Me and my preschool babies
(That was taken the day we returned to school after Taiwan. Luckily I didn't wait for the last day 31 Dec coz there was a meltdown!)
Wednesday, 2 Jan
Kai, all ready to go
During the New Year break, Kai said a few times that he was scared of going to school coz he was afraid of homework, he thought he might be lousy; he doesn't really get that he has to work hard!
But the night before, he asked me to set the alarm. He even went to bed early on his own, covering his eyes while his brothers played with the light on. And at 2.45 am, I heard a cough in the living - with the two younger in my bed, I knew who gave that cough. He said he wanted to wake up already coz he wanted to be in time - silly boy! :)
N woke him at 5.10 am. Goodness knows why when I said 5.30 am before! Anyway, Kai came to find me before 5.30 am, breakfast taken and all dressed up. I had to shoo him away while I got ready.
We were supposed to be 5 min early but we got there with barely 2 min to spare coz I forgot to get him to wear shoes while I downed my vitamins!
Waiting for the school bus
I sent him up the school bus - he was the first! - and watched him buckle up and greet the driver in that order (haha!) before I left to take public bus to school. My ride was under 30 min but his was 50 min! Some kids had already arrived at 6.30 am though I was pretty sure mine hadn't. I waited at the transport centre until 脖子都长了 coz so many buses started arriving and discharging kids of various sizes!
The bus bay before peak period
Take a selfie while waiting :p
Had nothing to wear except for office clothes coz the long weekend exhausted my other clothes...
Brought a backpack for solidarity with my baby!
I finally spotted him! I walked over just as the driver was asking the other boys in the bus to send him up, so the boys walked off. Kai said they didn't speak with him. Oh well, they were much older.
Sent Kai to his classroom - 1E
Then I went for breakfast at the canteen and checked out the prices - $2 would suffice except for some angmoh food stuff, and the form teacher affirmed that in class. I also realised that he wouldn't recognise much of the food on sale coz he doesn't eat them - mixed rice, Japanese don, wantan noodles, fishball noodles. He'll only know pizza!! *.*
Then I regretted sending him to class so early! After the disgusting coffee, I went back to look at him. A boy just got seated next to him and I saw Kai pointing to the boy's watch. Oh ya, we gave Kai a Casio watch as his graduation gift, just nice for primary school :)
At 7.30 am, the teachers and aides lined the kids up in twos, holding hands, to go for assembly. So weird to see them hold hands - I haven't seen in current child care but in previous one, they put hands on the shoulders of the kid in front.
我儿子的背影
The first briefing was on admin and Character and Citizenship Education (CCE). Then we were released to the canteen which had part of the primary area barricaded against the parents. Another long bout of waiting... No sight of Kai even after I checked out the long queue at the bookshop. His class was among the last to come out.
A parent asked me if I had joined the whatsapp group. Apparently it was up for months! I went in as #19 of 30. Another parent next to me was anxiously calling out to her son - have you eaten? Where is your buddy? And still no sign of Kai!
I finally spotted the boy - at a 1D table!! He had finished his bun by then, He said he had no idea who his buddy was! Gosh... He told me there was no learning, no writing :p Then he mumbled something about where the food was and dashed off to buy food! I followed him to the stalls. He was queueing at the drinks stall for Milo. I left him to get his last textbook which was out of stock earlier. Lucky for me, the bookshop queue was gone and I could get back to Kai very quickly.
And I found that he didn't buy anything! When I met him at the end of the school day, he told me he was afraid he didn't have enough money or he wanted to save the dollar. I gave him $4 *.*
I told him to go tell a teacher he didn't have a buddy but he refused. So I went to a teacher aide to inform her so she looked out for him. Later, as everyone was preparing to go back to class, another kid's buddy ushered him along with his own buddy - what a good kid!
Poor boy with no buddy
Parents had a second round of subject briefings - PE, English, Maths, Aesthetics, Mother Tongue. Then we were released for lunch at 11 am before going to their class at noon. I wasn't hungry so went around looking at notice boards, and eventually chatted up a mother who was sending her third boy to P1 - lucky me got to download tips! Then it was time for our first Parent-Teacher Meeting (PTM).
Sat at Kai's desk - but later he told he was reassigned 23 =\
Glad to hear that plenty of stuff would be left in school. Glad to hear many blur parents like me. Glad to eventually reach the end of the day! They were really on time - briefing took almost exactly an hour. I waited a little at the transport centre with a whole legion of school buses, expecting the kids to show up only at 1.30 pm but they came earlier. And there was a chorus of "they're coming" from the drivers!
And the shirt was now tucked out...
Happy boy with grouchy face
Checked in with the driver and waited a little before he boarded the bus. While waiting, he complained that he had no outdoor! Oops, forgot to tell him that he wouldn't get outdoor every day like in child care...
I left him at 1.25 pm. Driver said he had 13 kids and would depart at 1.45 pm. I took the bus home, passing by a legion of helpers and parents waiting at the school gates. I was told to expect him at 2.10 pm but he showed up at 2.30 pm, and from the mall entrance! Turned out that he asked the driver to drop him off there! I texted the driver to confirm that he would come to the residence side instead. Silly boy!
I thought of going to buy his house tank top but I was afraid he would be tired and/or hungry so I guess the shopping could wait. We dropped our bags and he peed - he didn't pee the whole time in school!! - before heading out for a late lunch. Turned out that he wasn't tired or hungry!
At one of his fave places, doing silly things
Yes, he ate them after this!
Saw games at the atrium so he had a go at it and won some stickers :)
It was so hard getting him to pack his school bag for the next day! After that and going through some paperwork, I took a call from office before sending him downstairs to cycle as promised - outdoor time :) And then it was time to get his brothers! They were asking for him in the morning coz we left before they woke, awww...
When I got back with Yang and Yu, I found that Kai had finished his dinner and showered - not bad! I was afraid he might be too full for dinner! Phew! He was still very active after that though he was the first to knock out. And that was his first day of formal school!
Thursday, 3 Jan
I woke at 4 am on the second day, no thanks to Yu who just had to have milk AND sleep on me. He eventually fell asleep on the bed in the living room - took it out of Yang's room for parquet work - so we had to work in semi-darkness when it was time for Kai to wake!
Hopped across the road for 7-11 coffee and got back to the transport centre a few minutes before his bus came in - it was almost 10 min earlier than yesterday. I saw the bus drive away and kids walking my way. I picked up my bag and coffee and walked towards them. But no Kai *.* We must have missed each other when I turned my eye to my stuff! Called the driver and he said he saw Kai alight.
I eventually found him in his classroom emptying his bag!! He said someone helped him get there. Seemed like he asked. I couldn't get a straight answer out of this boy. I wanted to bring him to the canteen but he was hesitant until the teacher agreed with me that it was still early and he could go.
He wasn't pleased to be led back to the transport centre. I had wanted to show him how to get to his classroom by himself coz I couldn't be there tomorrow anymore!
Then I got him to the drinks stall so that he could get his beloved Milo on his own, and that he did willingly though he didn't bother about how much it cost - he just handed over the $2 without thinking about change until the uncle passed it to him! I hope he gets his buddy tomorrow. I'm packing buns just in case...
Sent him back to class where he started chatting up the teacher and then the boy next to him. He couldn't stop talking! About what, I had no idea though.. I also started chatting with two sets of parents outside before we were chased away so that the teachers could prep the kids to go for assembly.
I went up to the assembly too. Found Kai there looking bored throughout the announcements and prayers. He sang the anthem though, and just now I learnt that he could say a bit of the pledge.
When the kids were gone, we headed over to the auditorium for a talk on parenting, of which I heard only half coz I was on the phone and text for work. And then the kids came in to join us. First we built a class tree, then we had a picnic in the hall before a mini amazing race.
Sounds good? It was rough!! This boy seemed to be trying to hit all my buttons! First, he refused to pee despite the big cup of Milo in the morning; I had to force him to go. Then, he kept putting his weight on me, standing or sitting, despite me wincing in pain from all 23kg of him. And the things he said were atrocious too.
Before it went downhill
Building the tree - tearing up paper after releasing the air of his balloon multiple times
Leaning on me and whining that he wanted to go out, go to the bus, etc
Finally happy when there was a competition going on
He can be very competitive...
We were supposed to take welfies around the campus but it started pouring and we were running late so we ended the thing. Just as well, I was so tired by then, mentally and physically. Met and chatted with more parents during this segment though. One particular chat after the kids left was about buying and using canes, haha!
The last segment was talk on social emotional skills. Certainly need to do something about that with Kai...
Waited for Kai at the transport centre and sent him up the bus. Today, he got back earlier at 2.15 pm. I learnt that he did not have his little bites and he still wasn't hungry! We had some Pontian noodles coz his misbehaviour had deprived him of his fave udon - he had half a bowl and I had 1.5 :( For tomorrow, I told N to cook something small for his lunch and continue with regular dinner.
We were packing his bag for tomorrow when we found an extra eraser in his pencil case. Seemed like he took it mistakenly. I told him to return to the boy but he couldn't remember who. I told him to pass it to the teacher but he was afraid of being scolded and he cried! Poor boy thought he had stolen the eraser! After a while, he told me it was probably the boy on his left. Can he just put it on his desk before the boy gets there? No - just pass it to him properly, you did not steal it! Gosh...
Kind of anxious about tomorrow when he will be on his own, especially when his ride home would be different coz the driver would be on leave! Kai told me the bus number. I double checked with the driver who gave me a totally different number! Best.... But like the CCE HOD said yesterday, I should let go. He will learn. The incident this morning was proof.
Breathe well, Mama, breathe well...
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