As the desert temperatures creep relentlessly towards the sky, as mums on the afternoon leg of school runs accept that ‘sweating’ is now an unpalatable part of Dubai life, as heat absorbing black becomes the only reliable colour that doesn’t show just how much one sweats, as the countdown to departing the desert dunes for the cooler climes of home filters into every conversation, there are certain things that I have come to appreciate during my time in the sandpit:

– Power steering…..how else could I drive a 4 x 4 tank using just 4 fingertips?? 50 degrees celsius outside – 90 degrees celsius inside the car!
– Shade – of any kind….for the kids and I as we dart from AC to the car. For the car itself!
– Towels – now I know why people put towels on their car seats….try sitting on a leather car seat of a car that has been sitting in the sun for more than 30 mins!! Not even Shaolin monks would be able to block out thatpain!
– A chilled swimming pool within 2 minutes walking distance of our house – the perfect antidote for ‘bouncing off the summer walls’ kids.
– Petrol pump attendants – If I had to do it myself, I would be a puddle on the ground next to my car!
– The wide and varied choice of salons. Having a perfect pedi is a small but appreciated contribution to style in temperatures that make hair frizz, faces red, joints swell and every pore drip with sweat.
– Drive thru McDonalds – a staple of my kids’ summer diet is a one dirham ice cream from Micky Ds. Thankfully there is a drive thru not far from the school. With my boys stripped down to their boxers in the back of the car, the precious ice cream cools the most heated tempers of three overtired, overheating kiddos on the ride home!
– Keratin – Humidity is so unkind to most of us; in fact all of us. However, humidity is particularly brutal to those of us with curly, wavy, non-poker straight hair. Frizz bomb, poodle…call it what you like but no amount of gel or frizz eeze can match the results keratin treatments offer to make hair manageable and non harassed looking!
– Gardeners – even with artificial grass gracing the back yard, there are still borders which need raking and watering. Left to my own devices, it would resemble an overgrown jungle because for the next 3 months I would, as previously indicated, resemble a useless, frizzy puddle of sweat pooled in my fancy artificial grass.

Shukran Dubai for helping me survive the desert summer!