Tuesday commences our three consecutive days of relative insanity, since we both go to work full time. We are so grateful that Nicole is able to work part-time this year. Not only does her schedule allow her to spend more time with Aliyah, but the four-day weekend also affords her the opportunity to alleviate our weekly to-do lists in order to ensure that our weekends remain relaxing. Tuesday reminds us of how especially thankful we are for Nicole's part-time job because it serves as a constant reminder, every single week, that life is more stressful when we both work. We go from one thing to the next all day long. No breaks.
On Tuesdays, our regular morning routine is compounded by the need to get Aliyah ready for her day in the creche. We practice a sort of tag-team game in order to balance the responsibility of Aliyah with getting ourselves ready to work. We habitually talk through our checklist of things that need to make it to the car before we can leave: Aliyah's lunch, snacks, diaper bag, Dave's soccer stuff, etc.. It seems as though we are always racing out the door after breakfast. We carpool to work, always picking up our friend Dusty on the way. Dave and Dusty talk about soccer in the front seat while Nicole and Aliyah play in the back seat. We live just ten minutes away from GWA.
Aliyah loves the crèche. There are three
Moroccan nannies that work there, loving on 5-10 staff babies every day. The
cost is just 110dirhams ($11) per day. Aliyah’s primary caretaker is Chabia. She is amazing. Aliyah literally jumps into
her arms the moment we step into the crèche, and then immediately turns to
wave, “b'ama” (her version of “b’slama” – Arabic for “goodbye”). Clearly, Aliyah has no separation anxiety
issues.
Aliyah
is the only girl who regularly stays at the crèche. Consequently, she is
already evolving into a little “tomboy” by imitating the behaviors of the boys
she plays with each week: She loves to throw/catch balls, and she loves cars (she makes an impressive
“vroom” sound, too) Additionally, Aliyah is considered to be the “crèche
princess”. The nannies spoil her rotten, always giving into Aliyah’s
inclination to mooch off their food - particularly if she sees that they have
bread. Aliyah has learned that she can communicate her desires effectively by
combining her ability to verbalize “that” with her adaptation of the hand sign
for “more”. And she does this incessantly. The crèche nannies, always
inclined to give Aliyah all the attention in the world, also make sure to
educate her on some of the most important things… such as butt dancing to
Moroccan music and imitating the Moroccan wedding ululation (a high-pitched tongue trill).
 |
| Chaibia :) |
After dropping Aliyah off at the crèche, Dave heads next door to the Finance office while Nicole walks down the hill toward her own work responsibilities. Nicole works as the part-time kindergarten P.E. teacher, so her “office” is the lower school gymnastics room. She teaches P.E. to all of the kindergarten and pre-kindergarten classes (3-5 year olds). At the start of the year, the elementary P.E. teacher blessed Nicole with a brand-new Kindergarten P.E. curriculum, which included detailed and easy-to-follow lesson plans for every day of the entire school year. This blessing has made Nicole’s job completely stress-free. No lesson planning, no parent-teacher conferences, and no grading papers! The job has also proven to be a lot of fun and Nicole really enjoys it. What’s not fun about seeking to augment a child’s physical abilities through engaging games/activities? Nicole intends to continue in the same position next year.
At 3:30
P.M. Nicole’s workday ends… but not Daves.
Dave’s workday does not end until 4:30. This little detail makes carpooling to
and from work rather problematic. Often, Nicole will pick up Aliyah and hang
out on-campus for an hour until Dave finishes work. Right now, however, the Varsity soccer season is in full swing, and practices take place every Tuesday and Thursday. For the 5th consecutive
year, Dave is co-coaching the team alongside his best friend Dusty. They are
preparing their players for the April tournament, in hopes of sustaining their 1st place winning streak. Since soccer practice runs until around 5:30 P.M., Nicole picks up Aliyah from the creche so that she can head home immediately after she finishes work at 3:30 P.M.. This means that Dave is left, unfortunately, to scramble for his own ride home (One time, he had to ride home with a student). We manage.
As happy as Aliyah is to arrive at the creche, it is comforting to know that she is just as happy to leave at the end of the day. She often claps her hands in excitement; and then she speedily crawls over and beckons us out the door by yelling, "b'ama". Nicole frequently stops by the finance office to say goodbye to "dadda" and the finance team before leaving GWA. Brahim and Hassan, two of Dave's co-workers, love the opportunity to entertain Aliyah with peek-a-boo games or a game of basketball. They usually get home around 4:00 P.M..
In the time frame that Nicole is at home waiting for Dave to get home, she juggles the tasks of feeding, bathing, and entertaining Aliyah. On the days that we both work, cooking our own supper is not a priority. With the little time we have left in the day before Aliyah's bedtime, we feel that our time is better spent hanging out with our daughter as opposed to standing in front of the kitchen stove. So on Tuesdays (and Wednesdays/Thursdays) we tend to eat our own supper after Aliyah goes to bed; and we eat small meals that can be thrown together quickly. To ensure that we are still eating well each day, we have gotten into the habit of buying cafeteria lunches at work.
School cafeteria food, as everyone knows, has a longstanding reputation of being terrible... But the GWA cafeteria boasts an exception. The GWA cafeteria food is outstanding. The cafeteria prepares breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks to 800+ people daily. Almost everything served is made entirely from scratch (cinnamon buns, cookies, donuts, muffins, pizza dough, cakes, soups, sandwich wraps, taco bowls, etc.). Further, much of their produce is harvested organically within the cafeteria gardens on-campus. The menu is extremely varied each week and consists of things such as Cornish hens, enchiladas, stuffed chicken breasts, and grilled fish. Their best meal is unquestionably their tacos: An edible taco bowl stuffed with rice, spiced hamburger/chicken, fresh guacamole, beans, sour cream, and cheese. Served with an additional side (garden salad or homemade soup), dessert, water, and fruit. All of this for 25dirhams ($2.50). Be jealous.
-Dave, Nicole, & Aliyah
As happy as Aliyah is to arrive at the creche, it is comforting to know that she is just as happy to leave at the end of the day. She often claps her hands in excitement; and then she speedily crawls over and beckons us out the door by yelling, "b'ama". Nicole frequently stops by the finance office to say goodbye to "dadda" and the finance team before leaving GWA. Brahim and Hassan, two of Dave's co-workers, love the opportunity to entertain Aliyah with peek-a-boo games or a game of basketball. They usually get home around 4:00 P.M..
In the time frame that Nicole is at home waiting for Dave to get home, she juggles the tasks of feeding, bathing, and entertaining Aliyah. On the days that we both work, cooking our own supper is not a priority. With the little time we have left in the day before Aliyah's bedtime, we feel that our time is better spent hanging out with our daughter as opposed to standing in front of the kitchen stove. So on Tuesdays (and Wednesdays/Thursdays) we tend to eat our own supper after Aliyah goes to bed; and we eat small meals that can be thrown together quickly. To ensure that we are still eating well each day, we have gotten into the habit of buying cafeteria lunches at work.
School cafeteria food, as everyone knows, has a longstanding reputation of being terrible... But the GWA cafeteria boasts an exception. The GWA cafeteria food is outstanding. The cafeteria prepares breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks to 800+ people daily. Almost everything served is made entirely from scratch (cinnamon buns, cookies, donuts, muffins, pizza dough, cakes, soups, sandwich wraps, taco bowls, etc.). Further, much of their produce is harvested organically within the cafeteria gardens on-campus. The menu is extremely varied each week and consists of things such as Cornish hens, enchiladas, stuffed chicken breasts, and grilled fish. Their best meal is unquestionably their tacos: An edible taco bowl stuffed with rice, spiced hamburger/chicken, fresh guacamole, beans, sour cream, and cheese. Served with an additional side (garden salad or homemade soup), dessert, water, and fruit. All of this for 25dirhams ($2.50). Be jealous.
-Dave, Nicole, & Aliyah
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