Imagine a day when you can maintain some sense of sanity in the car during the school run, where the radio station you tune into not only updates you on traffic around Dubai’s schools but also plays songs that your littles will love to listen to. When – on the way to the hypermarket for your mammoth weekly shop – your tiny tot is lulled to sleep by lullabies and nursery rhymes at nap time and at weekends the whole family can bop along to songs from classics including Mary Poppins and Sound of Music. Oh and where you can tune in for some seriously handy parenting tips from a whole heap of guest experts. Well mamas, that day is today – or actually it was 3 weeks ago when the UAE’s first radio station devoted to children and their parents launched right here in Dubai. Yes, Pearl FM (102FM) has now officially been on air since October 1st and we are well and truly hooked.
The brainchild of two very sassy papas, Jeff Price and Nick Watson, Pearl is part of the Children’s Media Network, a media management company dedicated to creating multimedia platforms related to and speaking to children (watch this space for a TV venture and much much more – there are exciting plans afoot mamas!).
Broadcasting every day from the Al Jalila Children’s Cultural Centre (opening later this year), Pearl gets us going from 6am every morning with a ‘wake up and get ready for school’ programme (hugely helpful with getting the gang motivated) and fills our cars with a mix of children’s classics, contemporary hits and cute voices from the ‘school of the week’ which joins them on air. Apart from being so much fun to listen to as a family (mama loves singing along to her childhood favourites) Pearl is a hugely valuable resource for parents, keeping us informed and connected with what’s going on in the parenting world – from tips on schools to expert advice and everything in between during the daily ‘Jeff & Friends’ slot from 10am – 1pm (pssst…Sassy Mama Dubai joins Jeff every Sunday morning at 10am mamas – sooo exciting! Tune in to listen to our picks for the week ahead plus candid chats about what being a mama is all about).
Jeff, Nick and their team have come up with a perfect combo of music and chat that speaks to mamas, kiddies and dads alike – creating a sense of community plus ensuring that whatever is broadcast is suitable for little ears (every song and artist is carefully chosen to make sure that airtime isn’t given to those who represent the kind of stuff we don’t want our kids being exposed to – let’s just say we don’t think the Biebs will be featuring any time soon.) We love the ‘routine’ based programming, supporting everything from getting the littles out of bed in the morning to home time hits and homework tips and then story time from 6pm – 7pm geared for 7 year olds plus.
Pearl FM really does have something for everyone. From teenies to teens, mamas to dads – whether you’re out and about with a car full of kids or at home with a newborn – you’ll not find a more inspiring radio station. And mamas, at the end of the day when the kiddos are in bed, tune in for chill out tunes to bliss out to – perfect. Thank you Pearl!
www.pearlfm.ae
www.facebook.com/PearlFMUAE (check out their facebook page for updates on what’s coming up on each show plus lots of funny stuff!)