Month: January 2012

Nursery

LagosMum4 Comments

There are a number of nursery options here, and anyone you speak to has an opinion on one or more of them.  Some of them accept children at 18 months, some at 20 months and one or two at 24 months.

A few months ago, mums with children the same age as V started asking if I’d been to see any nurseries.  One or two of them had been to see several and I started feeling the pressure!  Some of them are in quite high-demand and waiting lists are long…

I went to visit one.  And I loved it.  And decided that V was going to go there.  Why bother looking at the others when this one is so close to home?  I won’t have to sit in traffic crossing the bridge twice a day!

Hub went to visit it, got a tour and he really liked it too.  We registered with them and decided that V would start in April when he’s 19 months old.  He would be dropped off at 8.30 every morning and picked up at 12.30 every afternoon.  No problem.

But recently, over the last month or so, I’ve started questioning whether this is the right thing to do for him.  Nursery is the right thing (although I’m aware many would disagree).  But I’m wondering about whether he might be too young still…

He can’t talk yet – how would he make his needs known?

He’s still a little insecure – would he stay for four hours without me or another adult he’s happy with?

And…  I don’t think he’s ready.  Although a lot could change in the next couple of months.

I told Hub I think it would be better for him to go to playgroup for a year.  I’d be with him, but can keep my distance and he would slowly become more confident.  And he could start nursery in September when he’s nearly two.

Hub thinks I’m being too anxious.

Eighteen months is *very* young.  Isn’t it?  

Would love any advice you have… 

 

 

 

What’s On Your MP3 Player?

LagosMum2 Comments

The fabulous From Fun to Mum tagged me in this meme on Friday.  I couldn’t wait to get it done – but had no laptop until just now!

So, what’s it all about?

You have to put your MP3 player on shuffle and confess which five songs play first.  

This could actually be very embarrassing!

So…  Here goes!

1. Holiday – Madonna (not embarrassing – everyone loves Madonna)

2. Give Me Everything – Pitbull (featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer) (LOVE this song)

3. Moves Like Jagger – Maroon 5 

I’ve been SERIOUSLY lucky so far!  Let’s see what number 4 is…

4. After The Rain – Fedo Mora and Camurri (If you haven’t heard it – you MUST)

5. Hand In My Pocket – Alanis Morissette

Oh, thank God!  This could have been a loooot more embarrassing!

I’m going to tag…

(Just) Above Average Mum

Not My Year Off

PoshBird

 

 

 

Things To Do Before I’m 40

LagosMum7 Comments

The lovely lady from Not My Year Off has tagged me in a new meme created by Two Point Four Children.  

Things to do before I’m 40…  Great.  I’m going to be 40 in six years (and one month, one week and one day).  How did that happen?

It’s probably not going to be *that* interesting a list, but here goes (in no particular order)!

1.  Have another baby (or two?)

2.  Go sky-diving

3.  Start own business (eventually)

4.  Learn how to blow-dry my own hair

5.  Go on safari

6.  Learn how to manage my house properly

7.  Start exercising again

8.  Look like I did in 2005 – 2006 (pre-wedding)

9.  Be able to wear a strapless bra again

10. Get a DSLR camera

11. Learn how to use DSLR camera

12. Stop worrying about things that might not happen

13. Learn to put things away

14. Start collecting favourite Disney movies on DVD to make own collection

15. Complete at least one 366/365 Project

16. Go for a hot air balloon ride

17. Learn how to apply my make-up properly – and to give myself more than one look

18. Keep pinning on Pinterest (!)

19. Get another dog

20. Learn to let go

Surprisingly, that didn’t take as long as I thought it would!

 

Ok, I’m going to tag…

Red Rose Mummy 

From Fun to Mum

(Just) Above Average Mum

Grumpyish Mum

When you’re done, link up at Two Point Four Children 🙂

The Mothership

LagosMum2 Comments

About two weeks ago, I wrote about how irritating it is to go shopping with my husband.  The way he shops drives me crazy! 

Well, today, I have been driven a different kind of crazy.  I went shopping with my mother.  I know, I know – the general consensus on Twitter was ‘Do NOT go shopping with your mother.  Ever.’  

Here are snippets of our conversations.

Mum: Arun (short for Aruni (which was my name before marriage)), look at this.  This is nice.

Me: No – I don’t like it.  It’s too shiny.

Mum: Actually, no.  It will make you look fat.  Sorry, fattER.  

Me: Err.  Thanks.

~

Me: Oh – this is nice, look.

Mum: Oh yes, it does look nice.  (She has only seen the back of it so far.)

(I turn dress around.)

Mum: Oh no.  All your dresses are the same style and they’re very unflattering!

(Please note that she was referring to ONE (cotton/wool blend) drawstring dress that lost it’s shape after the first wash (but I still continue to wear it).)

~

Mum: Look at this top – it’s very much your ‘style’.

Me: Is it? (Really not sure)

Mum: But don’t get it.  I remember you had something similar in Bombay.

Me: But I don’t like it anyway.

Mum: Good.  I don’t think you should get it.

(You see where this is going?)

Now, you must understand that my feelings weren’t hurt…  I’m actually glad that she was with me.  As irritating as she sounds (and can sometimes be), at least she’s honest and makes sure I buy things that look good.  I know I’ve put on weight over the last few months (and I’m going to embark on Operation Fit and Fabulous (this will involve wearing my HotPants, listening to Thinking Slimmer and geting on with MutuSystem) when I get back to Lagos (on Monday)).

So HOPEFULLY by Easter (or at least by the time BritMums Live rolls round), I’ll be looking my best 😉

 

Good Music

LagosMum3 Comments

Since we’ve been here (in Dubai (on holiday), I’ve had the opportunity to listen to a *lot* of music.  English, Indian, Arabic.  The lot.  

It has been *so* good to listen to old and new music – songs that I’ve not listened to in a long while and songs that I’ve heard for the first time (although they’ve not necessarily been new).

I’ve been to Trader Vic’s (twice), Caramel, Mahiki, Sho Cho, Okku and a couple of other bars and restaurants, which have all played excellent music (according to me).  We’ve also had long drives to Sharjah (twice) and Ras Al Khaimah, listening to Virgin 104.4 all the way.

I’ve sung along to Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ (which would sound much better if I knew all the words and could actually sing), tapped my foot to David Guetta and Rihanna’s ‘Who’s That Chick?’, been reflective over Katy Perry’s ‘The One That Got Away’ (especially since I’ve only recently seen the video), shimmied to Maroon 5’s ‘Moves Like Jagger’ and full-on danced (even while sitting down) to Pitbull and Ne-Yo’s ‘Give Me Everything Tonight’ – you know…  It’s the ‘Grab somebody sexy and tell them ‘hey” song.  Yep – that one.

I can’t understand, though.

I can’t understand why, if I’ve been listening to such great music, all I’ve got stuck in my head is…

Hickory Dickory Dock

Anyone?

Mix-Tape Monday #9 – Pop Star Crush

LagosMum2 Comments

Mix-Tape Monday is back!  Hooray!

And to start the year off, the theme is…

Pop Star Crush

As in a song by your first pop star crush.  Honestly, it’s only January – couldn’t we wait for the more embarrassing songs/artists until later in the year?

Oh well…  Here goes *runs and hides in the corner*

Click on the badge below to check out the rest of this week’s entries!

Boo and Me

Banyan Tree Al Wadi

LagosMum8 Comments

When Hub and I booked our flights for Dubai, we talked about going away for a day or two.  But couldn’t decide on where to go.  We thought about Abu Dhabi and other places that would be close-by, but didn’t confirm (or even look into) anything.

Just before New Year, we met with some friends for dinner and one of the couples said that they’d gone to Banyan Tree Al Wadi for two nights and we should look into it.  I checked out the website and was sold.  THIS is where we were going!

Booking through the website was too expensive and we ended up getting a better deal on AsiaRooms.com.

The drive from Dubai to Ras Al Khaimah took a couple of hours and we made it on time for our 3pm check-in.  The lobby was quiet.  It was decorated in a subtle, but elegant way.  You can walk to move around the resort or, as most people did, use a buggy.  Wherever you are, you can ask a member of staff to call you a buggy.  They show up in 5 – 10 minutes and take you wherever you need to go.

This was our villa…  It was truly stunning and I wish I could live there all the time!  They even had complimentary wi-fi 🙂

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As you open the front door, there’s a door directly in front of you, to your right and one to the left.

 

Directly in front is the dressing room.

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To the left is the bathroom.  The bathroom is AMAZING!

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We had His n’ Her basins.  And we each had a little pouch and a bottle of water by our basin.

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Here are the contents!

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I should tell you that the male pouch did *not* have the detergent or the sewing kit in it!  And Hub was jealous that I had a loofah in mine!

 

The door on the right led to the bedroom.

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Which led to the sitting/TV area…

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Which led out to our private (heated) swimming pool!

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This is the chandelier hanging right above our bed…

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And Hub was very excited to see a box on the desk containing stationery!

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It really was just fantastic!

We received a complimentary hour-long session of hydrotherapy at what they call ‘The Rainforest’.  You can read more about it here.

 

That evening, a sand turtle (not a real one) was left on our bed to help raise awareness and to help protect them ($2 was added to the bill for each night we were there to do this).

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We brought it home for Vinay.

The next day (Friday) (after a Thai dinner at Saffron the night before and a HUGE breakfast at Al Waha), we decided to get the shuttle to go to the Banyan Tree Beach Club.  It is a 35 minute drive away and then a five minute boat journey.

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And the next morning (Saturday) we had to check-out by 12pm 😦

IF you decide to go there, here are a few pointers…

During the day, you can pretty much wear anything.  But at night you have to be a little dressier (while still respecting the culture).  No jeans, shorts or flip-flops allowed in any of the restaurants for dinner!

Take a shawl, jacket, cardigan or something else to keep you warm.  It is FREEZING at night (and I forgot my shawl in Dubai).

Take your BB/iPhone/phone charger (I forgot mine in Dubai).

Take your iPad or laptop (I forgot mine in Dubai).

Take sun-block (I forgot mine in Lagos).

It was a wonderful weekend away (Weekends are Thursday – Saturday here) and I hope we can go back again one day…