fearlessness just seemed to spur him on.  Standing in the middle of the track giving directions was his Dad.  ‘Turn tight’, ‘Slow down’, ‘Speed up’.  ‘Natural + hot housed’ = success.

Given the lack of karting technical input from me and DH, it is a wonder DS1 could keep up!  All I could think was ‘did Lewis Hamilton have this level of pressure/analysis at the age of 7?’

In a way, he probably did.

Needless to say DS1 was not happy at being beaten.  So he begged DH to take him again today.   DH relented and for a second weekend day in a row, we found ourseleves at the Kartdrome.  DS1 was keen but DD’s interest was waning with each lap.  Even still, DH walked them around the track explaning how to drive the line, how to turn the bends without losing speed/time etc.

It seems DD was the only who listened.  She knocked a second off her PB.  DS1 drove a half a second quicker even though he didn’t seem to grasp the ‘time saving’ corner technique.

Cue DH having many hissy fits, and threatening to get into a car himself to show DS1 how it’s done….and prove a point!

Even though the camera touting boy’s Dad commented that DS1 was one of the only kids to come close to his son’s time on the track, DH was still not particularly happy.

‘Get in the car yourself and show DS1 what you mean’, I urged.

‘Hug the corner’, ‘Take the corner tight’, ‘Wide in and then tight’ are concepts a 7 year old does not understand.

‘You need to show him’, I explained.

Well, lo and behold, DH donned a red and black jumpsuit, borrowed DD’s balaclava and shunted on a helmet over his skinny bonce whilst somehow managing to keep his specs in place.  My call for a mentor for DS1 was a double edged sword;  I wanted DH to show DS1 how to drive the track but didn’t want DH to enjoy it so much that I would be a karting widow and DS1-less on the weekends!

Thankfully my prayers were answered!

Even though it has been 12+ years since DH was on a go-kart track, he had a blast, raced the best time but found it so exhausting in nigh on 40 degree temperatures (imagine the added heat from engines and burning rubber on an indoor track!), he does not feel the need to practise to better his time!  Maybe when the weather cools down…….

 

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Ramadan Kareem

Today marked the first day of the holy month of Ramadan.  The sighting of the crescent moon late on Monday night indicated the 9th lunar month, and the beginning of Ramadan, would start today.

Abstaining from food and water from sunrise to sunset (this year this is from approximately 4am to just after 7pm) must be difficult, especially in Dubai summer temperatures which slunk past 50 celsius yesterday.  Not an easy feat and not something I think I would look forward to or enjoy.  When I think back to my childhood days of  ‘giving up’ chocolate and sweets for Lent, I remember dreading the 6 week period.  I counted down the days to Easter when I would have implied permission to stuff my face with as many Easter eggs as possible…..even before breakfast.  But when I look around my office many of my Muslim colleagues take the complete opposite view to that of my Lenten days.  They are excited that Ramadan is approaching; they look forward to it.

The atmosphere in the office today was buzzing.  Graceful, smiling faces lit up the conservative decor.  Everyone greeted those fasting with the usual greeting of  ‘Ramadan Kareem’ (Ramadan is generous) and ‘Ramadan Mubarak’ (happy Ramadan).   My colleagues are very open to explaining the ‘ins and outs’ and ‘dos and don’ts’ for those of us not so familiar with Ramadan etiquette.  Indeed many are very excited to explain meanings, traditions and even pre-fasting (Suhoor) and breaking fast (Iftar) recipes!

I recall my first Ramadan in Dubai (well the first few days of it before we jetted off to cooler climes).  I felt awkward and unsure.  My twins were only 2 and my little one under 1. Eating and drinking (even water) in public is prohibited.  Thankfully children are exempt (as are nursing mums and the ill).  Most restaurants, cafes, food courts are closed during daylight hours.  Some open for takeaways.  Some are open, such as those in the DIFC,  but are concealed behind curtains (although grocery stores are open as usual).  How would I cope???  Should I stay cooped up in the apartment until sunset?  I remember being afraid to drink water in my car in case I was fined.  This from a woman who can’t go an hour without swigging H2O out of a BPA free beaker.  If I snacked, I ‘ducked’ down in my car so no one could see me……When out and about, I would pop to the Ladies’ to slug a few mouthfuls of water to re-hydrate.

But now, a few years on, I embrace Ramadan.  I have learned to adapt within the realms of respect.

Ramadan is not just about sacrifice.  It is a time for giving, peace, reflection; a time to attone.  The holy month really does inspire a peaceful, calm feeling.  It certainly makes me re-evaluate my views of the importance of Lent!

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You know it’s summer in Dubai when

– your glasses steam up the minute you walk outside

– your make-up slides off your face after 2 minutes in the sun

– you need to don oven gloves to touch the steering wheel of your car if it has been parked outside for any length of time

– you feel the need to shower every 2 hours

– you stand at the fridge with the door open, and wonder what it would feel like to curl up inside

– you can wring out your hair (that is if it doesn’t resemble a blow dried poodle)

– the truck tyre ‘burstage’ rate increases substantially, forcing you to weave in and out of tyre pieces on the motorway

– you do not need to heat the water for a bath/shower….the sun does the honours

– walking any distance has every pore of your body screaming out for air

 

– you feel like a pack mule carrying around with sufficient water supplies for the kids

– your washing is dry in 20 minutes

– opening your car door after it has been parked in an uncovered parking spot feels like you have stumbled upon hell’s location

– movement of any kind is planned around minimising exposure to heat and the quickest routes to the comfort of air conditioning

– the kids’ faces go from ‘pasty’ to ‘pink’ in milliseconds

– and last, but not least, the foot odour from 3 sweaty kids who spend 6 hours a day at sports camp is enough to knock out every camel in the desert……..

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21st Century Exercise

I fear I have fallen behind (way behind) when it comes to fitness fashion.  And, you guessed it, I am going to blame this one on the ankle-biting-urchins!  It’s like when someone asks me if I have seen a certain movie.  The ‘are you serious‘ look I shoot them induces confused discomfort.

‘For the past 7.5 years, I have not seen an adult appropriate movie in a theatre; it has all been about entertaining the little ‘uns’, is my usual ‘snarly’ reply.

And so it is with pretty much everything else.  Last weekend, when we were browsing in a sports shop for DS2’s new Real Madrid football kit, I felt drawn to the rails of womens’ sports gear.  Flicking through the hangers, I was quite surprised at how slinky, sleek and, dare I say it, for exercise gear, sexy it all looked.  Where have I been living?  Gone are the days of trackkie bottoms, sweat bands and comfortable, sweat-absorbing cotton.  Apparently fitness attire has moved on…to the catwalk…..

It’s not just the style that has changed.  It’s all about technology, apparently.  When I say technology I cannot believe I am referring to the actual workout clothes.  Modern day workout kit is made out of stretchy, flattering microfibre fabric which has thick shiny bands strategically placed across specific body parts so as to maximise calorie burn and toning….No longer is working out a science, but it seems the gym dresscode has now become  a science.

One thing which caught my eye, and actually made me do a ‘double take’ was the sticker on the sports bra which read ‘guaranteed to avoid the uniboob’.  I consider myself smart.  I consider myself savvy.  But I had to think about this message.

Then the penny dropped.

‘Oh cra@…..uniboob….is that what it is called?’

I work out at home.  I have done so for the past ‘goodness knows how many’ years (read ‘since I’ve had children’ years).  My closeted working out environment has offered shelter from the modern world of fitness.  Sigh…. I have been wearing the same kit forever and, as an amply endowed woman, I double up on upper body support.  As far as I was concerned an ‘uniboob’ was par for the course, and the price we ‘top heavy’ women pay for sport.

But not anymore.  Women can now work out and, with the ‘avoid the uniboob look’ sports bra can look goooooood……

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Day 5

and the mini natives are getting restless.  It’s furnace hot outside; too hot to venture out for longer than it takes to pick up the daily newspaper which is gradually shrivelling up on the drive, and definitely waaaaayyyy too hot to let the little critters out to burn (excuse the pun!) off some energy!  You know the way in the UK one has a habit of ‘testing’ any sea or pool water with one’s big toe?  In the Sandpit we have our own form of temperature testing.

At 7ish AM you stand in your doorway and think long and hard about which limb will be the ‘tester’.  The test involves seeing how long it takes to break a sweat (please note, at this time of year, this is measured in miliseconds!).  Unfortunately, not being as dextrous as Inspector Gadget, I am forced to tip toe across my front porch and grab the paper.  Generally, before I even reach the paper, every pore of my being inflates to allow beads of sweat escape to form a stream of moisture from every part of my body….and I always manage to scorch my toes in the process!

I am beginning to think this test should be modified to measure how long it takes one to cry out for an IV drip to replace the vital minerals lost whilst trying to recover the newspaper…….

But back to the little critters.

Day 5 of being cooped up, and they are beginning to climb the walls.  Any parent would think the offer of  unlimited (and almost unsupervised) TV, Laptop, iPad, Wii access in conjunction with plain old toys would be sufficient to keep them entertained.  Afterall, these are all the gadgets they crave when they are in school, and against which I battle when the dreaded word ‘homework’ is mentioned.  But OH NO…..apparently, they need air; their brains need O2.  Without this vital life ingredient the critters get a tad giddy…..and mischievious.  DH and I agreed it would be best for the 3 munchkins to have the first week of the summer holidays off, to chill, relax, catch up on sleep…..It seemed like a good plan at the time, but safe to say ‘cabin fever’ is spreading like wildfire and the kids need to get out.

The pool is the only viable option…but when 3 out of 4 of us are sneezing and hacking up our lungs on an hourly basis…not even the ambient pool temps are a real option.

Instead DS1 spends his time Googling everything shark related.  He has even discovered (not literally) the pre-historic megalodon shark and Googles ‘megalodon v great white shark’ battles.  DD, his twin sis, is feeling a little left out and envious of the sharks.  To compensate she and DS2 have formed a very close bond.  They always got on well, but now they have discovered the common ‘Moshi Monster’ ground.  I suspect DD is in need of a playdate buddy and DS2 feels the need to ‘keep up’ with ‘girly’ stuff so he can showcase his ‘experience’ to his ‘girlfriends’ in September.  In the meantime DS1 seems interested in only blood and gore.

Bring on SUMMER CAMP!

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Sandpit Sauna or Gym Sauna????

Yesterday I noticed a post on my Facebook page from a FB friend that said ‘enjoying the pool and the sauna’.  I wasn’t quite sure which disturbed me more: the fact she is 6 months pregnant and sitting in a sauna or, the fact that in the sauna that is the Dubai sandpit in June, she felt the need to pay to visit an indoor sauna!

Yes, it’s true summer temps have been slow in reaching the unbearable average for this time of year (you’ll hear NO Dubaians complaining about this!), but for the past 2 weeks, 40+ has been our norm.  However, the important question is ‘how high is the humidity?’  Humidity, the amount of vapour in the air, is not something one automatically associates with the desert.  But, it’s what makes the difference between ‘scorching’ degrees celsius and ‘every pore in my body is working overtime, I think I might collapse from exhaustion’ degrees celsius, otherwise known as ‘real feel’ temperature. Last week the humidity levels approached 90%……I don’t think I need to say anything more…..

On the last day of school last week I had the (mis)fortune of doing the drop off and pick up.  When you walk 7 metres from your front door to your car, and your legs and arms are glistening, you know it’s gonna be a hot one!  So, imagine what it is like parking on a sand dune, ‘camel-training’ 3 kids across a busy road, all whilst lugging their party day goodies, water beakers and an extra bag for each of them to transport home a year’s worth of school work…….

By the time I made it to the gate, my scalp was damp, and my celtic locks began to frizz in such a way it looked like I had had a run in with a live current!  When I felt a trickle of treacherous sweat break ranks with my damp head, making a break for freedom towards my chin…….I knew I had lost the battle.  By the time I made it to the first classroom, I felt like I wanted to run (figuratively of course.  To run in such oppressive heat would be the epitome of sheer stupidity!) screaming to my car and shove my sticky face in front of the coldest of AC vents…..but I still had 2 more classrooms to go to……sigh.

Today, on the way home from an afternoon at HQ Adventure, the evening drive time Virgin Radio DJ said something along the lines of  ‘if you thought Dubai was hot…….you gotta know there is somewhere out there which is hotter.  Can you guess where?’

I am sure most ‘drive home-stuck-in-traffic’ listeners mumbled, as I did, ‘hell‘.

Alas, it turns out most of those listeners and I would have been incorrect!  It would seem that Kuwait is even hotter…….as evidenced by the photo of the melting traffic lights……..43 degrees of searing heat…..very little humidity, just on fire heat.

Whilst the deformed traffic light is a true reflection of how I feel each and every time I step outside in Dubai from May – December…I can’t help but think, ‘if Kuwait’s roads are anything like Dubai’s, I wonder about the traffic chaos this must have caused……’

Photo: Think it's hot in Dubai?  Well this is happening in Kuwait right now:

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School’s Out for Summer

Where did that year go?????  It seems like only last week my baby, DS2, was clinging to my leg, as I fought back the  ‘letting go’ tears and peeled his hands from my leg, finger by finger.  The look of betrayal on his red, sweaty, angelic face was like a stake through the heart.

Flash, Boom, Bang, Poof.  Arriverderci.  Adios.  Au revoir.  Auf Wiedersehen….you get the gist.   It’s the last day of school and he’s on his way to his second school year.

He’s all ‘grown up’ and quite happy to take the next step.

But I am not acting ‘all grown up’ about it…….

Every baby milestone brings out the ‘blubber Mummy’ in me.  End of terms, sessions, classes, years, milestones evoke floods of tears. ‘Ends’ of every childhood moment cause me to pause and reflect.

So engrossed was I in each day and its magical moments (including the yelling it took to get homework done!) that I didn’t notice the year pass me by.

Cue jubilant ‘gangnam style dancing’ kids flooding through the sliding doors today at the trill of the school bell.  Ready to start the summer break,  they looked sooooo incredibly happy to be ‘school-free’.  67 whole days….. NO SCHOOL.  A perfect smiley, toothy advert for Colgate….or maybe not given the amount of gummy gaps showing!

The joy on their little faces was infectious.  Mums and Dads grinned (more out of relief at the thought of a school-run free couple of months!), and were so thrilled to see the exhilarated faces of the little ones whilst recalling how liberating a day like this can feel.

But today’s ‘day of liberation’ got me thinking.  I remember those days.  I remember the feeling of ecstasy of not having to execute the daily grind for 2 whole months; shackleless play, pure freedom.  I remember it vividly.

BUT, now, as a parent, I see it a little differently.  As a mum I see my babies moving on, and I am not quite sure I am ready to move on so quickly.  I am happy with where they are.  I want them to stay my babies and capture this moment of contentedness.  This factor is obviously lost on them.

Today was an emotional day.  I watched my bubs skip out of their classrooms without a care in the world.  They were not even prompted to look back towards the fabulous teachers who have shaped their lives during the past year.  Perhaps they couldn’t bear that last look.  Perhaps they didn’t want to take a last look.  I guess they didn’t understand.

BUT Mummy did.  I wanted to hug (and I did!) those wonderful (in this case) women and not let go.  Words couldn’t express the gratitude I felt for the love, care and interest they showed in my children over the past year.  They took my baby eggs, nurtured them and kept them safe. Now I have three rounded little beings.

It brought back memories of my days as a 7 year old.  I remember the wonderful teacher I had.  She was like a second Mum to me; every morning I greeted her with a hug and every afternoon, I hugged her ‘goodbye’.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love to see my little chickens grow, learn and experience life.  If there is one thing I love about school is the thirst for knowledge it inspires.  When they come home excited about what they learned today their excitement and enthusiasm is uplifting.  This spurs me on to be more excited about what they will learn tomorrow.

Progressing through school years is a beautiful journey of learning and discovery.  I find it helps me re-connect with the simple things that make me happy, and a major part of that is sharing in the love of learning which my children are experiencing.

Like a double edged sword, growing up has its positives and negatives, it’s bitter and it’s sweet.  As with much in life, I am learning to give them each equal ‘face time’.

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What kids give back……

Having had a tummy virus for a few days, I have been stuck at home, surfing TV channels, only to be interrupted by emergency dashes to the loo.  Tonight, when things had actually quietened down from my point of view, I went to the bathroom to get some tissue paper.  How is it, that paper still on the roll is home to ‘bogeys/buggers/dried snot’?  I tried to calculate who used the bathroom prior to my rush there….but couldn’t be certain.

This got me thinking about the ‘not-particularly-cherished-by-products’ of kids’ bodies and behaviour:

– Bogeys/buggers/snot everywhere – on my car’s ceiling, side doors, seats, bedroom walls, clothes….I can’t seem to get away from it!;

– Unflushed toilets, and unwashed post-poop hands;

– Infinity farts;

– Super stinky feet/trainers (seriously, a rugby lockeroom couldn’t compete with my son’s stinky feet!  I had to buy Scholl foot/shoe spray);

– Melted crayons in the cupholders of my car;

– Ice cream (in a variety of flavours) permanently smudged into my car seats;

– Rotational viruses, bugs, germs.  Indeed children are walking viruses;

– Wobbly teeth (neverending gummy gore, especially with multiples who compete for the most number of teeth lost);

– Endless squabbling over the Wii, iPad, iPhone and every other electronic device that has the capacity to download games which 5-7 year olds enjoy;

– Daily pre-6am wake up calls (everyday including the weekends);

– Head lice which spreads like wildfire……3 infected heads = the best part of 3 hours combing out nigh on invisible eggs for at least 7 nights (so long Corrie and Emmerdale);

– Bumps, bruises, cuts, scratches, scrapes, insect bites, stings (did I mention I am ultra sqeamish???!!!);

– I am beyond talking about ‘poo’;

– Uhu glue all over my kitchen chairs because the boys were experimenting with gluing their butts to them.

I could go on, but imagine you get the gist!  At the end of the day, I can’t help but love their antics.  They induce infectious giggling amongst my lot and that always brings a smile to my face!

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The art of parking in Dubai

I am not one of the fortunate, chosen ones who has a dedicated parking spot in the ‘access card only’ shaded, cool underground carpark at my office tower.  This does not bother me during winter months.  Indeed I like parking outside  in the mornings and walking across to my office.  The weather is warm and inviting.  The sky sparkles blue and the sun makes me smile.  Plus it’s one of the few times I actually expose my skin to that all important vitamin D.  The only downside to outdoor winter parking is the amount of desert dust that veils one’s car on a daily basis, requiring almost twice weekly car washing.

Outside parking in the summer is just torture.  Stepping into a car at ‘noonish’ is like what I imagine stepping into an heating oven would be like.  The inside is airless and suffocatingly hot.  The steering wheel is so hot I have to steer with my fingertips.  Beads of sweat race down my temples and the small of my back.  I scrunch up my hair to give my neck the chance to breathe.  With the air conditioning blasting and the front windows rolled down in an attempt to increase the cross breeze, it still takes about 10-15 minutes for the car to feel normal, by which time I am so in need of a cold shower.  Goodness only knows what goes on under the bonnet in these excrutiatingly, unbearable temperatures.

These were my main worries about parking outdoors in general in Dubai.  Some days I just can’t be bothered schlepping across to my office and I park the car in the paid parking section of the underground carpark.  AED80 is often a small price to pay to avoid that horrrible, sticky, melting feeling.

When I arrived at the car park at 8am last Wednesday, I chose my shaded spot and reversed in.  Just I was about to get out of my car, I noticed the carpark attendant waving at me with such intensity I thought I had run over one of the many prized peacocks which roam the office tower’s grounds.

Errr….nooooo.  I flung open my car door and stomped out to seek clarification as to the problem.  The carpark attendant was gesticulating wildly because, in his view, I had parked too far away from the designated parking line on my left!    It seems I had not parked exactly between the white lines.  I had left about 2 inches between my car and the parking line on the passenger side, and about 4 on the driver’s side.   I wasn’t touching or crossing either of the white lines; I had just left myself enough space to open the driver’s door without hitting the car that would park next to me.   But apparently, that is ‘not good’.  Explaining my need to be able to get out of the car without hitting the car that parks next to me fell on deaf ears.  It seems I was expected to vapourise getting out and in of the car….

I adjusted my car and stomped off muttering under my breath something about ‘4x4s and small car parking spaces’ and ‘if only the same attention were paid to the dangerous driving  witnessed on Dubai roads on a daily basis’……..

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