Background and how Mirdif Mums began
Mirdif Mums was founded in October 2002, the aim of the group is to provide an opportunity for the mums in Mirdif and the surrounding areas to meet and make new friends. For those new to the area and to Dubai for that matter, it's helpful to have a ready-made group of friends willing to share their advice and experiences. Also if you're a first time mum with a young baby, meeting others in the same boat can provide valuable support. We'd love to meet you! The group is now 3 yrs old and has grown a lot just like our children! I have had to create an interactive message and resource site so that all of our members can easily and quickly keep in touch and share information.
More and more often women contact me via email with questions about living in Dubai (or specifically Mirdif) as they are in the process of or considering moving here. We exchange emails and finally meet up usually at a coffee morning at one of the group member’s homes so it’s a very relaxed and supportive setting where we extend our welcome.
Originally we met once a month with our babies during coffee mornings. As our children grew we devised a weekly schedule of activities that included meeting up at various playcentres around town as well as playtimes at home, visit to beaches, cinemas (Mums + babes in arms showing at Cinestar early on Tuesday mornings) etc..
We also organise going to breakfasts and dinners in the evenings - women only events usually to give a baby shower or just to relax and be ourselves without the kids whilst enjoying the wonderful international cuisine Dubai offers!
During special times like Ramadan we meet for Iftar and one of our Muslim members volunteers to be host to guide us through the traditions and foods on offer.
We are also arranging a special party at Christmas for the children (our first was homemade and one of the Dads dressed up as Santa Claus and everyone loved it).
We are really looking forward to the completion of the Uptown Mirdif development (and the Festival city for that matter!) so that we can be more of a community.
On a personal level, we moved to Mirdif in late 2000 from a 2-bedroom apartment near Lamcy Plaza. It's part of a row of Government owned villas and was very run down. John's company had been renting it for some 20 years but it hadn't been looked after and took a lot of work just to bring it up to a decent standard.
Opposite us there used to be a makeshift football pitch used by the local teen boys at weekends. This was OK - nice to see them enjoying the space - except for the ones who used the bend in the road right in front of the villa to practice handbrake turns and racing each other. Our driveway didn't stand a chance and remained chewed up until last year when they started to build villas on that plot.
We really enjoy living here for the openess and relative tranquility (except for construction site noise of course!).
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