Last week I decided to take a look at a place called Chaoss, after finally finding out where they're located - since no number is given when I call information. The place is big and much more organized than I had heard, so, needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Btw.. this is a another place for children to play, interact w/ other children and such.
While there, I met one of the swimming instructors and found out that they're still having classes... so I signed Naief up. Today was our first class - now, there's only 3 wks left, but what the heck, and Naief loved it. There were probably 6 other kids in the class and several fathers, and since Hashim would be the one in the pool w/ Naief, he was pleased, and I was happy coz now... he'll go again. :) And, we found out that there's a Thursday morning class w/ 3 wks left, so I'll go to that class w/ him. They also have gymnastics classes that run by term, and the next term starts in January... that'll be fun.
The class lasted about 45 mins., and while Hashim was in the pool, I talked to the nice British woman beside me. Her daughter was there w/ her son, Jack. What a cutie! The woman told me that her daughter's son loves this place and the organized classes are a lot of fun. That's nice to know. I like the fact that this place is more organized play while Buzzi Beez is open/free play. Two great ways to interact w/ other children, and parents.
Naief didn't want to go in at first, but once he was in the water, he did really well. The instructor is great and is so good w/ the little ones. She's an Australian woman married to a Bahraini. :) They sang songs while going around in circles, splashing w/ their arms/hands, kicking their feet, going up in the air and coming back down and sometimes going under the water... even jumping off of this big, floaty thing.... crawling through it and going under a bridge. Naief even learned to put his toy outside the pool, climb out to get it, sit back down on the edge and then they'd sing a song and daddy would lift him and go back down into the water. It was nice.
There were a lot of families waiting for the various swim classes. It felt nice to be around so many expats. I didn't hear any Americans... even though... I felt comfortable and it felt good. And you know something I noticed... British/English women are natural. They weren't all skinney minnies and they weren't all dressed up... just natural... and I like that.
Oh yeah... so many of these little kids had the white, blond hair... like I did when I was young and it made me think about our genes. I would have thought that Hashim's genes would have been more dominant and they are, but when it comes to hair, he got mine. I remember learning all this stuff back in my first year of psych.... but I can't remember anything. That's the bad thing (or was for me at that time) about working full-time w/ overtime and going to school close to full-time. I took too many hours and didn't dedicate myself, like I did when I got older.... and I crammed too much... hence my inability to remember. Makes me want to pull out my books and look it up!
anyhoo... these are my little streams of thought today. :)
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10 comments:
Excellent to join a swimming class. It's so important that kids learn to swim, even early, enough to give them confidence in the water, to float, kick a bit, and then dog-paddle and breast-stroke etc. When our boys were little, we lived beside the sea and they just learnt from their cousins. One time I taught swimming in a phys ed class as many of the Fiji Indian girls(teenagers) could not swim.
I've had a lovely week with my six-year-old grand-daughter with us. She can swim very well which is great.
w.
wendy, i'm glad you've had a good time. six yr olds have so much boundless energy... good to see you're keeping up! i wonder what it'll be like when naief reaches that age. ;)
i agree... i think it's very important for him to learn to swim. i took classes when i was about 5 or 6 and continued on until my teen years... i think having that confidence in and around water is very important.
I think it's fantastic that you're putting Naief into swimming so early. I'm really glad because the older you get the harder it is to learn. (I didn't start until I was 9, and I was hopeless, I can still only doggie paddle!)
I always like to hear when you socialise with other expats, it really seems to perk you up :)
I was just reading about this place Chaoss. What else do they have there? I need to check it out. 3 out of 5 of the kids swim already. Mariam is too young yet 3 1/2 to really take a class but she is in the pool all the time. Sounds great you found a place.
And brits seem to make up most of the expat face around here. Can be good or bad depends :)
nzingha, they have a nursery there, i found out last night, and gymnastics classes, dance, ballet, a little coffee shop out by the pool, and probably more things inside that i didn't see. they do things in terms w/ the next one starting in jan. i really liked the place... and from the ppl i know that take their kids there, they love it. i don't think 3 1/2 is too young. naief is only 1 yr 8 mths, but he's not really learning to swim at this age... just getting used to the water, which is my main concern at the moment. :) if you ever want someone to do play dates w/, just let me know. have you tried buzzi beez? it's also in sa'ar and more free play. naief loves it there as well.
nzingha, oh yeah, some brits have been rude to me, but, for the most part, i have found them to be very friendly. i hardly meet any americans... but we could get together!
olivia, i'm so tickled that we got him in this class... he really enjoyed it, and tomorrow is our first day for just him and mommy... i'm really looking forward to it, then he'll go again on sat. and do it w/ hashim.
i met another woman the other morn at breakfast. she has a little 1 yr old named william and is expecting another. so very nice, and we've actually talked re: getting together. i need some friends that have children.... :) especially when they're around naief's age.
This place sounds awesome on so many levels. The social side being way up on the list. I love that you're meeting such a cool array of people, that must be fun. It sounds good for your whole family.
The remembering thing? I suffer from that terrrribly. I think there are whole years of my life that I didn't get to pay attention to and they're gone. I detest that. Some of those years were when my kids were small and I struggle to remember. Stress, I think does that sometimes.
i agree... i think it's stress, and freeing my brain (or at least i tell myself this) to remember all the things for naief, putting all else on hold or doing away w/ it entirely...
i just hope, at some point, that it'll slow down and i'll be able to remember the simple things.
i met another american the other day in the book store. she's married to a bahraini. that's the first american i've met in a long while.
There are a few blogs that I've started reading in the last couple of years that I wish I had time to go back in the archives and read from the beginning. Your's is one. I wonder if you've ever done a post about the differences between Americans and Bahrainis (Is that what you call the people there?)... I think that would make interesting reading.
i don't think i've ever done a blog on the differences.. i'll think about it because there are many in some families.
i used to complain a lot about things.. but have tried to get away from all that negativity as of late... doesn't do my mind or body any good, altho, sometimes i think it's very freeing to write about it and get it out, when i am bothered by things.
i used to have an archive on this blog, but took it off because i didn't want info easily accessed... not really knowing who might be reading it. if you know what i mean.
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