09-03-17 Meeting Fraser & Cece

Thursday 9th March 2017

As far as first meetings are concerned, this one went splendidly. Three kids under three, a beautifully mild summer’s day at one of Dubai’s best children’s playground and a cafe which serves great Aussie coffee/tea were the perfect combined elements for a reunion between me and an old ex-work mate. It had been a full two years since Laura and I had seen one another, though we neither of us missed a beat with our chat. And while we enjoyed catching up on our lives, our three proceeded to play really well together.

Laura and I were of course ready for the usual dramas of toddlerhood to rear their heads however over the course of two and a half hours together Kingsley (3), Fraser (2) and Cecily (1) played like veteran friends even sitting for not one but two picnics over the course of the day and actually eating what is offered to them (today’s gourmet offerings: apples, bananas, cookies, rice crackers).

Bashings/hittings/shovings/pushings were today surprisingly infrequent. We had two tantrums, one time-out, at least three reprimands and my go-to emergency reaction to anti-social behaviour, the ear pinch &  twist, which was put into good effect when Kingsley’s exuberance spilled over into hormonal aggression. All in a day’s parenting!

Here is the distilled, G-rated, sugar-coated version of our day…