Two weeks and a day into primary school

I last updated on the second day of school... They were kind of late that day... Two days later on Thursday, they were definitely late! We took the late bus again and this time, it looked so bad I thought we might be less late if we got off and walked instead. 

So we got off after Tanglin CC and walked five bus stops to school. Five! I carried their bags and a brolly for Yang as there was a tiny drizzle. Watched them go into the school at 7.33 am. I had guessed we would still be late but might as well tire them out so that they could - hopefully - learn to be faster in the morning. One could tie his shoelaces instead of whining about the other eating slowly!

After that, I took a bus to Newton to change to a train, and when I alighted, I saw our 960 just behind, approaching Newton. They would have been very late!

On Friday, I thought we were doing ok but Kai decided to walk. Ok, I followed his decision and we alighted after Tanglin CC again. As we were walking towards the turn, our bus went past us. Kai looked stunned!! We took another bus at the next stop :p

Thankfully, we were not late again - so far... I don't recall ever being late for 12 years of school in Singapore! Granted, I needed to take a bus for two of those years :p There was once when I had to run up the NJ slope to assembly though...

Anyway...

Today, I saw a number of buses before us just before we reached the school bus stop. That meant I would have to wait quite a bit for the next bus after sending them in...  So I told Yang I would not leave the bus this time.

"But I want to wave to you..."

Awww.... Yes, this boy has been waving bye bye to me every day except that day when they went in by the transport centre. Think he was too curious about his environment that day.

Some time last week, Kai agreed to go via the transport centre. Then, Yang wanted to go by the bridge so Kai agreed - that was his first time going by the bridge in over two years! But he went out onto the slope instead of underground. I wanted them to learn the bridge way coz it's sheltered all the way from bus stop to the classroom block. The next time, Kai didn't want to go by the bridge so I let him go by the main gate while I brought Yang up the bridge.

This boy was so sweet. He turned back twice to wave and say bye bye Mama :)

This morning, he did that twice after leaving the bus too :)

He's this cute every day when he comes home!

He likes to come to my desk where I'm inevitably still working even though I'm on part-time (tmd!!!) and tells me how much he has saved that day. I'll take the chance to ask him what he had for recess. 

Today, he had wanton noodle soup! :) He tried kaya toast last week and also things I frown upon - chips but he said he bought fruits with chips.... These are apart from his usual pizza and pizza roll (huh what?). In two weeks, he has had more variety than Kai ever had in two years! So proud of him :)

But he isn't too sure about homework. One day last week, he came home to tell me he had homework. Today when I asked him, he said he didn't know *.* Well, he had homework *.*

He showed me how he packed his bag in school last week

He is also not too familiar with his uniform. The buttons and the zip are still a little difficult for him. He could clip his wallet to his pants maybe half the time. I can't remember about Kai now - maybe ex-helper helped him but I think he did it all by himself. Two weeks into wearing shoelaces, he can do it pretty well now. I only had to wash his shoelaces once after the first week coz he was stepping all over the ends on rainy days!

Let Yang practise buttoning

Yang also had some difficulty getting up in the morning in the past two weeks. I set their alarm for 6 am and got helper to make sure they get back. This year, I set my alarm for 5.55 am (sobs) so that I have a bit of time to check on two kids - are they up? Are they eating? Are they fighting? Are they getting dressed? Did they zip their pants?

And I'm glad I did that coz of two incidents last week: (1) I stepped out after brushing my teeth to find only Kai having breakfast - Yang was still in bed and my helper was not waking him up! (2) Kai's shirt was put with Yang's pants and vice versa. Nowadays WFH so I get ready very quickly and can check on them frequently. I worry on days when I have to go to office - I need more time to get ready! :(

It's still a bit early, with them arguing over seats at the bus stop and on the bus, but I hope that one day soon, Kai and Yang could take the bus to school on their own after I send them to the bus stop. Then I can go settle Yu and no need helper anymore!