We didn’t pick up my car at the end of the day as Jack had an athletic day that didn’t end until after 5 pm, and even made him late to rugby training. Both Jack and Millie ran in the events. Millie ran up a grade level as they didn’t have enough girls to run in the Year 3 group. The PE teacher asked me before the end of the day if I thought Millie would want to run. I said i thought she would. Mrs Teague asked me if Millie would be upset if she came in last. I told her Millie was tough and would be fine. I also said she was just going to be thrilled to be running with older girls. Stuart showed up at 3:15, and I met them all out at the track after a meeting with a mom of one of my students whose effort is less than good.
We waited for the races to begin. They started with the Year 3 boys in each event and ended with the Year 6 girls. Millie first ran 50 metre dash. And guess what? She won the race. She was so pleased with herself. Jack did well also. He won two of his races, one being the 800 metre run. He got a second place as well. Millie got second place when she ran the 100 metre race. She thought she was the cat’s meow. It was really sweet.
Millie is the one in the inside lane.
Once the meet was over, we headed to rugby. Remember the incident with the kid at rugby who keeps punching around on the other boys? Well, he was up to no good again. And this time I couldn’t help myself. I had to jump in and defend Jack. I went down on the pitch, and though not proud of my method, I was pleased with the end result. I did have to apologize to the coach. I might have told him he needed to sort out this situation. I’m never going to let my kids think I am not listening to them or I won’t defend them, even if I may not go about it correctly and I might even have to eat crow later. I am pretty sure Jack felt I stood up for him. Sadly, as I may have mentioned before, I think this boy who is bullying the others is not terribly bright and he just doesn’t have any social graces, nor is he capable of learning. I ended up speaking to the dad and telling him I spoke to his son and I didn’t want his son to touch Jack again, nor did I want him to speak to Jack again. I’m so over it, and if the coach doesn’t handle it, I will. This is the first time Jack has encountered what I would call ‘a nasty kid’. So for that, I am so thankful. His friends are so supportive and encouraging to each other. They are so kind and polite. Some of that behavior I attribute to the expat life. I think as expats we have to be more like when we were growing up. We have to rely on others to sort our kids out when they are not doing the right thing. It’s a true ‘village’ helping raise my kids. Jack’s friends wouldn’t dare be disrespectful to adults, and I pray Jack is the same.
After the rugby debacle, we headed home with our take away food and went home. The kids showered and Millie went to bed, as she had eaten while Jack was training. Jack followed shortly after he finished his tacos.
Monday Stuart took us to school again because we hadn’t had the opportunity to pick up my car on Sunday. After school, Jack took the bus to the athletics day at another school. Millie and I took a taxi to the repair shop and picked up my car, then we headed to the school where Jack was competing. He did the standing long jump and set the Al Ain record for his age group. Then he did the running long jump and took Stuart’s advice to throw himself forward as not to lose ground. He’s so easy to coach. He jumped the furthest in his age group.
We came home and Stuart went to training. The kids had pasta for dinner and I made sausages and veggies for when Stuart got home from training. Lara came over just before Jack went to bed, and stayed while Stuart and I ate. Millie wasn’t well and kept complaining about her cheek hurting. She seems to have some type of absess in her mouth. I think it has to do with her silver tooth. She’s been complaining about it hurting recently. I suppose we are going to the dentist soon. She ended up sleeping in our bed, which is usually disturbing to my sleep. Three people in a bed is about two people too many.
Tuesday morning we were up and out to school. Jack had swim squad practice. At the end of the day I told the pupils to remember their reading books the following day. I said, ‘Tomorrow is Wednesday, so don’t forget your reading books.’ My teaching assistant questioned whether the next day was actually Wednesday. I told her she knew how much I hated Tuesday so she shouldn’t tease me about having to repeat it. Her comment? ‘I guess today was so fun that I forgot it was a Tuesday’. Although she had a point, I wasn’t sure whether it was a compliment to this particular Tuesday and my teaching/activity, or an indicator that most Tuesdays I’m an absolute bore. Ha!
I left school after our staff meeting. The kids had gone to their respective places that they go to every Tuesday. I went to sit and wait for Millie to finish dance. We stopped and ordered McDonalds and then headed home, Millie and Jack showered, as we arrived home around the same time as Stuart and Jack returned from rugby training. Millie went to bed. Jack ate his supper and watched his iPad. Jack informed me that the ‘bully’ was spoken to by the coach on Tuesday. And Stuart said the boy was made to sit out for a bit. Maybe the coach did listen to me.
Once Jack was in bed, Stuart and I watched television for a bit and then Stuart was off to bed while I watched my usual trash.
Wednesday we went to school with little drama. The rehearsal we had didn’t go as well as we wanted and I think we are all going to crack befor it’s said and done. After school the mother of the year finally took her son to the doctor to see what the things that had been living on his hands for the last 8 months were. She did a biopsy and I nearly barfed. I had to sit down. It was brutal. Turns out, the reason the two different antifungal meds never worked was because it isn’t a fungus. It’s called granuloma annulare and they have no idea what causes it. She gave us some cream and he is due to go back next Tuesday.
Cathy came over for dinner on Wednesday night and Stuart was off to rugby training. When he got back, we ate, listened to music and both he and Cathy moaned of their horrible jobs.
Thursday school was school. My year group provided breakfast so waffles were made again. They are a hit.
Lara and Brian came over in the evening, as did Cathy. We just sat in our carport and listened to music, conversing about our weeks. It wasn’t a late night as we all had to be at the Dubai 7s rugby tournament the following day.
Friday Was Jack’s last tournament of the year. Stuart wasn’t able to go as he had a match in Al Ain. So we put Jack on the bus and Millie and I followed shortly after. They started at 12:50 pm and we didn’t leave the stadium until 7:45 pm. We stayed around for the presentations. Jack’s team won the Plate. They won 3 of their 4 matches and also had a match forfeited to them. They were so thrilled.
This was right after they won the Plate.
And there they are on the podium being presented with their trophy.
Once we returned to the club, we collected Stuart and headed home.
Saturday morning I slept in a bit. Jack got up and did his homework while Millie pretended to do hers. For most of the day both kids occupied themselves. We went to pick up Stuart’s car from the club and then he took my car to get a nail removed from a tire. When he got home, we lounged around and watched television. I love Saturdays when we do absolutely nothing.
Cathy came over again for dinner and we watched Bohemian Rapsody, a must see in my opinion. Once Cathy left and the kids were in bed, I showered and returned to the living room sofa for my nightly nap, before retiring to prepare for another week.
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