17th Jan, Thursday, 10pm
School had started for close to 3 weeks already. The new routine and lifestyle had more or less settled in, but of course it hasn't been exactly smooth sailing, which is kind of expected too. Time to jot down a few lines, on the interesting journey into P1-hood for the whole family.
1) Who's more anxious?
Who's more anxious and excited, the kid or the parents? My vote - the parents, ha! I may be wrong, cos while I know what my own feelings are, I can't know what my "baby" is feeling.
I started feeling anxious only the night before. I had done all the preparations needed in the month of Dec. So it was only when I placed the school bag and shoes (socks) near the door, hung the uniform outside the wardrobe, and chased Lynn to bed at 9pm, that it hit me - P1 had started at that moment!
It had been a long time since I set the alarm clock (I just wake up on my own, even on weekdays). That night, I set the alarm, and then I set a 2nd one (my iPhone), just in case.
2) Morning rush hour
Not referring to the traffic when school reopens; it's the frantic 6am to 7am in our home. I must confess, that I myself is a very "tu" person in the morning. In the past, I usually wake up at 630, and gets out of the house only at 8 or after 8, meaning I need 1.5 hours at least to get ready.
So I planned, over and over in my head, the exact sequence of activity, and the allocated timing for each activity, that I need to complete in that hour.
I straight away realised on day 1 itself, that it was extremely stressful for me. Cutting the time by 33% is quite a feat!
I will write more about this later.
3) FB - pic of our little diamonds
You all know why I call the kids "diamonds" (*wink* Winny**). We left home on 2nd Jan at 7pm sharp. I took a few pics of her in her school uniform, of her going up the stairs of the school hall, and posted on FB. As expected, there were many postings of the same nature, by Lili (of Cedric) and Vicky (of Renee). It is not the pics that I want to talk about. It is the wonder of internet social media, which allows happiness, excited-ness, and basically any kind of emotions to be shared instantly with friends who are physically so far away. It's really heart-warming, to see pics of innocent 6 years olds, in their school uniform, going to school in the wee hours in the morning. It's like a support group going on, when we read each other's captions of our first experience.
Day 1 (2 Jan 2013)
Stairs leading to the hall. Lynn's the one on the left, at the middle section of the stairs
Day 3 (Friday 4Jan) in her PE uniform
4) Walking her to school, rain or shine
All schools, including KC, allow parents into the school compound on the first 3 days of school. It is a good strategy, because it allows the schools to showcase their systems, which gives a peace of mind to parents that their children will be well taken care of.
We walked with Lynn from our block to blk 85, walked the full length of shop houses along blk 85, up the stairs of the school back gate, along the pathway parallel to the field, entered the school building, made a few turns, and reached the foot of the stairways to the hall. Along the way, we observed how Lynn handled her trolley backpack. We took notice of other KC children who were going the same way, wondering if they were P1 or older. We took notice of unsheltered areas. Like I said, we (the parents) were probably as excited than the kids.
From last Monday (7Jan) onwards, we can only send them to the back gate. On last Thursday (10Jan) morning, it rained (drizzled). All the parents were allowed to bring their children into the school building. Again, I'm quite impressed with the systemic way that things were carried out
5) "Reward time" for me, after 715
The whole process of walking her to school only tok less than 15 mins. After parting ways at about 715, I would decide if I go to my workplace immediately, or if I engage in one of the most enjoyable activity - eat a nice and slow breakfast at the coffee shop. Breakfast at coffee shop is a "luxury" for me, cos I usually eat boring, low fat breakfast at home to maintain my weight. Now, sometimes I will go for a cup of Milo Kosong, or if more indulging, a cup of Kopi si Kosong. Mostly I will still eat bread that I've prepared and packed from home. Sometimes, I will "let go" a bit and eat a soon kuey or bao/siew mai. Haha, super weight conscious me taking about luxury of breakfast here!
6) "Bring your kid to school leave" / Recess
When Lili told me that her company grant such a leave on 2nd Jan to employees with children, I wan't
impressed at first. While I was at work on 2nd and 3rd Jan, I saw the pics that she (and some other friends) posted of Cedric having recess. Again schools only allow parents to observe the recess during the first 3 days. I was not worried at all that Lynn can't handle recess (930) or school dismissal (130), so that's why I didn't think that taking annual leave on 2nd Jan to attend both events. After looking at the pics, I realised that it's our only chance to observe and know the process. So I asked WK to attend if he's free on Friday morning (I gave him very short notice, only on Friday morning after walking Lynn to school, so he said he's not free), and then I asked WK's mum to attend. Haha, the concerned daddy turned up nevertheless, and sent me 2 pic of Lynn taking recess. Another hahah... cos when sharp-eyed mummy-me saw the pic, enlarged it, and then sms daddy-him to ask....
No comments:
Post a Comment