I can tell you that this week started off very exciting for us. We actually saw a police chase, just one policeman and one Range Rover, but exciting all the same. There was someone very important in the Range Rover and here is how we knew.
When we first researched the UAE Stuart found a very interesting fact about car number plates. Apparently the more important you are, the lower your number plate on your car. So when Stuart saw the Range Rover literally fly past us he notice the number on the car. It was 10! I think it was a Sheikh for sure. Naturally I started making up a story in my head as to why he would need to drive through town so fast. I'm sure he had a good reason.
We spent the week at school preparing for national exams we will give next week. Stuart had very low student attendance all week. In fact, on Wednesday and Thursday there were no children in grades 1-6 at school. Well, there were three who showed up on Wednesday but were told to go home. The theory is that students take the week off from school in order to study for their exams. I'm not really sure there is that much studying going on.
My school, however, had relatively good attendance at the beginning of the week, although I only had about half of my students on Thursday. Mother's Day is celebrated in the UAE on March 21. This really doesn't make sense to me since it is considered haram (sinful) to celebrate anything but Eid. At any rate, we had a Mother's Day activity on Thursday which brought in some of the moms, but since there was going to be that activity many of the students saw that as a reason to stay home because the thought was that we would not be doing anything. By the end of the day I only had 7 students in my room.
Jack had a Mother's Day stall at his school, which is a gift shop made up of donated items. The school uses it as a fundraiser. Each child brings 10 dirhams and buys something for their mom for Mother's Day. When I picked Jack up from school he immediately got into his backpack and got out a wrapped gift. Here is the lovely necklace Jack bought me. 
He was so pleased with himself. He asked me if I loved it, which I assured him I did. He also asked me if I would wear it to the rugby club that evening. I promised I would, and if you look closely at the next picture you will see I have it on. I must say, he has good taste.
As you just read, Thursday evening brought another evening at the rugby club but this time we had a purpose; our NCAA tournament bracket. There were 5 of us who filled out a bracket and put in 100 dirhams a piece. We shall see who the victor is.
As we were leaving the rugby club Jack checked to see if I still had my necklace on. I told him I did and then he asked, 'Mama, are you going to wear it a lot now?' I told him I would wear it every time it matched what I was wearing. He seemed fine with that.
When we were home and ready for bed, just behind our apartment I heard the all too familiar sound of teenagers playing and yelling in the grassy area. Because this happens way too much, tonight was the night I complained. I thought there must be 'quiet' hours so I went to the security guard post and asked. Wouldn't you know, 5 minutes later there wasn't a kid in sight. Who knew complaining would work?
Friday morning we got up, I put sheets in the washer, we Skyped Grammie and Pop and were ready for church. Because my cousin was at my mom and dad's the conversation lasted longer than expected, so the mall was the next best choice after realizing we were too late to go to church.
We did some last minute shopping for the weeks to come and now the guest room has a place to hang wet towels.
We returned home to wait for Jack's friend Louie to collect him for his very first......sleepover! I had stopped by Rochelle's house (Louie's mum) after school on Thursday and she asked if Jack could have a sleepover with Louie. I asked Jack and all he could talk about until they came to get him was the sleepover. He was so excited. Of course we had to buy him a new sleeping bag at the mall.
Oh, and as you can see Jack has a new rugby ball that was promised to him weeks ago. Much to my displeasure, he loves rugby and is pretty good at it. Ugh!
Since Jack was having a sleepover we took Millie out for her favorite dinner.
Parents of the year, we realize. She was quiet in the back of the car and relatively calm in the grocery store. The dynamics of two is much different for sure. When I put her to bed she said,'I will wait for Jack to go to bed.' She didn't quite understand the whole concept. Even as Stuart and I were watching tv after the kids' bedtime we both felt a little strange that Jack wasn't there. He had spent the night with my parents before, but never with a friend. We did miss him. I stayed up until 3:30 am watching tv, and possibly thinking about Jack. My mom told me that was the first of many sleepless nights when my kids are out of my house and I don't know what they are doing.
Saturday morning we took Stuart's car in to be serviced and then headed to Louie's to pick up Jack. We ended up staying to have a cup of coffee and letting the kids play a bit longer. The Rouvis (Louie's family) live on the same street as Miss Janet, Millie's day care lady. I knew Jack had a great time because he had actually stayed the entire night, but I also knew he was super glad to see us because as soon as we drove up he went into the house and brought everything out that he brought to Louie's. He was ready to go home. I think I was probably 8 years old before I spent the night at a friend's house. I wonder if my mom stayed up watching tv until 3:30 am the first night I was at a sleepover? Probably not, mainly because I was the third child and it was probably a relief to be one child down for an evening.
The rest of the day was spent grocery shopping and just chilling at home. Both kids were wiped out; Jack from his sleepover and Millie from too many late nights in the last week. Both were asleep by 6:15 pm.
5 more sleeps! I can hardly believe my parents will be here Friday!
No comments:
Post a Comment