20-03-17 First of Spring

Monday 20th March 2017

What a hazy, sandy, blowy, grey start to Spring it is today. So bad out there for the lungs that I attempted (failed) to stay indoors and give Kingsley a day nap (he was having none of it). So after many attempts to entertain him in the apartment (we played games, built block towers, Duplo trains and Pixar cars, did puzzles, read books, learned the Greek alphabet), I gave up. Off we went to British Orchard Nursery to collect Kingsley’s masterpiece canvas making efforts to not breathe in the desert sand blowing in the shamal.

We hadn’t even advanced a few meters from the metro station when Kingsley with the greatest of thrill announced that the nursery was up ahead (and wondered whether the pony which we fed carrots and apples on Friday will be around for us to ride again). Once inside, the lamb broadcast his ardent desire to attend ‘school’ and told me that he is a big boy now and would like to go to school. I of course administer pronto the guilt trip “…but you will be leaving Mumma all by herself if you go to school…” which worked. Immediately Kingsley tells me that he wont leave Mumma by herself and that he will go to school when he is a little older. I sigh with relief.

I figure since the child has publicly promised he wont leave me for school at least for now, Kingsley deserves a play. A train ride back into the Dubai Mall and we head to our favourite kiddie space The Toy Store for a couple of hours of exhaustion in the form of a trampoline occupied by four wild children of various nationalities none of which spoke a common tongue however for the first time in my experience of Kingsley’s toddler days, got along wonderfully, handled each other’s pushes and pulls, didn’t whine or run to their mumma for the tiniest infraction, and actually waved each other farewell when it was time to go.