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The Diary Of A Mad Mum Of Three: To Send The Kids to Boarding School Or Not?

Family LifePost Category - Family LifeFamily Life
ParentingPost Category - ParentingParenting - Post Category - Older KidsOlder Kids

One mama toys with the idea of sending her munchkins off to boarding school…

It’s that time of the year again, when schools are slapping us with their “justified increase of fees”. As a mama to twin girls (8) and a younger one (6.7), I’m really contemplating boarding school. Or letting them work to pay their way. (I say this with a chuckle, not really considering it. Calm down readers, it’s a joke. Or is it? Hmmm).

These days, there are so many schools to choose from that you are spoilt for choice. Do we want to go American? British? French? Scientific? Lord knows? As an Emirati I find it even more challenging: do I want to go Arabic? Bilingual? Government? Private? Army? Okay, the last one might be far fetched. But I do swear it makes me feel overwhelmed and seriously doubt my brilliance as a parent. Gone are the days of super confident high powered working mom. Yes I work, I own a company to be exact. I teach other peoples young adults to make constructive choices and how to succeed in their lives. And I’m good at it. So why am I failing so miserably when it comes to my own kids and their schooling?

The England boarding school association has arrived in Dubai, and I was really considering going there to check it out. I was then faced by two friends of mine with conflicting opinions. One having been sent to boarding school when she was young was so pro, whilst the other went through a tirade of making me feel like I was abandoning my children in some boot camp and that it would be detrimental to their wellbeing. To be honest I hadn’t thought either way really, but now I’m really considering it. Yes, its strange when I’m living in my own country and yet I want my children to study in boarding schools across Europe, but I really am starting to like that idea. Some of the best boarding schools in Europe are still cheaper than primary schools here.

I tried running that idea by my children whose emotional answers were right on par with their personalities. Alia, being the sensitive twin, started balling her eyes out and went on to say how I didn’t love her anymore and that I was shipping her out. Rather dramatic, I think. Iman, who has adopted the middle child persona even though she’s the other twin, said in such polite form that if I thought it was a good idea she would go with it. Sara, my youngest, and in absolute true to character, shrugged her shoulders and said she didn’t care.

So there you have it, as the week comes to an end, I’m no closer to a decision on schooling as I am to finding out what to make for dinner. But like all things in life, I’m sure it will work out. Eventually.

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