Finding it difficult - worried about my son

[happyhour]

Mentioned this before but it is really starting to get to me now. It is a fact that I am a loving, protective mum but it is also a fact that where I live the children are the most horrible, spoilt brats I have come across. My son is only 4 and they are horrible to him. He has always been very popular and always had lots of friends back in England but in my particular tower block in The Greens they just don't want to know him. Some of it goes above his head but some things really upset him and that is hard. To be honest with you even the adults where we live seem so stuck up, unfriendly etc etc

My son is due to start school in January / February and hopefully he will make some good friends but I do find it a worry. If it doesn't work out for him then I have to be honest I would want to go home. He has a fantastic character and it worries me that this move to Dubai may change him in a negative way.

Please can anyone give me some encourgement that there are nice kids out there as I am finding this situation really upsetting.

[Elphaba]

You have been very unlucky and this is nothing to do with either you or your son. There really are lots of very nice people in Dubai and in your area too, just a shame you have the horrid ones in your building.

I suggest you go to The Lakes Club with him. You can have lunch on the terrace by the play area and I am sure he will find some other children to play with whilst you are there.

It will get better. Which school will he be going to?



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[flossie]

Even though noone was actually 'horrible' to my son, he found it very, very hard to make friends when we first got here, mainly because he missed his cousin and friends back home. Even when he first started school, it wasn't until about 6 months later that he asked if a friend could come over. And I will be honest and tell you that I cried in the school corridor when he asked me, the relief was overwhelming. Now, we have been here for 18 months and he has loads of friends. I know how you feel, because I was ready to pull the pin and just go home in the early days, too. But hang in there, it does get better and eventually he will have some lovely friends of all different nationalities and you will see what a mind broadening, interesting opportunity you have given your son.
x

[happyhour]

Originally Posted by Elphaba

You have been very unlucky and this is nothing to do with either you or your son. There really are lots of very nice people in Dubai and in your area too, just a shame you have the horrid ones in your building.

I suggest you go to The Lakes Club with him. You can have lunch on the terrace by the play area and I am sure he will find some other children to play with whilst you are there.

It will get better. Which school will he be going to?



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Thank you so much. It is such a relief to have such a positive email like this one. Yes I will try the Lakes this week.

Hopefully he will be going to Regent school.

Happyhour

[happyhour]

Originally Posted by flossie

Even though noone was actually 'horrible' to my son, he found it very, very hard to make friends when we first got here, mainly because he missed his cousin and friends back home. Even when he first started school, it wasn't until about 6 months later that he asked if a friend could come over. And I will be honest and tell you that I cried in the school corridor when he asked me, the relief was overwhelming. Now, we have been here for 18 months and he has loads of friends. I know how you feel, because I was ready to pull the pin and just go home in the early days, too. But hang in there, it does get better and eventually he will have some lovely friends of all different nationalities and you will see what a mind broadening, interesting opportunity you have given your son.
x

So kind of you to share your experience with me. Can tell you know just what we are going through. I thought when we came to Dubai we would make friends so easily and my son would have friends over to play everyday but it just isn't like that yet. But yes, I have to give it time and be positive for my son. Hopefully I will be giving the same adivce you have in a years time!

Happyhour

[Elphaba]

Originally Posted by happyhour

Thank you so much. It is such a relief to have such a positive email like this one. Yes I will try the Lakes this week.

Hopefully he will be going to Regent school.

Happyhour

Regent is a friendly school. Several of my friends' children are there and are very happy.

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[maryos]

It might also help to console yourself a bit with the thought of the tremendous opportunity that you are giving your son, by being here.

I don’t have children and therefore cannot conceive of the upset you are feeling on behalf of your son. I only know that it would make me feel wretched to think of any of my nieces or nephews going through anything similar – so how it must be to a parent, I just can’t imagine. But children are pretty hardy and it sounds as though you are feeling the upset more than he is. In years to come, I doubt your son will remember the friends he didn’t make – only the ones that he did.

I was lucky enough to have parents who intended from the outset to bring their children up experiencing other cultures: we spent several years living as a family abroad and this has been a tremendous advantage to all of us subsequently. We weren’t always that excited at the time to uproot and leave our friends behind, but this quickly wore off and we made some of our closest and most enduring friendships either during or because of this.