L.E.K.: Dubai Weekend!

I'm going to begin this post with an announcement, and cross my fingers that I am not jinxing myself. Friends, I do believe that my children are officially in the sweet spot of childhood during which the fun we have with them is more than the relentless work required to keep them fed and healthy, and to socialize them.

Do I understand that these years are fleeting, and to be treasured? YES I DO. That's why we keep taking them places, and why I make Tommy talk to me during dinner instead of read, and why Lizzie breaded the fish all by herself tonight and gave me her 'proud' look when I announced that she pretty much made dinner alone (I put them into the pan and cooked them obviously).

Over the weekend, we went to Dubai. We were lucky enough to go the same time as some new but already very dear friends and it was great. Our kids were entertained, and we were entertained, and my friend Jesal planned all the activities we did together! Yay! And, our kids were mostly pleasant and nice and interesting when we spent time together as just our family.

The first night, we had dinner at a lovely place that obviously uses more water than
one would think advisable in the middle of the desert. But it was so pretty!

The star of the trip was Kidzania, which is a little world in which kids behave as adults. They start the day with fifty kid-bucks and then go throughout the town spending their money (on experiences like a little cooking school) or making money (taking care of babies, see picture below, or fighting fires, or delivering fed ex packages to other places in the town). If you want to read more about it, try this New Yorker article.

Parents can watch their kids on video screens in some places. Here the kids are being pediatricans, and Lizzie identified it as her favorite activity later. But, she said they fed the babies and changed them and rocked them. Which sounds more like parenting to me, and which she already says she wants to be when she grows up (a mommy).