arohadxb | ExpatWoman.com
 

arohadxb

2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 27 January 2011 - 11:49
Sorry freckles :( I agree with everyone, be as honest as you can and treat it lightly if you can...it will comfort/reassure her to see that mama is not worried, accepts it matter of factly as a part of life, so she will hopefully not worry too much as well. When you are faced then with a death of a family member/pet theres a ground work in place so to speak so part of the knowledge is already there and thats when the it's ok to be sad, where they have gone (as it suits each individual family) part generally comes in. They are terribly pragmatic usually and will surprise you at that age with how easily they seem to accept death...because it's not terribly real until they know someone who has died. Little freckles is obviously thinking a lot over and trying to get a perspective on it, and it's my personal theory that they do a lot of their mental processing whilst asleep, hense the sleepwalking maybe, or night dreams/terrors. Me, I just try to be matter of fact, not make a big deal of it, and usually these conversations take place while you are doing something else.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 27 January 2011 - 08:36
I would love lots of kids too... but don't think I could afford more than two. Though I say this bravely when I'm right now dead scared about bringing this first one into the world (I made the mistake of watching a birth video...lol) :) i know how you feel. while i was pregnant i watched birth videos on youtube every saturday morning and then refused to give birth. don't worry, you'll be fine! I spent the whole of my pregnancy thinking that babies came out your elbow. You can imagine my surprise on discovering differently at the birth itself :D (Birth videos should be banned for causing unneccessary anxiety when it's all inevitable anyway, apparently)
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 26 January 2011 - 10:39
Just keeping my girl near the top for a bit....
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 26 January 2011 - 10:37
http://www.abc.net.au/gnt/history/Transcripts/s1188249.htm Yeah, yeah. roflmao! excellent.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 26 January 2011 - 10:27
Hve you tried the cafe at the garden center on SZR? They're kiwis ( I think) but may well have done something special for you lot? I know they do a brilliant anzac bikkie. So, you Kiwis are flogging lamingtons as well as pavlovas now??? ;) started off in NZ you know :D You do realise you lot are just a suburb eh?
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 26 January 2011 - 10:00
Hve you tried the cafe at the garden center on SZR? They're kiwis ( I think) but may well have done something special for you lot? I know they do a brilliant anzac bikkie.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 26 January 2011 - 09:57
oh thats just charming that is....can't even tell a nuisance to eff off? Bet you he would have listened and obeyed had she asked politely for him to stop bothering her in the queens best english. Not.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 26 January 2011 - 09:46
aww, thanks freckles. I forgot to mention that she will be a medium sized dog when she grows, and she already loves camping!
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 26 January 2011 - 09:25
PS: I am only capable of emailing pics being too technically differently abled to do links and what not :)
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 26 January 2011 - 08:30
Have loads of shapes to choose from for the puppets, all different animal ears, differnt hair, eyes, mouths tonges, arms, wings, tails, manes...you name it! and the kids can just go mad putting together their own creature or person. Same with masks....roleplaying with masks is great too as a child can become someone else entirely when their face is disguised.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 26 January 2011 - 08:24
Happy Australia Day all you weird and wonderful ozzies that we love so well. Have a wonderful day doing all the things that make OZ home and great for you and we will be sure to crack open a lovely NZ sav blanc in your honour a little later today. With best wishes from Aroha and clan x eta: just too early in the morning to spell. <em>edited by arohadxb on 26/01/2011</em>
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 26 January 2011 - 08:19
I'd say that whatever materials you can come up with to take with you would be very much needed and appreciated. Whatever craft ideas you do come up with, make sure you have simple and straightforward plans to follow and make sure you have each step laid out in adavnce with perhaps illustrated instructions for children to follow. Not sure what age youre dealing with but try and keep it simple so the kiddies can work as independently as possible. Lil miss is 6 and she can make sock puppets without help now so long as she has a plan and the materials. Puppets make for good therapy and with a little imagination can be any character in the world. I like your teddy bear idea, and another idea may be clay? Anything to do with paint has to be a winner, and paper mache is cheap and what you can make is only restricted by imagination. Masks is fun and easy and can be made with any media at all. Mobiles, or any kind of hanging decoration for either inside or outside that will catch the wind. Dreamcatchers? Feel free to come raid our craft supplies, it's due a clean out :)
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 25 January 2011 - 18:56
it's just so inane, who cares? Thats ok about the eggs freckles, i will forgive you.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 25 January 2011 - 18:41
There are also many Emiratis who can't afford pay the school fees for international schools. Loads of Emiratis are earning only 10,000 a month or less and usually they have no packages (school fees paid, housing paid etc.)[color=#0000FF'>[/color'>Getting fed up with this assumption that all or most expats have their fees and housing paid...maybe 10 years ago? Not now like many expats have. Second reason why there are so less Emiratis in international schools could be that many locals want their children to learn the local culture and language so they feel government school is better.[color=#3300CC'>[/color'> Possibly, but given in our international school more attention and school hours are devoted to arabic, islamic studies (and then covered again rather thoroughly in social studies and geography) than just about any other subject including english...this is rather a moot point, no? Major issue is also the fact that most expats stay only few years in Dubai so many Emirati may feel that maintaining friendships is more easier among other Emiratis. [color=#0000CC'>[/color'>Maybe there are some people who feel that, but it rather cuts ones nose off to spite ones face don't you think? The world got a lot smaller in the last generation or so, and I do feel it's short sighted to limit your children to friends of one culture/religion/colour (heaven forbid, really!) when their world is going to be smaller still. Am I right in saying that alot of local young people are educated at tertiary level overseas? How does limiting their experiences with non emeratis effect their later education and social experience? Their businesses? Their entire life experience?
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 25 January 2011 - 18:29
pffft, beat me. Promised lil miss an ice cream if she finished her vege's and completely forgot...shame eh? Sure she will remember tomorrow and make me pay....
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 25 January 2011 - 18:21
Can I just say: I have spent 5 hours today making sweets for our school bake sale, and I feel very ill :( Is it just me that inhaling sugar fumes all day does you no good at all? Hats off to all the passionate cooks out there! I'm not doing it again til lil miss has grandbabies.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 25 January 2011 - 08:48
okay, done. Thanks girls.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 25 January 2011 - 08:27
Right, so say I was making sweets for the bake sale at school and labeling the product, I should add a clear warning that it contains coconut, just in case?
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 24 January 2011 - 19:23
lol, poor sweetie. Best you get outrageous then...
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 24 January 2011 - 19:22
Caribou
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 24 January 2011 - 18:27
on that rationale, does that mean lesbians count as men? only if they LIKE men, can they be 'one of the lads' if they so wish. If they have an active dislike, and this goes for either of the s3x's with a same same orientation, then they should keep it to within their own groups. Theres appropriate (behaviour in certain circumstances) and then there is rabidly inappropriate.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 24 January 2011 - 18:21
gay, yes. Likes women, yes. Has an agenda, no. Can't open his mouth with out some sleazy innuendo, no.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 24 January 2011 - 16:00
I just didnt give consent for that....we had a detailed list of things that we could or would not give consent to the school nurses and the dr administering to our child. Immunization is MY remit, not school.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 24 January 2011 - 07:56
well, I watched Horizon (a UK scientific programme) the other day and there's a theory that reality as we know it is just a hologram. It has something to do with how photons don't behave the way they should. Go figure... back to your holographic nails, ladies... you think maybe all this fatness is in my head?! (i love the sound of this) I love this too! as am now officially either a figment of my own imagination or a hologram, I am going to have a perfectly naughty fat laden breakfast and it won't matter a bit :D
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 20 January 2011 - 13:52
Thank you for the advice. I know some will say to keep him inside but I don't want to do that. He is an animal albeit a very friendly and cuddly one and I feel that he should be able to do his cat-thing outside because he is a cat. I am looking for advice on the best way to introduce him to outside. Surely there are people with cats that have been outside without being posioned/trapped/squashed/attacked? our cat is an indoor outdoor cat, and in 3 years we've not had an emergency with him. When I'm home, the door is open and he is free to come and go. When I'm not home I have an upstairs balcony window locked open just wide enough for him to get in and out of. His hours of roaming differ depending on the time of year...in high summer hes out all night, sleeps all day. Now, when it's cold, he sleeps with me all night, sleeps part of the day and sunbaths in the garden the rest. He does leave the garden but not for long (cept in the summer nights when who knows what he's up to) he does have an enemy, a satans spawn of a cat that will attack people and he's had a few barneys with him. We also have stray cats that we feed in our garden with no problem, a free roaming torti and a bunny and now a foster pup as well. Just make sure at the vet check up that they know he'll be a partly outdoor cat so he can have the appopriate shots to help protect him from diseases he'll meet when he's out in the general population. He has a bell on to warn birds,though the likely hood of him ever catching one is slim to none, and his name and my number and his municipality tags on his collar. I didnt do anything special introducing him to the garden...we just went outside. Took him some time to learn to climb the fence so we had a few reassurring weeks of knowing where he was, but it also gave him time to really mark his property so he finds his way back hth
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 20 January 2011 - 08:42
may just have been a glitch because its working now. weird. Up there with dead cows and crabs falling from the sky weird :D
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 19 January 2011 - 19:57
It's what my husband calls me when I'm having a 'blonde moment'! :) [i'>Similar[/i'> to what my DH calls me. actually may just have peed self giggling at that SD....
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 19 January 2011 - 19:27
thanks....so what do people do if they just need a few hours a day with help with younger kids at homework time, dinnertime and bit of cleaning :( other than a cleaning agency (cause that is all they will provide) any other options?? nope. But, I think someone on here knows about proper nursery maids? May have imagined it, but they may see this and post. However, if you get an agency maid in to clean, prep dinner or whatever, and theyre mostly very good, that could free you up to concentrate on the kid bizzo, no?
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 19 January 2011 - 19:23
Hey, but well done on posting a new thread! qudos!
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 19 January 2011 - 19:20
Good girl you, proud of ya! (Also, hope to see you in 3 or 4 weeks) Let us know how your 10k goes...hubby suitably chastened! ha!
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 19 January 2011 - 19:09
bump. see youre on :)
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 19 January 2011 - 18:33
oh you know, sneezing, laughing, sniffing....pretty much anything. BTW betting on threads is a HUGE no-no *snort!*
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 19 January 2011 - 18:04
urk, i posted a thread a few months back about this couple at a resort in RAK actually having it on in shallow water infront of the lunch bar at the beach while we lunched with my daughter (who thought the lady was drowning and he trying to um, save her.) grossssssss! in the extreme, but we did have an interesting discussion back then about the wheres and why fors....wonder if can find thread? *off for a nosey*
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 19 January 2011 - 17:55
all i know is the shuffle is cute, small and made for sports, and holds much less music than its bigger cousin. Oh, and everytime I try to have anything to do with itunes my laptop dies a horrible death which costs a fortune to fix. which could have something to do with the operator, but who knows?
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 19 January 2011 - 15:09
I know this is not sensible, and not the answer youre looking for, BUT.... after this week, lil miss can stay home til shes 35, in her room. Which rather slightly clashes with her plan of marrying her now boyfriend (she is just 6!) in the nude at the beach when she is 18. And the 18 was the compromise.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 19 January 2011 - 14:10
fake it til you can make it SQ.....knock em' dead!
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 18 January 2011 - 19:13
Best starting point is to insure the bus your children is on meets your rigourous standards. Who is the driver? Is he/she vetted? Employed by the school or a company? Qualified and how? Is there a female class room assistant on board? Whats the procedure for drop off/pick up? Are the children handed over into your care and vis versa? Whats the procedure for monitoring who is on the bus/who gets to class and back again? Is it fail safe ? Is there a backup? At what point to alarm bells go off with the school if the child is not in class? Are there proper safety belts, can your childs seat/booster be employed correctly in the bus? Can you speak to other parents whos children use the service? and that was just what I started with....
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 18 January 2011 - 18:35
There's a huge difference between little kids going through the "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" stuff and a 12 year old asking a 7 year old girl to touch him. My DD was pinned down at a birthday party by a laughing 11 year old in her class years ago and given a love bite while forcing her hand onto his groin. It was dealt with "my way" and he never went near her again BUT!!! This guy is now 31 and has been charged several times for sexual assaults and rape. Not saying that this boy will go on to do the same but he needs to have his behaviour nipped in the bud, now! Hopefully the boys parents will be horrified and sort him out. Good luck. and no one said it WAS the same thing at all Joyce. Meaning? Whats got up your pinny woman? I mention in an earlier post about the show me yours thing, and then you post that its not the same thing at all, so i gently posted that no one has said it is at all the same thing, and that includes myself. Clearer for you now? No need to be so rude. I repeat that there is a difference between children being inquisitive about theirs and others bodies and a much older boy asking a girl half his age to touch him. I was agreeing with what you said, not the opposite. Geez, am off to finish my packing! ;) THAT wasnt rude.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 18 January 2011 - 18:27
There's a huge difference between little kids going through the "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" stuff and a 12 year old asking a 7 year old girl to touch him. My DD was pinned down at a birthday party by a laughing 11 year old in her class years ago and given a love bite while forcing her hand onto his groin. It was dealt with "my way" and he never went near her again BUT!!! This guy is now 31 and has been charged several times for sexual assaults and rape. Not saying that this boy will go on to do the same but he needs to have his behaviour nipped in the bud, now! Hopefully the boys parents will be horrified and sort him out. Good luck. and no one said it WAS the same thing at all Joyce. Meaning? Whats got up your pinny woman? I mention in an earlier post about the show me yours thing, and then you post that its not the same thing at all, so i gently posted that no one has said it is at all the same thing, and that includes myself. Clearer for you now?
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 18 January 2011 - 18:20
There's a huge difference between little kids going through the "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" stuff and a 12 year old asking a 7 year old girl to touch him. My DD was pinned down at a birthday party by a laughing 11 year old in her class years ago and given a love bite while forcing her hand onto his groin. It was dealt with "my way" and he never went near her again BUT!!! This guy is now 31 and has been charged several times for sexual assaults and rape. Not saying that this boy will go on to do the same but he needs to have his behaviour nipped in the bud, now! Hopefully the boys parents will be horrified and sort him out. Good luck. and no one said it WAS the same thing at all Joyce.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 18 January 2011 - 18:09
If the parents are hostile with you, then your DH could always offer the option of discussing it at the police station. Their choice. Yup, but it neednt go that far, if hubby is calm, matter of fact and not going in all guns blazing righteous....no need for parents of boy to be on the defensive from the get go, and then attack in return.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 18 January 2011 - 17:37
At 12 the boy knows better, knows its wrong and was trying to take advantage of your daughters age to get away with being a right creep. Thank goodness your daughter came to tell you, and knew that she could without it being seen as a bad thing. Having hubby have a quiet chat with the boys folks without histronics and without daughter being made to feel the boy is only getting in trouble because she 'told on him' Another thing, I wouldnt make a big deal of going round while the boy in question is up as it may well lead to playground retaliation. Otherwise, show me yours, I'll show you mine, touching etc between kids of similar ages is quite normal! My lil miss just laughs, and then tells me. Her cousin back in NZ (7yrs old) regetted aomething wicked his desire for her to pull down her pants on the trampoline.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 18 January 2011 - 11:01
Dunno if this will help summer dream, but i was thinking that it may pay for you to come up with a standard form of how different things should be handled. So in this case of cyber bullying: step one reassure child. step 2: take evidence of bullying if poss. Step 3: inform school with evidence, and then their system should kick into place. Obviously your procedure list may well be more detailed etc etc. but I do feel, especially with minors, there needs to be a rigourous standard of procedure in place to protect all parties. Thanks Aroha. It is what I have been working on for sometime and is part of my website, which I have not got around to launching yet. I was mainly working on abuse and issues with adults. Didn't touch child bullying yet. It is the right approach, thanks ah good then, figured this was a new scenario for you....so hopefully all this gives you the tools you need to put a procedure in place that is legal and safe. well done.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 18 January 2011 - 10:54
Dunno if this will help summer dream, but i was thinking that it may pay for you to come up with a standard form of how different things should be handled. So in this case of cyber bullying: step one reassure child. step 2: take evidence of bullying if poss. Step 3: inform school with evidence, and then their system should kick into place. Obviously your procedure list may well be more detailed etc etc. but I do feel, especially with minors, there needs to be a rigourous standard of procedure in place to protect all parties.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 18 January 2011 - 07:46
ditto what freckles said, and lets not forget the grubby handprints on our rumpled clothes, various body fluids in our hair (that may or may not have seen a hairbrush that day), and a bag that contains everything from used wipes, shells, crayons, drawings, hairclips, knickers, cars, dolls, drink bottles and bandaids to vodka. You cant help but tell whos a mummy :)
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 18 January 2011 - 07:42
JLT???! The little ratbag! Thank god pixie is safe and back with you. How wonderful of those kind people to look after her and find you.
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 17 January 2011 - 20:29
I don't think it was too expensive but I can't really remember sorry. While the children enjoy it in our garden am not sure it's big enough for a large class size group of kids? Sorry, I know those plastic sets you mean and havent seen them anywhere!
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 17 January 2011 - 20:08
I got a nice, but smallish sized wooden one from Virgin in the MoE before christmas if that helps?
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 17 January 2011 - 07:41
happy Birthday Lotti! I have made an executive decision to turn 29 this year (and next year etc). Daughter of mine is threatening to scupper plan by being militant about actual age...bah humbug :)
2322
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 13 January 2011 - 08:12
Sorry but I can't understand why a Muslim parent would not want their child to have religion classes. It's not like they ram it down your throat in the schools here. Surely the child deserves to have the information to make their own decision? My parents are atheist but allowed me to study the religion they were born into and decide for myself whether to practice it or not. Don't ram it down throats here? that actually made me laugh out loud! Not seen the cirriculum for social studies then for non islamic kids at around the age of 5 or 6 then have you?! lol!