Our days in the sun

Visitors in Al Ain

2010-04-11T05:35:00.000-07:00

We have K's brother and family staying with us right now. The kids are on easter hols and we are chillin out together. We have been to the park and the pool and chatted and read books and generally relaxed. It's been wonderful. I have a tma due; when do I not? and I am supposed to be taking today to write it while they visit Dubai but I have stalled again and am really too tired after a lousy night's sleep last night. Poor K is working and has not been able to hang out with us much. He is working really hard right now and I can't wait for the inspections to be over and us to finally get a little time together.

Kiki just asked me how to spell Alex as she was drawing a picture of Lexy and she wrote it beautifully. Her drawings are great too. She is such a little cutie but she is so bossy and manages to have everyone running to her beck and call. She now has mastered the DVD remote and pauses at will while she goes to get things, that is of course if she has not commanded someone else to get her things for her. If you ask any of the other kids why they give into her they just claim it's easier that way. She even had her cousins under her spell this week. TJ sticks up to her sometimes but even he gives in a lot. Apparently she is so compliant and lovely at school and never bosses her friends around. It's reassuring to know she can be nice when seh wants to.

Screen Learning

2010-03-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

I have said before that fear of the children not learning usually has me running for the textbooks and workbooks. I also worry about trying to explain unschooling to people steeped in the education system. So yesterday I lied. Someone asked me if I get my curriculum from the UK and I said yes. It's only a little lie and I have got textbooks from the UK that we never use or use occasionaly but the truth is I just don't want the hastle of trying to explain it to people.

Most of our learning is conversational learning inspired by TV series or Films usually. Lexy also does a fair bit of on screen learning on the computer. With Lex there is a lot of input and not much output other than dialogue. She draws a lot and writes occasionaly, I am glad I don't have a HE inspector demanding to be "shown work".

I read the HE blogs of people out in fields and museums all over the UK and think about how much of our Home education is actually done in our home. I worry that we are all too screen dependant, myself and K included. My computer is always on and I love TV and films. K loves computer games. The kids all love screens. Movies as Kiki now calls films are her favourite thing in the world.

The other thing they do- is watch the same movies over and over again. Why is that? I can only assume they are learning something that really interests them. When I talk to Lexy about it she says it is because you notice different things and especially in a long TV series like Alias there is so much in it that when you get to the end you want ot go back and watch again. When we watch a series we do talk about everything in it. For example, Re-genesis. I cannot actually recommend this as the amount of bad language was horrendous - I didn't know Canadians swore so much but the topics Lexy and I discussed were vast and there was so much science in it. When she watches movies she also talks a lot about how they are made and how they are written; about plot development and character development. About the use of music in film. We talk about genre and about putting a new spin on old ideas. We discuss why we don't like something- Firefly- just couldn't get into that series.

We talk about the things I am learning about as well and we all three enjoyed watching Pride and Predjudice together. Lexy watched that about 8 times too. She likes to read the same books over and over too, so I think repitition of familiar material must be important to her learning style. I am so the opposite I am always hungry for new things and new ideas.

Not all days are screen days. Some days we are baking together or like yesterday we went to a talk on Persian carpets and saw some of the most beautiful carpets and learned how they were made. We occasionaly get out in the world and meet real people. We met an interior decorator turned art teacher yesterday and Lexy was thrilled as those are her two dream jobs at the moment.

Amateur

2010-03-22T00:31:00.000-07:00

I'm such an amatuer when it comes to blogging. I need to learn so much. I'm not linked anywhere. I can't understand how to get badges and such like on my page. Everyone else has such pretty templates, do they make them? I can't even get my pictures how I want them. I am terrified of anything called 'code'. Is it easy to put up a video? What is twitter all about?

Do I have the time to learn all this? Do real bloggers write their posts in an exercise pad before typing them up? (I've only done this once but even so).

Why am I having a crisis about the state of my blog a couple of months ago I didn't even have one?

I was inspired by Caroline as I thought what great memories she is recording for herself writing about the kids education. It seems I'm not that good about talking about the children. Some mummy blogger. I'm not much of an expat blogger either as I don't give any useful or interesting info on living in the UAE. I am thinking of a series of blogs about my desire to become a writer and about writing in general. An author blog by someone who rarely writes on their blog and has a writing career of half a novel, 8 poems and a few staus updates on facebook. Hmmm!

Watch this space... alternatively this flurry of activity ould be just more TMA Avoidance (it's due 1st of April) and all will go quiet again.

writing workshop- Panic

2010-03-21T23:27:00.000-07:00

This is a post for writing workshop on a blog that I discovered recently called Sleep is for the weak. Great name and great blog. Really enjoyed reading the other entries and decded to have a go myself. The prompt is about a time you felt panic take you over.

I remember the feelings of panic, my body remembers. When I think on that day my stomach remembers the nausea, my head remembers feeling disorientated unable to focus as I tried to see beyond the bonnet of the car to the road ahead of me. My chest remembers feeling so tight like all the air had gone out of the car. My legs remember trying to control the shaking enough to bring the car to a stop as my white knuckles gripped the steering wheel. I can hear my voice, repeating over and over, I can't do this, I can't do this..I can't.

Looking back at it today, it's like looking at someone else in that car, salty tears in her eyes soaking into the back of her hands still glued to the steering wheel from the panic. Yet there is my husband putting his arm around her and those are my babies sat good as gold in their car seats in the back of the car. I remember my sense of failure that something so ordinary, something anyone can do, something everyone can do, I can't. I can't drive. I can't get past this fear and panic or at least she can't; that young women pulled over in the bus stop less than half a mile from her house. She can't get past it, it engulfs her, she feels so out of control and yet she needs to be in control. She doesn't know yet that she can do this. She chooses to never feel that way again; not if she can help it. She'll get buses to places or just stay home. Tesco delivers and she can walk for miles with the babes in the buggy. But she will never allow herself to feel that fear, that panic in her body again. She doesn't need to drive.

But you can't control everything. Some things are forces so strong they will knock all the breath from your body and steal the life from you, leave you in fear and trembling knowing you have to face your deepest fears and keep on going. Some things you can't run away from and terror will grip you as you keep walking towards the horror in your path. The only path available and you just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Even this you can come through and come through with new strength and resolve.

I look at that young woman and I wish I could tell her what a great overcomer she will be. How she will get back in the driving seat. How she won't give up when the panic comes or the failures come. One day she'll do more than drive to Sainsbury's, she'll drive on the crazy UAE roads in amongst speeding taxis and 4x4's. I would love to tell her how she will be relish new challenges and be confident in her own strength. At least most days anyway.

Instant Baking

2010-03-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

Thankyou Betty Crocker, thanks to you we all had muffins today and soon we will have brownies. My muffins have never risen quite like yours. Yours were crammed full of choc chips and yet were as light as air. Pillsbury I haven't forgot you and your fabulous poppin' biscuits. How you rescued us from hunger and gave us the excitement of watching a pressurised cardboard tube explode with pre-cut rounds of biscuit-y goodness ready to bake. As well as finally answering the cross-cultural question, -What are biscuits in America if they are not cookies?

bored

2010-03-16T03:51:00.000-07:00

I remember the last time I was bored it was about three months ago. I stomped around the room feeling really angry that I had nothing to do. I was bored of malls and coffee shops, so didn't want to go out. I had read all my books and nothing was on TV. I had surfed the internet reading every blog on every subject I am interested in. I had listened to TED talks and read every status on Facebook. I really had nothing to do. It rarely happens and hasn't happened since. I love having my mind flooded with ideas. I hate to stop reading, watching and listening, to feel like I have run out.

On the flip side I hate that feeling of having so much to do you don't know where to start and each thing is butting into your mind reminding you it needs attention when you are trying to concentrate on one thing at at time. I actually feel nauseous thinking about getting all these things done. Getting all these books read and assignments written. Doing two OU 60 point courses at once – pretty intense. Doing that while Home educating two children, driving four children around the city to their various events and trying to keep up with my friends, so they don't think I've become a total swot- well that is seriously intense.

So why am I here writing this not working? Procrastination; the whole reason I started my blog in the first place. Seriously it helps my overloaded brain when I do something totally different.

Schools out

2010-03-10T23:31:00.000-08:00

for Clo. Yes she is back in the home education camp. I think she has got school out of her system now. All the children are free to go to school to use what it has on offer or to stay home and learn what they need as they need it. TJ and Kiki are still happy and enjoying the experience. I have been readjusting as my time is now much more focussed on Clo and her educational needs.

I originally intended to follow a school type curriculum with her, thinking it would suit her better as she has always seemed to have less natural interests than Lexy who has been autonomously educated or unschooled for sometime. Clo always seemed to need more direct input. However I have decided to go with the unschooling or autonomous method with both. Philosophically this approach suits my beliefs about children and education better. The only thing that gets me diving back to the books is fear. (what if they don't learn everything they need ?)

With Clo I will do lots of suggesting and strewing and try to pay close attention to her interests and encourage them anyway I can. She really seems to love anything music which is bad for a non musician like me but we will learn together. She loves baking and cooking together. She is interested in fashion. She likes to read and quite often has her head in a book. She is continuing with her flute lessons with the same teacher who she really likes. Both girls love basketball and they really enjoy scouting as well.

Although there isn't the range of home educating opportunities there were in England we are all getting an education in living among other cultures we would never have got at home. I do need more resources though. I will have to see what I have in storage in England and have it sent over. Maybe a shopping spree is also in order.

Mother on the loose

2010-01-19T10:43:00.000-08:00

I got in a ruk with an aussie bloke at the school today. I am usually so non confrontational but something about his manner just set me off. He was reprimanding TJ for throwing a rock in the playground but I had already told TJ off and in my opinion the matter was dealt with. This guy sought him out and started on at him. So I tried to politely intimate that I was the boy's mother and that it was dealt with but he wound me up and I ended up coming across as a loony mother I am sure.

The thing is I am a loony mother I have no problem reprimanding my children when they are in the wrong but I like to do it in a way that doesn't draw attention to their mistakes. I have this weird thing where I like to give my kids the benefit of the doubt. Trust them not to behave badly again, not automatically assume that they have done something once so they are bound to do it again.

I know that is crazy. It certainly feels that way some days.

I must add I do not condone the throwing of rocks in school playgrounds in any way.

More bike pics

2010-01-16T08:31:00.000-08:00

Bikes

2010-01-16T08:08:00.000-08:00

A year or so ago we all had bikes, the cost of shipping them was greater than the cost of buying new ones. This was my rationale for leaving pretty much everything we owned in England.
TV it'll cost more to ship it,
books- really heavy will we really read them again, lets get some new ones
slow cooker it's ten years old and the handle has fallen off- we'll get a new one.
That was how we ended up starting from scratch in a new country, what I didn't really think through was that if I couldn't afford to ship it, I also could not afford to just replace everything on day one.

All that to say one year after arriving I finally replaced the kids bikes. We are going to try and use them as much as possible in the next three months or so before it gets too hot.
How to go for a bike ride in the UAE;
First take two SUV's and load bikes into back. No way will five bikes fit in one.-we have tried.
Drive to park, unload bikes and cycle until midday. Load up bikes into cars and drive home.
Here is TJ riding his bike without stabilisers for the first time.

Christmas in the sun

2009-12-08T23:04:00.000-08:00

I am doing totally rubbish at my Christmas planning. Truth be told I was pretty horrendous at doing Christmas in England where I wish it could be Christmas everyday was playing from about September and trees and decorations were for sale as soon as the Easter bunny had hopped off. But here without the daily reminders that the season is approaching the weather a very pleasant 2osomething degrees I have done nothing to get ready. This is particularly bad as I am sure international posting dates have now long passed and so none of my friends and family will be receiving gifts or cards.
Not that they ever got cards when we lived in England mind you; but now that I am far from their presence and cannot gift them with my delightful company I feel slightly bad about it. If I didn't send a card I could give a hug and a hearty Merry Christmas to all I met.
I now realise they probably would rather have had a card. Even if I just wrote from Gillian on it with no message. I may send something electronic if I can work that out.

We do have a tree up; a very scrawny looking artificial tree from Lulu which the kids were allowed to choose a set of decorations each to adorn it with. So it is a scrawny unco-ordinated tree with flashing blue lights. I actually love it- there is something a bit 1970's naff about it which appeals to me. I almost bought a white one for that truly nostalgic feeling. I remember my cousins having a white tree when I was a kid and I always thought it was lovely.

I am also baking some Christmas biscuits next week with Lexy for a Christmas bake sale at school. The kids have a festive concert at school next week so I should feel more in the Christmas mood then and I can dash out to Bawadi mall and get them all a few presents. Hopefully Santa will find us but it is a bit doubtful. I seem to remember one of the reasons given for how he manages to get round the whole world in one night is that he doesn't visit Muslim countries because they don't believe in him there. Do you think if we get one of those Santa stop here signs he will see it on his way to Europe?

I'm trying to come up with some more ideas to get the festive feeling flowing. We could always go to the cinema to see Scrooge although I'm a bit dickensed out with Great Expectations. We could have a card making evening and the kids could make cards to send to their friends. We could go to the carol singing evening at the Rugby Club. I could get some spices and try turning that bottle of Argentinian wine into a mulled beverage. It all still feels like we're faking Christmas as it doesn't really happen here. I'll start a piggy bank for a trip home next December and wrap it in tinsel.

Finally relaxing

2009-12-08T06:57:00.000-08:00

This year Eid- al Adha and National Day coincided to give us a week long break. K has been working non stop since Sept and was glad of the break. We mainly chilled out and did nothing but we chilled out and did nothing on the beach in Dubai one day and chilled out and did nothing at the zoo another. We took the kids to the Hilton a couple of times where we chilled out and did nothing. I say nothing but now when I am reading I am no longer doing nothing but am intently studying as I have signed up for another course with the OU for feb. The best thing is reading for "work" feels much the same as reading for chillin'. Yet I get to feel like I am using my time wisley instead of wasting it.
My first assignment recieved a gobsmacking 94% leaving me only one way to go from there. I have submitted my second assignment and we will see how that goes.

The next course I have signed up for is Approaching Literature (A210), so in order to get a head start I am reading Great Expectations atm. It was all going well until yesterday while I was sitting in the car waiting to pick the kids up from school I read that Mr Jaggers lived in Little Britain. I realised that I had read the next two pages with that bit of the brain that reads things without having a clue what they have just read while my imagination was off thinking about the TV show little Britain and if the writers were Dickens fan and was it the modern take on Dickensian style satire of the state of our nation but mostly do those guys just really like dressing as women.
I have know idea if Little Britain was a real part of London in Victorian days or not but am glad I am finally reading great expectations as like most people I am vaguely aware of the plot but have never got round to reading the book.

I was really tied between taking the Philosophy course or the Lit. one but opted for Lit this time round plenty of time to pursue philosopy in my spare time. I have been getting into philosophy bites podcasts. they are little 15 minute interviews with various philosophers discussing a particular area of philosophy. Really accessible - I even understand what my brother was babbling about that night a few Christmasses ago when he was drunkenly trying to explain Plato's cave.

quiet house shhh

2009-12-08T06:48:00.000-08:00

Why have I felt the need to whisper for the last three days? I don't know but since Clo went on the desert camp it was mighty eery around here. There seemed to be no sibling squabbles although Clo is not the only person the rest can fight with. Then today Lexy and TJ had a row over nothing in the kitchen. All three wanted to turn the can opener on the custard. They all must have sensed on a deep level that something is slightly adrift whenever one of them is gone for a while and teh bit of their brains that makes them cause agro on a daily basis was subdued. If you have a more scientific answer do leave it in the comments. All I know is when a quarter of the children are gone it is about a 100 times quieter.

Is she coming or going

2009-11-11T07:21:00.000-08:00

I blogged last week that Clo was about to be home educated. Well, that's all changed again and she is glad to be back at school. I gave her a week off "sick" as she kept saying she wanted to be home educated again and we tried it out. She loved it but missed her friends and some of the clubs at school. I think she has now realised that the things she likes about school outweigh the bad things.

It is a nice school in many ways but they do expect a lot of homework. Clo is not so keen on homework. I'm not a believer in homework for homework's sake myself and find it hard to encourage her to do some of the tasks set.

getting arty again

2009-11-07T22:43:00.000-08:00

In England we had a fabulous big consevatory that the kids had named their art room. It was well stocked for any art and craft project and we used it all year round. Since moving here with nothing but our two suitcases each, it has been a slow process to set up home and get used to living and working here. When your starting your life over from scratch stocking up on paints and hama beads and sculpey clay all take a back seat to kettles and knives and bedlinen and towels. The kids brought some toys with them and we tried to buy a few little extras. All the toys we bought broke or were really expensive. Even finding somewhere to buy something was pretty tricky as toys r us hadn't opened here yet and the supermarkets toys were really shoddy quality. I did buy though a very nice set of watercolour paints and they were well used.

Now we are more settled I want to stock up on more art and crafty things. When Clo was off "sick" last week we did art on the patio every morning. Lexy is also doing a correspondance art course. I would post some pictures of our artistic efforts but I need to go out at some point this morning and posting one set of pictures a day is all I have patience for. We were looking at abstract art and we all tried out different styles. I say we as I had to have a go too.

I'm thinking of doing a kind of art evening once a week after school, so the schoolies don't miss out on all the fun. Lexy will enjoy helping me set that up. Last year we set up a theme night on thursdays after school a few times and she loved organising that and coming up with ideas for things to do for pirate night or hawaiian luau night. Now to find places that sell good stuff to do craft with.

Our Garden

2009-11-07T21:58:00.000-08:00

K worked like crazy digging holes in the concrete filled sandy patch that was our garden and by lunchtime it really was a garden with trees and soil. Ok. It doesn't look like much but compared to the bare ground it is the most wonderful thing. The Area behind the table and chairs needs fixing next. I won't tell you about K and his crazy plan for a climbing wall up the side of the house. The breeze block doorway is actually a part of the new property. When we moved in it was a lovely semi detached villa but now we are mid terraced as the owner has added on a couple of small apartments to the other side of us. We still think we might lay claim to the patch of land in front of the other house as it is only accesible from our property. We might put some grass there. All in all it is starting to get a bit more of a home here. The only downside to sitting out in the yard is that the road next to our house is as busy as a motorway and huge cars with big engines screech up and down it all evening. Considering it is a residential back road I do not get why it is quite so busy but there you go.

Lexy's brownies

2009-11-04T04:29:00.000-08:00

Lexy has discovered a new recipe for brownies. Now it's not Nigella's but it's not as expensive as hers uses tons of 70% cocoa finest chocolate. Lexy is using 100% cocoa powder. They are really tasty though. So now when I face the wii fit later it will cheerfully tell me I have gained weight and ask me what I think the reason for this is.
Anyway I praised her excellent efforts and asked her if this meant she would cook tea. She is now in the kitchen making macaroni cheese. She will have a go at cooking most things and seems to enjoy it.
I have not loved cooking as much since we moved here. The oven is a bit rubbish and I often feel too hot for anything more than a sandwich. The kids and K are not as phased by the heat as me. They seem just as happy to cook and eat a roast dinner when it's 45 degrees outside as when it's a cold dark november evening in England. I can usually go a steak or some chicken skewers with rice and am quite happy to eat takeaway whenever it's on offer especially butter chicken and naan bread from the curry house.

Blogging as procrastination

2009-11-02T23:12:00.000-08:00

I really should be doing other things. I have my first assignment due for my OU course, dishes in the sink and washing to be put away and yet here I am. Inspired by an article on women bloggers in the times and knowing how much I enjoy reading about other peoples lives on their blogs I thought I'd give it a go.
I will probably blog mostly about my kids, they take up most of my brain space most days. There are four of them Lexy,Clo, TJ and Kiki. Lexy is educated at home, Clo is about to become home educated, TJ and Kiki are at an international school. I have a split personality between PTA mum and a more radical school is an unnecessary imposition on our lives type mum. If good parenting requires consistency my kids are out of luck.
Home is Al Ain, UAE. Well home is wherever we as a family are and this is where we are right now. K is my wonderful husband and is a schools advisor as well as a great maker of cups of tea.
I may write a little about life here in Al Ain but mostly the culture shock has worn off and it all feels rather normal now.
So if you want to read another mummy blogger chatting about her kids this is the blog for you. Travel, Culture and politics not so much.