With the announcement of Phase 3, the school changed the original plans of having the P1 kids in school with their parents for one hour in different slots, to having them in school the whole day with the parents in for a shorter duration. And since the other kids would start school one day later, I managed to focus totally on Yang on his first day of school :)
Monday, 4 Jan
I don't recall waking early to prepare Kai on his first day, maybe coz then-helper was less blur and logistics were easier with Kai in his own room.
The night before, Yang slept alone - for a short while... I moved Yu to Kai's room so that these two didn't get disturbed so early in the morning. I gave Yang the old dino night light which we never really used. But when I came out after settling Kai and Yu, I found Sito sitting on Yang's bed. Yang had climbed into our bed after I left his room! And he crawled into our bed again before 2 am. We let him be.
I decided to wake 5 min earlier than usual, to get his mask and shoes ready. I had moved his uniform out of Kai's cabinet so we didn't need to disturb them but I had forgotten about the mask until it was too late. So I had to take it from the laundry rack - thankfully, the masks were dry by the morning. A prepared the shoes so I just had to check that the socks were of the right size.
Also watched Yang sleep for a while before waking him :)
But this boy was harder to wake!! When he got to the dining table, he lamented that he didn't have enough sleep! Poor boy!
Yang seemed fatter than Kai on the first day of P1 - think Kai tightened both buttons of his pants while Yang tightened only one button :p Same pair of pants, heh! But the shirts are new coz name tags :p Also taught him to put on his wallet hook and wear his socks. Oops, a bit last minute!!
All ready for P1!
With his school bag
Must have action!
He chose to sit all the way behind
Kai and I had been taking the 6.25 am-ish bus but today, we took the 6.40 am-ish bus coz Yang eats more slowly... We managed to alight at 6.59 am but lightly coz few kids were on the road that day. I had to manage Kai's expectations for his first day - we might not get to school as early as before.
As it was still early and we had to pass through the canteen, we checked out the stalls and also the seats - due to COVID-19, the kids had assigned seats - so that we could more easily find each other later. At that point, I didn't know that I would get to sit with him...
This year, due to PDPA and social distancing, the school didn't allow photos at the classroom in case photos show congregation of people! So I didn't have many photos to show... But he was seated second column from the window so I saw him and his name and serial number 24 on his desk very clearly, and even from upstairs during a break from the briefing to parents, conducted via the PA system! He even waved at me when he saw me upstairs :) I left him to flip read his Captain Underpants.
Coz all the P4 buddies were not in school, parents got to be buddies, yeah! I brought Yang to the canteen, found his table, and started queueing at the burrito stall. He heard too much about it from Kai, haha! But turned out, he didn't like it coz it was slightly spicy. I was hungry so I finished it for him :p He complained that he had wanted to queue for chicken rice but I stopped him - yup, coz we were queuing halfway and the chicken rice stall had a long queue already!
Later at home, he told Kai it had vegetables. Kai told him that he could ask for no vegetables. But I confirmed with Yang that it was the spiciness that did it. So no more burrito!
While queueing for burrito
He ordered, bought, and carried his burrito and milo all by himself :)
I guided him with words to pay with cash but didn't extend a hand coz he would need to do this himself from the next day. The drink stall uncle was also very patient, asking him how much change he expected for his milo. He didn't know at all!! Ok, more to teach...
Trying to see what's inside before taking a bite
There were two other boys at the table. We didn't really strike up a conversation. The other mother and I spoke briefly but she was quite quiet. The father turned his chair away from us and didn't even wipe down the table when he left - never listened to the teachers *.*
We took a quick look outside the canteen and I encouraged him to eat more quickly so that he could go run about a bit with his friends next time. Also bumped into an old schoolmate WY - so qiao!
I'm very glad to report that Yang peed on the way back to his classroom! I still remember that Kai did not pee the whole time in school on his first day *.*
For the next segment, I only briefly listened as I took a Zoom call with my headphones - luckily no need for much contributions from me! I just read the P1 entry for Kai and there was plenty of interruptions from work too, sian.
But I got out of the call once the form teachers started. I'm more interested in the class-specific info than generic P1 info. Like what to keep in school and what to bring to and fro every day...
On my way out, I noticed a sign for a sheltered area for waiting on rainy days. I took a video to show A but turned out she already knew. Think the security sent parents and helpers in before... With that, I had to kill two hours...
Had wanted prata and coffee at Balmoral but the shop was gone! Settled for fish and chips which looked promising. Unfortunately, it only looked good. Pretty tasteless until I doused it with copious amount of vinegar.
Poster looks better than my photo...
Of course I couldn't eat for two hours! I actually took a nap after that haha! But it was too boring. My phone was almost dead so I couldn't read. I just took a slow walk back to the school. And lucky for me, the kids came out earlier than the expected 1.40 pm.
Yang and I checked out the entrance from the bridge before crossing it to get to the bus stop. Missed out bus by an inch. By the time we got back, he went from not hungry to hungry. Packed some pontian noodles for him and went home.
I managed to show him how to pack his schoolbag, get him to put his savings today into his piggy bank, and top up $3 in his wallet before I concussed on the sofa where Kai and Yang were playing/watching Zelda. So tired for me!! Think the kiddy chair was rather uncomfortable for me...
Tuesday, 5 Jan
Two boys to school today!
With Kai starting school as well, Yang moved into Kai's room to sleep, along with his big duvet! Yu took Yang's bed and the dino night light. Amazingly, all slept through the night, woohoo!
But Yang ate super slowly. It was 6.30 am when he went to brush teeth *.* So we ended up on an even later bus at 6.45 am. The traffic was bad and the bus kept getting cut by cars. I was trying hard not to let my anxiety show... We alighted at 7.26 am - they must reach their classroom before 7.30 am or they would be late!
Just now, Kai told me that he heard a boy say it was 7.29 am and he ran to his class with the boys around him, hoho! I guess they were not late after all... But need to do better tmr!
Still calm while waiting for the bus
While waiting for the bus, I asked Yang if he knew how to get to his classroom. "Of course! It's right next to the toilet!" Kai also knew where his classroom would be coz his teacher told him before the end of term. Yeah!
Still normal at this point...
Big hug!
The bus was quiet everywhere else *.*
Oh, Kai has started wearing shoelaces!
I was still trying to finish up work when they came back. I heard them before they even got to the door ^.^ Tried to separate them for their shower but gosh, they wanted to shower together - just meant a lot of water wasted and a lot of water on the floor!
Then some argument must ensue. I let them be while I finished up work. But I still couldn't finish before Kai had to start his online Chinese class!! He also hadn't finished his lunch *.* Anyway, it was a squeeze at my desk for 5 min while I finished up so that he could take over the seat to be near the charger. But the iPad died anyway and I had to bear with more whining coz no touch screen on the laptop...
Yang was pretty excited over Kai's lesson. I kept having to pull him away. Learnt that he bought a pizza roll all by himself while his buddy followed him - I'm so proud, whatever a pizza roll might be, haha! He still couldn't tell me what happened in class though *.*
Had them pack their school bags with me after the online class. Quite a lot to bring tmr :( Also a lot of confusion over Kai's list - think the teachers were training them and made them write the list in a notebook. Kai missed out one item. For two of his items, he didn't know what they were *.* Thank goodness for parents' chat group!
Had to go downstairs to settle a repeat water issue - more on that separately, sighs. So let them have Nintendo. Then cannot stop already *.* I went to dig for a container for coins - need a lot for their pocket money now that they need $3 to get food + drink. But Kai didn't get a drink today and saved $1 :) Yang still happily guzzled milo so he saved $0.40.
I told them that they must remember to put their savings into their piggy bank or I would just top up to $3 instead of giving them additional $3, wahahaha! Evil Mama :p
Finally...
And no less momentous was Yu starting K1 yesterday. He took over Yang's trolley bag happily :) When I fetched him yesterday, he told me kind of proudly that he didn't take the stroller in the morning. Then I remembered that I told A that he could walk to school once Yang went to primary school. It was such a nice and easy walk home with one boy to handle! I let him play at the kiddy ride but 10 seconds in, he needed to pee so we went home. Guai guai all the way :)
My big K1 boy!
But today not guai at all, not guai!!! Today, Mama was very upset with the boys at dinner time.. I need new strategy for dinner, sighs...
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