Summer 2011 Days

This is me, doing one of the worst summer activities ever: scraping melted crayon from the van seat.

Shamefully, for the second time.

I would love to lie to you and tell you that this summer was just a delightful 3 months of my life. It wasn't. In fact, it sucked. The month interlude of our trip to Paris, US and Canada was lovely, but the month preceding it and the month after stunk. I mean a big, nasty, pile of poop stunk.

For those of you who think my life of traveling is absolutely glamourous, you would be right; but only partially. Those 2 mid-summer months are excruciatingly difficult and I definitely pay the price for all the fun I have during the other 10 months of my life.

Summers in Doha require the most strategic skills I possess. I cannot be a lazy mom during that time. Every minute, it seems, I am a party planner. It is plain exhausting. I attempt to pull all the stops and run forward with my eyes closed.

You see, the weather in Doha is consistently over 130 degrees in midsummer. No child may exit the home without an adult, nor would he/she want to. The smack of heat is debilitating and sucks every ounce of energy you might have within your body. My kids are locked indoors for most of the day. Do you know how much destruction 4 bored children can make on one 4000 square foot home? A lot. It is amazing. Apocalypse style.

The month of June was bearable. I took the kids out to malls and paid hefty prices for fun. Yes, I did spend over $200 daily for my children's entertainment. Gondolania, for example, is a theme park in the Villagio mall. One ride (approximately 2 minutes in length) is $7. That is for one child. So, for 4 children to be entertained for 1o minutes it can cost approx. $140. But whose counting? Trust me, I didn't after a while. It was almost worth the price at times, and if I could chat up the Nepali operator of the thrill ride, we often got 2 or 3 rides free. For me, Nepal keeps on giving.

August was a lot tricker. Not only was it summer, but it was also Ramadan. Ramadan is a lovely cultural event that typically results in a backward schedule. I would say 70% of the people here (that is, the 70% of the 20% of people that actually stay in Qatar during the summer months) live by a backwards schedule. Because they are fasting, they sleep in the day and play at night. This affects everything that happens in Doha. All stores are closed, no food nor drink can be seen, and the streets are desolate. There were no friends in the neighborhood and no expensive theme parks to play in. A.b.s.o.l.u.t.e.l.y. nothing to do.

It was 3 weeks of constant work on my part to keep my 4 little ones alive, well and happy.

These are things I did:

1. Implemented homeschool - To avoid excessive screen time no child was allowed to watch TV unless he/she read a book, wrote in a journal, taught another child something, did their chores, or played an instrument. Luckily, they were not overly enthusiastic about all the hurdles, which ultimately, caused them to be slow in their productivity. This was brilliant because it meant they usually had a lot less time to play video games or watch TV by the end of the day.

2. Swam - A LOT. It was the only activity that required little effort to our heat exhausted bodies. Every single day we swam until the kids begged me to go home. Btw- swimming is not so fun to do when it is with the same siblings you spend over 9 hours a day with. I almost begged the gardeners to come and play just to mix things up a bit.

3. Designed a creative space - The landing at the top of the stairs was a complete waste of space. It was ugly and made me cringe every time I had to look at it. Instead, I decided to make it a place of creativity and play. I painted, designed, and bought all the necessary items for the room to beacon my kids to write, paint, read or play. It was a creative feat for me because all the items were difficult to find. I spent a lot of time in the industrial area of Doha (during the 3 hours when they were actually open at night) , drawing ideas and making strange requests. Those poor men aren't used to thinking outside the box, let alone from a woman.

4. Made their rooms more exciting - Because we move so much I find that I get complacent with mess, disorganization and plain ugly. I love to design and after a while, it really starts to bug me. I would love to have a home that I could design on my own, but for every move, I find that I have to start from scratch again and it becomes frustrating and difficult. I typically give up. Since it looks like we will be spending some time in Qatar, I decided to make my kids' room for them. It should be a place that is personal and interesting. I started, but have a lot more to do.

5. Went to the gym - Since I was a teenager I have always maintained a workout schedule, but I have never needed it more than I did during this summer. I love the fact that I have a gym in my backyard, in my compound. Axel has started working out with me every morning and even my older two kids join along. Nothing makes me more happy than to see my kids run on a treadmill during the summer. Every minute that passes is an ounce of energy they are losing. Trust me, it matters when there is no where to go and nothing to do. I was looking for a human hamster ball, but the treadmill worked just fine.

Axel is looking pretty buff these days. I am proud of his turnaround. He keeps talking about taking 'gym shots' of us. I have been focusing on my abs and I've gotta say I can see some definition. Now that I am private, I may just consider slapping on some photos for my own amusement.

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The summer days have passed and I have gone through the experience with my head still on (barely). There were definitely lessons learned: 1. We must find a home before the summer heat creeps upon us again. 2. Close trips are a must to remain sane. 3. Families can experience both extremes--incredible bonding and remarkable fighting--when put in the same home for hours upon hours. 4. The extremely fun and adventurous 10 months here are worth the summer pains.