Al Ain Stay at Home Dads' Group

This is a group Jason has joined and they have welcomed him with open arms!  Due to the nature of our work, there are many mums who are teachers and dads who have come along to support and home-raise the children.  A really lovely kiwi guy Andrew has connected with lots of other dads who have braved the move over here, changed their career for two years and taken on the mantle of being a stay-at-home-dad.  Jason has attended a couple of the get-togethers and begun to forge new connections with dads in the same situation.

At the Zoo 

It has to be said that these guys have the biggest of all transitions to the UAE. While we get to head off to work every morning (even with the mayhem that that brings) the dads are charged with looking after the kids in a foreign land.  They have all left their respective employment and been thrown knee deep in nappy changing, feeding, entertaining and policing these sometimes challenging tikes.  The culture shock of lifestyle is also something added into the mix; so all up they have challenging times ahead.

So it is a good thing then that they can meet and realise they are not the only ones in this position.  They come from all nations and all walks of life and experiences. The kids seem to just ignore all of those cultural, ethnic and geographical boundaries and simply play.

Up close and personal with the wildlife

The other day the group set off to the zoo. The photos here show they had a lot of fun.  Jason even went back the next day with the kids to see more of what they hadn't seen the day before.  I think there may be a few visits before they cover the whole zoo - which from photos seems to be quite impressive.  Of course our two decided that being in a group photo was over-rated (grrr) and didn't participate.  

The group also meets on a Thursday morning and go to a playgroup at a local primary school called Sunflower School. We had Lily down on the waiting list to go there, and have just heard she will begin on 8 January 2012!  She is so excited about going.  She was taken around the school by the Principal this morning and the place is a really good fit for her.  This school on a Thursday morning invites littlies and their parents along to use the facilities from 9 - 11am.  At only 15 dirham for a family it is well worth it.  The kids get to run around outside and play on outside gear.  They can ride cars and climb and go mad.  The dads I think enjoy the chance to hang around and talk.  Interesting though that the group of mums who have been attending for some time have largely ignored this group of dads and for some reason think that it is their domain.  Go figure.

Once a week also the dads meet at one of their houses for playgroup.  You can imagine what this might be like now that there is around
eight or so dads and 2-3 children accompanied by each dad!  

I'm sure that this group will prove to be a lifeline for Jason in his
efforts to settle in here.  It will also be a valuable outlet for Lily
and Ben to meet and play with other kids.  What's really exciting
is that they will meet with kids from all over the world - and that's something that hopefully they will remember when they are older.

Stopping for a rest.

I think it is neat that when thrown into the chaos of this place there is a group of dads who are proactive and collaborative.  Mums I think naturally have this stuff sorted.  We do it right from the birth of our children through mothers' groups and ante-natal groups. We're also used to the whole community raising the children concept.  For dads though, I'm not sure that this comes so naturally.  What is great here is that this is a unique situation for the dads who have come to Al Ain.  I'm just so pleased that there is a group of guys whom Jason will be able to relate to and share the tough times with.  

Having said that, the nature of men would suggest that there's not going to be a lot of that kind of discussion. A few grunts here, mutterings over sport and the manic driving of locals in the UAE are probably more within their realm of discussion topic. 

Or am I being unfair?