Katy learned she would be moving to Dubai while she was still unpacking the boxes from her first overseas move to Malaysia.  With four year old twins and a baby less than one year old she says she and her husband “were devastated” at the news that they would be moving on so soon.  However in true pragmatic Australian style she says “We just had to make the best of it”.  Five months later they moved into their home in Arabian Ranches, picked out by her husband on one of his many business trips to Dubai. 

 
 

Friends were surprised when on their second day in Dubai the twins started school, but for Katy it meant she had her mornings free to supervise the movers, buy appliances, organize curtains, etc.  Looking back at the effect on the children she says “It was one of the best things we did.  It gave them a sense of belonging; they needed to make friends.”  To help her with the baby and after school care she invited a cousin from Australia to come for a couple of weeks – a useful tip she’d learned in their previous posting.

 

Once the move-in period was over, Katy set about organizing some permanent help at home so that she could resume her work as a composer.  Katy has her PhD in Music Composition and has been freelancing as a professional composer for 2 or 3 years.  “In Malaysia I decided I’d work every morning when the twins were in school and the baby was asleep.  But it didn’t work out because the baby would wake up early or someone would be home sick.”  So when she moved to Dubai, Katy decided to hire a full-time live-in maid so she could work for two full days and then be “fully present” with the children for the rest of the week. 

 

Unfortunately the first maid didn’t work out, “I made the wrong choice” she says.  She’s also learned that “It’s hard to find someone who can do the domestic stuff and look after three children.”  After the summer she plans to change her schedule again and put her youngest into nursery school so her new maid will need to spend less time caring for the children alone.  

 

Katy hasn’t had any problems making friends.  She says, “The day before we moved into Arabian Ranches we were in the playground and a girl came up to me said ‘We’re just starting a baby group, do you want to come on Monday?’ and we’ve become this lovely, close-knit group of about fifteen of us.”  They’ve organized barbeques, gone camping and even been on a trip to the Musandam in Oman.

 

Now that things are starting to settle she feels she can offer advice to others moving here with small children - don’t come at the beginning of the summer if you can avoid it as it’s best for the children to start school immediately, get some help at home if you can and take a break early.  “Get out of Dubai, even if it’s just for a weekend, as it really helped me gain some perspective” she says.