I'ma comin, but before I do, answer me these (please!)

Okay, well since that's still a long way off. (The metro) I'll see how feasible the national coach is for DH to take in every morning.

do you think they will ever extend the metro to ad?

I dont have children so cant offer advice on anything kid care.... I can however comment on " THE COMMUTE" honestly if you have an alternative (ie live near work) and insist on a job in AUH that commute SUX! i was in the unfortunate situation where i was on a DXB visa and ordered to relocate to AUH office, still on that visa...i was living in Warqaa (quite an extreme case, but was told take the lease its fine your job is safe, knowing full well they were forcing some of us to switch offices)......the office was in the centre of AUH that was a 2.5hr commute each way, i stuck it for 4 months (i was looking for work at the same time as it was not sustainable). I understand living in Jumeirah Lake Towers that you can get to the centre of AUH in about an hour at 160kph...(this is speeding yes, also very dangerous and irresponsible). that road is one of the most dangerous in the Emirates (having seen personally a number of accidents and the aftermath of accidents including the hours of queues because of accidents). While i appreciate a lot of people are doing it for the rent and lifestyle benefits of DXB, that commute is (IMO) dangerous and better off avoided whether you are driving yourself or you are being driven. Sorry for the negative nature of my post regarding the travelling, but when i was doing it, i really cant describe how depressed and demotivated it made me by the end. Thankfully i got another job DXB based and it coincided nicely with being made redundant! edited by Blueskies on 24/01/2011 edited by Blueskies on 24/01/2011 I tend to agree about the commute. I don't like the idea of commuting either...but now I am quite interested in this bus service thing, do you have any idea/experience of this? No, sorry. I do not. My DH drives to Abu Dhabi every day from the Mirdif area but fortunately, he carpools with two other people. However, it is still a long distance and a dangerous drive. I hate the idea of it. :( aww, me too! maybe we should have a wives against the dxb to abu dhabi commute support group and every so often hold protests.

I dont have children so cant offer advice on anything kid care.... I can however comment on " THE COMMUTE" honestly if you have an alternative (ie live near work) and insist on a job in AUH that commute SUX! i was in the unfortunate situation where i was on a DXB visa and ordered to relocate to AUH office, still on that visa...i was living in Warqaa (quite an extreme case, but was told take the lease its fine your job is safe, knowing full well they were forcing some of us to switch offices)......the office was in the centre of AUH that was a 2.5hr commute each way, i stuck it for 4 months (i was looking for work at the same time as it was not sustainable). I understand living in Jumeirah Lake Towers that you can get to the centre of AUH in about an hour at 160kph...(this is speeding yes, also very dangerous and irresponsible). that road is one of the most dangerous in the Emirates (having seen personally a number of accidents and the aftermath of accidents including the hours of queues because of accidents). While i appreciate a lot of people are doing it for the rent and lifestyle benefits of DXB, that commute is (IMO) dangerous and better off avoided whether you are driving yourself or you are being driven. Sorry for the negative nature of my post regarding the travelling, but when i was doing it, i really cant describe how depressed and demotivated it made me by the end. Thankfully i got another job DXB based and it coincided nicely with being made redundant! edited by Blueskies on 24/01/2011 edited by Blueskies on 24/01/2011 I tend to agree about the commute. I don't like the idea of commuting either...but now I am quite interested in this bus service thing, do you have any idea/experience of this?

I dont have children so cant offer advice on anything kid care.... I can however comment on " THE COMMUTE" honestly if you have an alternative (ie live near work) and insist on a job in AUH that commute SUX! i was in the unfortunate situation where i was on a DXB visa and ordered to relocate to AUH office, still on that visa...i was living in Warqaa (quite an extreme case, but was told take the lease its fine your job is safe, knowing full well they were forcing some of us to switch offices)......the office was in the centre of AUH that was a 2.5hr commute each way, i stuck it for 4 months (i was looking for work at the same time as it was not sustainable). I understand living in Jumeirah Lake Towers that you can get to the centre of AUH in about an hour at 160kph...(this is speeding yes, also very dangerous and irresponsible). that road is one of the most dangerous in the Emirates (having seen personally a number of accidents and the aftermath of accidents including the hours of queues because of accidents). While i appreciate a lot of people are doing it for the rent and lifestyle benefits of DXB, that commute is (IMO) dangerous and better off avoided whether you are driving yourself or you are being driven. Sorry for the negative nature of my post regarding the travelling, but when i was doing it, i really cant describe how depressed and demotivated it made me by the end. Thankfully i got another job DXB based and it coincided nicely with being made redundant! edited by Blueskies on 24/01/2011 edited by Blueskies on 24/01/2011 okay, well Dh will be working on the edge of the Island (he's told everyones commute takes an hour from the Marina)...I'm not sure if they are fibbing or not. Do you feel a bus service might be safer?

GGP don't worry. maids are a dime a dozen here, you can get help once you arrive not sure i'll need it though. ya' know what i'm sayin, SQ?

re allergies. Does your LO have an epipen? If so, bring a few more over with you as the ones here are sometimes either out of date or close to expiry. Bring an epipen trainer over with you too and test the staff. Watch the temperature as they can only usually tolerate temp variations of around 10 degrees so in summer, if not stored correctly, it may deactivate. As for the nanny. Could either of the companies hire yours as 'admin staff'? I know somebody who brought their nanny over this way and it was fantastic. Search other ew threads on 'nannies' and you'll see that it is hard (I think impossible?) to get a qualified nanny here and you can only hire a small range of nationalities. So if your nanny is British, she or he won't be able to come over as a nanny.. clear as mud? Other than that, you are going to love the weather, safe travels. ;) Yes, DS does have an epipen. I have an ample store. I think it's a good idea to watch the staff use the trainer and see how they fare. As far as the nanny goes, we've already let her go. She was a very well trained and well loved, but sadly we didn't need her services anymore. I was thinking that if I put DS in nursery and I don't work, then maybe I wouldn't need a nanny? Should I look into one anyway, just to show me the ropes maybe? (I'm trying really hard to get back into the groove with DS, hoping I can help him out with his delay--I don't have the mommy instinct).

Potty training The last thing you want is to be travelling and starting in a new country with a toddler who is wetting himself and more. Keep the nappies up for now, just for your own sanity and when you get here let him try again. The floors here and generally not carpetted so potty training is easy! Completely agree. I waited for my son to potty train until we got here and we did it within a week. The marble floors were a blessing for sure!!! The important thing to remember is that it is the kids that tell you when they are ready, not the parents. I would sit my son on the potty and he would have a wee or a poo after a few minutes but he wasn't ready in that he didn't know himself when he wanted to go. I was sure I would potty train him that day after his second birthday like his sister but soon learned just to chill and go with the flow (excuse the pun!). Sorry if I am stating the obvious but I see so many parents claiming that their child is potty training when they are so young for it and clearly not ready. No, really. He's obsessed with the idea of poo, 10 of his 40 words are potty related. I'm quite happy to keep him in diapers till he's three. I feel like when his communication is better. We're big followers of the potty training checklist/Gina Ford. I think I'm going to see if I can give him a new obsession, just not sure how detrimental/confusing it'll be.

You need to find your son a good school. There are kids with various food related issues and the schools are vigilant about them on special request. There are also kids with speech disabilities who go to regular school. As long as your child is bold and friendly he wont get lost in the crowd. Even if he isnt, a good teacher should help him come out of his shell. You will also find some good speech therapists in NOOR school where you can take him for a few sessions. Do your research on the schools well as it can be quite overwhelming if you do have many concerns. Driving to AD everyday is not a better option than living close to work! Though my personal choice of city to live in would be Dubai, i know close friends who travel to AD for work everyday and they dont have much time or energy left at the end of the day. The routine gets too monotonous and when you have a little boy who needs more attention you will want more time with your husband than just an hour or two every evening before DS goes to sleep. Having said that, ( correct me if im wrong) rents are cheaper in Dubai at the moment so its really a choice you have to make yourself. your "real-estate" relatives should respect your choice! About the potty training....i dont think the change will affect him.You musn't give him the option! I think we're hoping more for Dubai than AD because we like it better. We still haven't found appropriate housing.

I'm actually not encouraging his potty training right now. He's quite obsessed with the idea himself after he was given the book 'everybody poos'. I'll just try to ease it out of his mind for now. Secretly though, I am pleased that he's showing initiative, just wish he'd do it when we weren't about to shift our whole lives over to Dubai.

So it's no surprise, I'm moving to Dubai soonish. (We're still sorting out dates with HR) Part One. (it's a three part question) In London my son has always had a Nanny. When we finally move over, I feel like maybe I'll try to find him a place in a nursery. Like most mothers, I have my concerns. The first being, he's got a milk intolerance (but he can have some cheeses) + he's allergic to red fruits and severely allergic to eggs. Will the nursery staff be vigilant to his needs or do I risk a significant chance that my son may eat something he shouldn't? Surely, there are kids in Nursery school that are allergic to nuts? My second concern is that my son also has a moderate speech delay, one we're seeing a therapist for here in London. He does know and use sign language and has about 40 words (he is 27 months old) will he receive enough attention and encouragement, or might he get lost in the crowd? Lastly (for this section) DS has decided that he wants to be potty trained this week. He takes off his own diaper and has managed to poo in his potty. Although he can drop the deuces in the pot, he is still having difficulty with number 1. Do you think that if we move in the next few weeks (I think they want us there by 2nd week of Feb) that the move will have a detrimental affect on his potty training? (He's really been up to it all on his own, I wanted to train him when he was a little closer to 3). Part Duex We're having trouble with our relocation agent, and so have requested DHs HR people to let us use someone else. DH has submitted the request, and hopefully it will be approved, but we've only *Just* learned that we have an extended family member in Dubai who owns a real estate agency--with the market right now-- do you think our relative would be offended that we didn't use his services? Part Three DH has decided to not take an offer from Dubai, but one in Abu Dhabi. His boss and all of DHs peers live in Dubai and suggest living here and commuting to work everyday. I'm assuming this is a common situation, but how annoying is it? My DH (who doesn't drive, but I do) wants to hire a car service/car pool or driver to take him and bring him everyday--what would you suggest? His boss feels that DH should get a reliable car and hire a driver, but what will the driver do while DH is working? Thank you ladies! <em>edited by GoldinGlitterPunk on 24/01/2011</em>