The busiest week of our lives started out slowly. We were all off to school Sunday morning with little worry about the hectic schedule that lay ahead of us for the week.
I arrived home about 5 minutes before Millie did on Sunday afternoon, with school being as uneventful as ever. Everything is in a routine and the fights we do still have are minimal at best. Millie did her reading and changed out of her uniform and into her rugby kit. I folded a load of laundry and washed some dishes. Stuart headed to pick Jack up from swim squad just before 3 pm.
I had made Millie a cheese quesadilla for a snack before rugby. I made Jack a bean and cheese burro so that once he got home, he would change his clothes and get in the car for their extra play practice that had been called for Sunday afternoon. The turn around was about 5 minutes. I picked up Jake and Louie as well, as their dad's brother in law had a car accident in Dubai and ended up having to go to the hospital. I had some grocery shopping to do so it was no skin off my back to take them and collect them. Stuart would be at rugby with Millie so it worked out just fine.
When I picked the boys up they said practice went well. They are always entertaining in the car ride home, and today was no different. Although, as talkative as they are in the car, they have never once leaked out what the play is about. And, like the rule follower I am, I have not read the script. I am anxious to see the performances.
Once we got home, I unloaded the groceries and sent Jack up for a shower. Stuart got home shortly after us, with Millie. Jack had already showered and had something to eat. Although his bedtime has been lengthened since he turned 8 years old, this particular week I convinced him he would need to go to bed earlier than 7:30 in order to not get sick and run down. He reluctantly agreed. So once Millie had snacked on some fruit, and we had Skyped Grandma, and the kids had gotten all riled up, they finally retired to bed. Stuart headed off to a committee meeting and I settled down for my evening of trashy television. Will I ever get sick of this habit? I doubt it!
Monday morning I got up to walk with Lara. The previous week I wasn't able to walk because Stuart was living in the lap of luxury in the Maldives. So it was time to get back at it. The morning routines were followed and everyone was out the door and on their way to their respective schools. I was busy at school on Monday, which is always nice. It passes the time in the day and keeps me from feeling as if I am useless.
I headed straight from work to pick Jack up from Performing Arts at school. When he was home, he did his homework for the day and then was finally able to go and fetch some of his friends to come to our house to play. This play has consumed a lot of his free time and the boy really just wants to play. However, he is an attention hog, so the results of the performances will be something he will love when it is all said and done.
Once the kids' friends had left, it was showers, dinner, and bed for Jack and Millie. After they were tucked snuggly into bed, I took a shower and started making dinner for Stuart and myself. He was at rugby training, and although on training nights (Mondays and Wednesdays) we usually get our own food for dinner, I decided I would be a good wife and make him something to eat. It's not often that I cook because I'm not good at it. Stuart is the cook and I am usually the clean up crew, unless I fall asleep after dinner and then he is the clean up crew as well. I can't say I made anything that was terrible palpable, but it filled the hump, which is good enough for me.
Tuesday I covered two classes at school. I had volunteered to do so, knowing that 4 English teachers were out sick. They were all teachers who taught on the girls' side, so volunteering for those duties was no big deal. I had two observations and I finally cleaned out the storage room next to my office so that I could find all of the resources I never knew I had. It was like Christmas! I even put some of the stuff in my office for teachers to take. I have never understood why my school has all of these resources in a storage room when teachers could be using them. I hate clutter so I got rid of mine and offered those items up to the teachers. Well, we all know that teachers like anything free, so needless to say most of the things I had put out were gone by the middle of the day.
Once I was home, the kids did their homework and then it was time for Jack to go to practice. I took the kids and they were picked up by Jane, Louie and Jake's mother. Once I dropped them off I headed to Gift City, my new favorite place for crafts and cheap candy. I bought Halloween candy in preparation for the big trick-or-treating event that happens in our compound each year. It is amazing the number of locals that turn out for this event. They love to dress up as much as we do. The suggestion is, if you come into the compound, but don't live in the compound, you must donate a bag of candy to be passed out. It works out nicely and is a nice community activity.
While I was out, I purchased 4 foam squares for Millie's room. So naturally I got home and started rearranging her room just before her bedtime. She had gone to rugby practice with Stuart and was home, showered and fed, by the time I got home. She was ready to go to bed, but I was pulling her room apart. She was pleased with the results and then she was off to bed.Jack got home around 8:30 pm, had some fruit and then was off to bed as well.
On Wednesday I had packed an extra lunch for Jack as well as his costume for the play practice that would occur directly after the swim gala that afternoon. There was a lot of organization that had to take place in order to make sure Jack, especially, got to each of his many events for the day with all the things he needed. I left school just after 11 am, came home and went to lunch with Stuart at 101 Cafeteria, a local restaurant just down the road from the Village. We then headed to Brighton College for the kids' parent consultations. This particular conference was just to inform us of how the children were settling in to the new school year. Millie's teacher was so very complimentary of Millie and her social skills with other students. She said Millie was right where she needed to be academically and socially. It made us more convinced than ever that holding her back this year was an excellent decision. Once we had finished meeting with Millie's teacher, Stuart and Millie headed to Al Ain English Speaking School for the swim gala that Jack had qualified for. I went to meet with Jack's teacher. The first thing his teacher asked me was if I had any concerns for Jack. I told him the only concern I had was that Jack often had his own agenda and would be a little talkative, either missing or ignoring directions. He said, 'Yes, that's what I was going to speak to you about.' Great! How well do I know my boy? As I discovered a few weeks ago, Jack's issue come directly from me, so I can't be terribly hard on him. I simply spoke with Jack about trying to talk less and listen more. Mr. Seedat, his teacher said that Jack usually responds to him, but sometimes doesn't listen to the teacher assistant. I fear this is something Jack will always have to work on. I'm pretty sure I was the same student, although maybe not as smart.
After I was finished at the school I joined Millie and Stuart at the swim gala. On the way I got a call from Clare (who happens to be Jack's swim coach) asking me if it was okay with me if he rode in the car with her from Brighton College to Al Ain English Speaking School. It seems the bus that was supposed to pick up the kids for the gala never showed up. So we waited for Brighton College to show up. Once they were there, the kids got changed and warmed up in the pool. Year 3 girls had the first event and then the Year 3 boys, Jack. He swam the front crawl. I think he was nervous because this was his first competition in swimming. He dove in and his goggles came off, preventing him from seeing in the water. He zig zagged back and forth like a drunken sailor. It was a bit sad. When I spoke to him after the gala he said 'Yeah, well, I still got second place'. I didn't have the heart to tell him that actually he came in forth.....out of four swimmers. I decided it didn't matter. Clare and I decided that with all of his weaving he probably ended up swimming about 30 meters instead of 25, so he probably would have gotten second place had he swam in a straight line.
He redeemed himself when he swam the next event, the back stroke. He actually won that competition. Being the competitive mother that I am, it was a good thing he made a better showing in the second race, otherwise I was contemplating hitting the rugby pool that evenings to have him swim laps. Kidding! He then did a relay of freestyle. There were only 2 other Year 3 boys asked to swim in this gala so Jack was ask to swim two of the four legs of the relay. They didn't win, but he didn't zig zag as he had in the individual race. And in the end, he actually gained some ground on the last leg. I was so proud of him.
When the gala was over Jack headed to his final rehearsal for the play. Conveniently enough the rehearsal was at the same school where his swim gala was. He changed out of his swim gear and into his shorts and wife beater. It was what he had to wear under his costume. On the walk over to the theater I handed him his peanut butter and jam sandwich. Once he had crammed that down he was good for rehearsal. It would be my job to pick the boys up that evening. The day just got longer.
I headed to Bawadi Mall to meet Leanne. We did a bit of shopping and conversing and then she was off to take her dog for a walk. So I spent some time on my own, just having a pumpkin latte and doing a bit of browsing. I bought some Halloween items in preparation for our craft party that would be Saturday. Could we pack more into this week? I would need a rest after this week. I left the mall in time to pick the boys up. Jack was wiped out! He had been gone from home, busy doing something, for almost 14 hours. I was more than surprised that there wasn't a meltdown at any point. However, once we were home and he was showered, he watched the videos I took of the swim gala. As I was fixing him some fruit, he said, with tears in his eyes, ''Mama, can you erase that first video?' I asked him why, and he told me it embarrassed him. I told him it was okay and that I would erase it. However, you do know that I could never erase that video. So I just told him he should be proud of how well he did the second race. I told him that everyone has races or events like that and it makes them better when it is all said and done. He seemed satisfied with this answer and let it go. He's such a trooper. He went to bed exhausted. I was a bit knackered as well. I took a shower, got something to eat, and watched my trashy television only long enough to fall asleep. Stuart got home with a pizza, ate and also hit the sack.
Jack was the first one up mainly because he was excited about using the new deodorant spray Stuart had bought for him the previous night. Ms. Tashia, the director of the play, had told all the actors that they would need to use deodorant for each night because they would not be washing the costumes. Well, Jack thought he was so grown up and decided he would wear the deodorant to school that day. Stuart just bought him the spray stuff and actually had to show him how to use it so he didn't waste the entire bottle on one application.
Everyone was off to school and got on with their day. Once we were all home, the kids did their homework. While we were sitting on the sofa, before we headed out for the evening, I got an email from Millie's teacher. It stated that Millie kissed a boy at school that day. The teacher said she was sure it was very innocent, but she felt I would want to know. I then asked Millie if something had happened at school that day that she needed to tell me about. She showed a bit of a sly grin and said, 'You already know what happened.' I then told her that it wasn't appropriate for her to kiss anyone other than her family, to which she responded with a kiss for me. She then said, 'Well, we were in the house (a play house on the playground).' Well, at least they were in the house. Quite frankly, I am surprised it's taken her this long to kiss a boy at school. Hopefully this will be the last of it, but I suspect it won't. She loves the boys!
After the 'talk', Millie got her costume on for a superhero birthday party, while Jack showered and applied his deodorant for his first performance. I took Millie to the birthday party, then ran Jack to the school. I decided to go get Stuart so we could go and pick up Millie, then head to the play. Another crazy, busy day was had by all.
We arrived at the theater around 6:30 pm. I wasn't sure how many tickets had been sold, but of course I wanted to make sure we got the best seats in the house. Once they opened the doors we sat on the front row on the left hand side of the stage. It was the perfect place, because every scene Jack was in, he came in on the left side and was directly in front of us. He was a star, if I do say so myself. He is such a ham and just loves attention. He thinks he is so funny, and so do we, so that just adds to his 'acting'. His confidence was off the charts. He wasn't scared or embarrassed, in fact he was even more silly than I expected. It was a perfect performance. He was so pleased with himself and we were so proud of him. I am not sure his future is in the theater, but if he chooses that, then so be it! He is a bit of a natural. He can sing, dance, and makes people laugh, which makes me happy. We had a celebratory meal from McDonalds and then were home to put our tired children to bed. It was after 10 before everyone was settled. I could only hope for a bit of a sleep in the following morning.
Humpty and Flat Stanley put on quite the performance.
Once we were all up on Friday morning, Stuart was off for his day of rugby, starting out with a hearty breakfast at Sean's. He left around 9 am and wouldn't return until about 10 pm. Just after Stuart left, Ian (our little neighbor) came over and asked if Millie and Jack could come to his house. They left and I spent some time getting the crafts ready for Saturday's events. Millie returned earlier than Jack because she would rather play with her babies than Playstation 4. When Jack finally returned we went to have some lunch and do the rest of our weekly shopping. There were still a few things I needed for the Halloween party so I got those and then we were back to the house for a bit of down time before taking Jack to the theater for his last performance. Friday's performance was when Cathy, Mandy, Gemma, Fechin and their kids, and Clare and her kids were coming. Jack was so excited! He had been nervous on Thursday evening, but those nerves turned to excitement when he knew some of his friends would be there to watch him.
Millie and I dropped Jack at the theater at 1 pm, then were back to the house for a bit before picking up Mandy and Cathy. We arrived a bit earlier than we should have and just had to wait for them to finalize their sound check. The sound equipment wasn't the greatest, so that was a shame, but Jack was loud enough that he didn't need a microphone so it didn't effect his performance at all. His performance on Friday might have been a bit better than Thursday night. He hammed it up a bit more, probably because his friends were there. His costume was what made a lot of his 'acting' so funny. When he moved, the costume moved, which made people laugh. He was very pleased with himself and I know he enjoyed the actual performances, although there were times during the last 6 weeks that I got a bit of resistance from him regarding the play practices, mainly because this play stole time from his free time. But, I thin the feels it was worth it in the end.
After the play we all helped to clean up the theater and then we were off for curry at the Curry House. We sat outside and it was the first evening of the fall that it was really pleasant and not too hot. The kids were able to run around and the adults could talk and enjoy our time together. The food and company were delightful. Eating outside is so pleasant when the weather is just right, and Friday night it was just right.
After curry, Mandy and Cathy came back to my house and had some adult time after the kids were showered and in bed. They left just after 9 pm, which was about the time I noticed the message from Stuart saying they had won their rugby match in Dubai. Once he was home he ate the leftover curry and went to bed, saying he knew he would be sore the following morning.
I went to sleep on the sofa and when I finally went upstairs, after my slumber, I discovered a not so small boy on my side of the bed. I picked him up and nearly pulled a hammy. Dang, that boy has gotten heavy. At any rate, he's not going to sleep in my bed with me. He's too big!
Everyone was up by 7 am, Millie announcing she was hungry, as usual. We spent the morning just relaxing, and then getting ready for the Halloween craft event. Everyone arrived just around 1 pm and the crafting began. We had three crafts and then some Halloween food. It was fun, as always, but I think this may be the last year we do these crafting events. It seems the kids are getting a bit too old for the crafting, at least the boys. The girls still love it, but we may also be running out of ideas for the crafts. It's always a good time to see people and converse with the mothers of the kids. After the crafting and the food, I pulled up It's a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, on YouTube and then put it on our Apple TV air play. I do love modern technology.
The clean up was easy and the food was all nearly eaten. The food that wasn't eaten would serve as lunch for my kids on Sunday, which was great for me. It seemed that everyone had fun, so that was the important thing. Everyone was gone by 3:30 pm. The kids then went outside to ride their bikes. Scott had called earlier in the day to see if we wanted to come over for dinner. So we headed to their house just after 5 pm.
We enjoyed a lovely meal and wonderful time with friends. We stayed a bit later than we normally would because the kids had half term break and were not going to school on Sunday. After the kids took showers we headed home. Naturally both kids fell asleep on the way home. It was another wonderful, but very busy week in the UAE.
School picture
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