My son’s birthday falls during the summer holidays which from his point of view displays exceptionally bad planning. Not only are his pals not at school with him on the ‘big day’, but they are generally not even in the same country.
That’s the problem with being an expat in Dubai. As soon as term ends, the trend is for Mummy and the kids to decamp back to the mother country faster than you can say “it’s 45 degrees in the shade and Ramadan starts shortly”.
So, to appease the 5-year-old, we arrange an early birthday celebration in term time so that he can celebrate with his friends and then we have a quieter family affair on his real birthday. If it’s good enough for the Queen…
The tricky decision is always what sort of party to go for. When I was a child, my parents hired the village hall, filled it with balloons and we spent a couple of hours playing traditional party games before stuffing ourselves with jelly and ice cream. It was brilliant.
My Dad championed an absurd game which involved dressing up in a hat, scarf and woolly gloves and then using a knife and fork to scoff as much Cadbury’s Dairy Milk as you could before the music stopped. My parties were renowned for the chocolate game. They were also remembered as being the ones where you went home with a balloon with “I’ve been to see my dentist” printed on it. No prizes for guessing my father’s profession!
It was all so much simpler (read, cheaper) in my day. My son’s generation want a party at Ski Dubai, Sega Republic or Fun City. I should be thankful he’s not at one of the more ‘showy’ schools here in Dubai. I have friends whose children have gone to parties on private yachts, private beaches, or in suites at the uber-expensive Atlantis resort.
On the up side, at least by booking a party at an organised venue, everything is taken care of. There’s no catering to be done, goody bags are provided and there is always an enthusiastic team of Filipina’s ready to take the lead in the party games.
So now I just need to find a venue that provides Stormtroopers and Wookiees.
Yes, they're twins. Both of them! 