You suddenly grew taller!

This is a Lynn catch up post.

For a few months in the first half of this year, she grew taller rapidly.  It was so obvious, almost everyone, including myself, made the remark "you grew taller!", one fine day or another.  And I have been watching like a hawk since; very soon, she will be going through puberty.  

In February, we attended TPY CDC Education Merit Award presentation ceremony.  This was the first year this award was given in a presentation ceremony.  In the past, we only receive the certificate in the mailbox.  And as an encouragement to the children for their hard work, there was a monetary award starting from this year too, which was a token sum of $80.



In April and May, we attended 3 secondary schools' open house. Ha! Yes we were quite KS; instead of doing this at P6, we started in P5.  I wanted to know more about these schools, to make informed decision about her P5 and first half of P6 studies.  We visited some of the top girls' schools, which are probably out of league for Lynn.  Nevertheless, we encouraged her to do her best.

It bothers me that all schools nowadays talked about was "leadership".  It used to be "creativity" and "entrepreneurship" that were the in-thing.  Our meritocratic society doesn't know how to appreciate and celebrate individuality and diversity.   Every cloud has a silver lining; every child is unique.  I hope my sweetie will be able to find her place in a nurturing environment during the emotional teenage years.  

At NYGH




The seeds she took back from NYGH grew beautifully.

At RGS




During June holidays, I brought her shopping, to a movie, and for baking class.

Here, we forgot to bring a skirt for change after swim, so I "made" one on the spot for her with my extra set of blouse :)

At the beginning of June, she performed a piece at her music school student recital.  I cajoled her to choose the pop song piece "Faded", which I had earlier bought (scores) for her online upon her request. I am very happy with her progress, as I have reached my aim of equipping her with a solid foundation in the instrument. As to how far she wants to go eventually, I promised her that it will be up to her.





Her Rocker outfit we bought specially for this performance.  The boots are mine!


Ms Qi Ke, our piano teacher.

Finally in July, she watched  the NDP rehearsal as part of P5 curriculum. I call it the highlight of primary school education. Having watched it live only once, I always remember the fantastically impactful atmosphere of that night.  I was glad that Lynn loved it too. She kept saying how hyper she was still feeling at 10pm, when I fetched her at the school canteen. She described the experience as "going deaf repeatedly during the whole performance".  

Her school (the 4 storey high building) at 10pm on a Sat night.


Airplane trail decorating our blueish skies during rehearsal months.  

And now (before start of T3 holiday), it's CA2.  Mugging time..

Antibiotics, Travel and Pets - CNY'17'D1/D2

After a break of 2 years, I went Malacca for CNY this year. Lynn came down with fever on Thursday night. I took her to see the doctor on CNY eve (Friday morning). When the doctor said he will prescribe antibiotics, I started saying my usual line "Err, it is really necessary....", but I changed my mind quickly.  Since we were travelling on the following day (CNY D1), I decided to "play cheat", and started her on antibiotics immediately.  Although antibiotics is supposed to be only for bacteria infection, somehow, it has been proven by trial and error that recovery is faster with antibiotics.   

We risked traffic jam to secure more sleep.  We woke up at 7+, and were out of the house only at 9am.  The jam was tolerable.  As usual we did several stops along the short journey, so we ended up reaching only at 2pm.  It took us a whopping 5 hours to get to Malacca on CNY D1. 

On day 2, we went Kulai to visit WK's grandma.  She shifted to one of WK Uncle's house.  And to our pleasant surprise, they have 2 dogs and a cat!  We had a great time "playing" with the cat.  She's a fierce one, only allows grandma to pat her and scratches anyone else who touches her, including Uncle.  But she played with Lynn, chasing her a bit in the living room. 

The traffic on Day 2 was great, and we ended our Malaysia CNY visiting with 2 boxes of Magnum ice-cream at half price when converted to SGD..  And here are the pictures:
 

 

 Momo, looking longingly at folks at the dinning table and those with food..

 

I look so "aunty" in this photo

 

 

This year we stayed at Novotel for the night instead of Aunty's house. 

 

D2 morning, back at Aunty's house.  What to do when bored?  Take wefies

 

Lynn is well enough to roam the garden.  She managed to catch "butterfly", and took it back to SG.

 

When we reached home, we asked her to release it out.

 

Here's a few photos of the pets at Grandma's house.  This one is a friendly dog.  

 And here's the pretty cat, who lost an eye.  She is actually quite playful and curious, but is quite wary of human.  Next year, we plan to bring a cat tease to play with her!

Just pictures - W hotel Nov 2016

Recap 2016 (III) - Lynn's P4 journey

School has already restarted, and I have not done the P4 final update yet.  Had a really very busy Dec'16.

Lynn's school doesn't do year end meet the parent session (it only do mid-year session); so the year end update is really my own conclusion of the year. 

Lynn has the most successful academic year as far as I am concern.  It is not measured by position, marks or prize she get or didn't get, but is based on efforts-vs-results.  In the first 2 years, she was in randomly formed classes, and she got top 3 positions in both years.  And also best in Maths for the cohort with a few other pupils for getting 100 marks for P2.  When she was streamed into the top 2 classes in P3, I did not give her any pressure to get the top positions.  But of course I was concern, and checked with her consistently how she fair in comparison with her classmates.  I did that discretely and skilfully.  

I put more effort in stressing that efforts bring results.  For both years (P3 and P4) I put in efforts to guide her in correct techniques in learning Chinese and Science.  For Chinese, she begin to like it better than previously.  I believe this change is due to her ability to finally grasp the language.   This is my achievement that I am really proud of.  She did ask if she can not take higher Chinese in P5, which I turned her down.  I believe she not only can manage it, but she will enjoy the challenge and the ultimate reward, in the form of mastering the language and getting decent results.

As for science, I can only bring her a few years of advantage.  The technique is in using key words in explaining the facts.  Eventually, she can use this skills and learn on her own.  Lynn like science; I never did.  I hope her interest will continue.  She has very good P3/P4 teacher, Ms. Chua, who really go the extra mile to encourage her students.  Lynn missed out being best in Science in her cohort.  Ms Chua recognise the efforts that Lynn put in for the subject, so she took Lynn and another boy in her class, both of whom top the class in Science, to buy presents.  This reward trip to Kinokuniya books store was only for prize winners (top 3 in class, and best in cohort for certain subject), which is officially only for 6 students in Lynn's class.  But Ms Chua took 8 students, including Lynn and the other boy.  Lynn is really blessed to have good teachers.

And for Math, Lynn almost got the award this year.  There were quite a handful of pupils in her class that got 100 marks for SA2 paper.  Lynn got 98, and it was a careless mistake that caused her the 2 marks.  I am both happy and disappointed that this happened.  It will be more and more difficult to her to get this award as she progress to P5 and P6.  However, I had also been waiting for this kind of opportunity to illustrate what we always nagged her about - checking for careless mistakes.  No amount of nagging or teaching will be enough to learn this; only an experience will seal the understanding once and for all.  So, this is one item that can be checked off my list. 

Finally, for English, her grades is still in band 1 but below 90, and I know she has done her best.  She has very good English teacher, Ms Kalpana, who had been demanding.  I have not been monitoring much, so I'm not very sure how to help.  Well, let's see how it goes from here.

Time files, she is now on her PSLE journey already.  I hope she has a good academic, character building, and learning journey ahead in P5. 

Ms Chua sent us photos in Whatsapp of a class activity after the exams:

Sweetie made this ice-cream chocolate milk dessert for me one night.

She got 99 for Maths, 94 for Science, 92 for CL2, and 87 for English.  Very good results for P4. 
I wonder what Ms Chua means by "display courage when making difficult decisions".  Based on May's PMT session, I think her last comment " should continue to set high standards for herself and strive for excellence" is a loaded (as oppose to causal) comment. 

Below are pictures of her CL2 essay.  I got compliment from WK that I taught her (CL2) well. Actually, my goals are more complex than that.  Lynn is not competitive by nature, and I believe there is no need to be what you are not.  However, she will be short-changing herself if she gives the bare minimal effort in things she do (that's what Ms Chua and Ms Kalpana are harping on!).  Thus, what I want to achieve is the delicate balance of setting high, stretched, but achievable standard.  To teach her that she bear the results of actions(/inactions) and choices. And very importantly to cultivate the liking for learning.  Wish me success!

小感动

3 to 4 years back, I was the excited new P1 mum, posting quite a bit on both FB and blog about the preparation and the first weeks' experience.  This year, it was suppose to be a non-event.  We bought text books early, which was last Nov when the holiday started, so for more than a month, there was not a glimpse of school reopening.

Finally on Saturday, I asked Lynn to pack her school bag, which she did on her own.  I only commented that it was heavy and asked if she can lighten it.  Yesterday night, I asked her to do the final preparation, and she got ready the uniform, including the prefect pin, again by herself.

Then came the "shocker"; she said that she need to reach school by 645 this morning (we usually leave home about 7 am).  She lamented about having to guide "crying" P1 new students.

That's when it hit me that she's going to P5!  The memories of her attending P1 came back, that her school task the P5 students to buddy P1 new students.   Wow, my baby's in P5 liao...

 

642am.  My happy gal deep in thoughts about the day ahead (I guess..)

Double digit, Single candle

Sweetie is turning 10 today.  I have been teasing her about being "double digit" in the past 2 days, which she retorted "not yet".  10 years back, at 10+ am (now that I'm updating this blog), I am goggy with all the anesthesia drug.  It was an emergency caesarean section that was decided close to lunch time.  I told her technically speaking, she cannot deny anymore after 2pm today :).

Sweetie has been my biggest joy for the past 10 years.  I count my blessings everyday.  She will not stick to me forever. 

[29 Oct] Got molested by grandma:

 

 

Told her already; not my fault - when she grows up, she will find that all her childhood photos are of quirky expressions.  [Pokémon hunting ~ 30 Oct]

 

She was super happy that she caught a "Ninetales" earlier on, before this shot was taken. 

 

 

The 3 Oct/Nov kids (Brayden and Mabel) gathered again, this time round at Qiu Yun's house.   

 

Here's Mabel's and Lynnette's extremely "Picasso" standard creation from Icing Room.   Winny and Qiu Yun didn't know that I mostly fainted at Icing Room....

History in the making 2016

I have taken an interest in the US presidential election because, frankly, it's very entertaining.   The US is a very interesting country.  I dare to say that the rest of the world watch in wonder and amusement, even with some disgust, that such a maverick character can become a serious contender to becoming one of the most powerful person in world politics. 

Recently, the talking points turn to DT's past sexual assaults on women.  As I lapped up one article after another, I became very interested in this topic.

I used to think that most countries and most men are respectful of women.  I thought that sexual assault only happen to some unfortunate women, who had the bad luck of having known/met some horribly sickening men.  Then, I also believe in the justice system, that each and every sexual assault case can be brought to justice in court. 

But as I read more on this topic, I began to realise that gender inequality is still extremely prevalent.  Even in our century, even in one of the most democratic and advance country in the world.  It began to dwell upon me that most women, even myself, tolerate men's behaviour day in and day out.  For example, my boss will pass comment about women leadership skills, and I will just brush it aside.  There's a very simple explanation for that(my) reaction; it's probably ingrained in me, and I will venture to say, in a lot of women, to avoid conflict. We also suffer from lower self esteem and confidence, and will always attribute some blame to ourselves.  By keeping quiet, I indirectly perpetuate this kind of  thinking and behaviour in him.

I wonder how I can teach my peace loving, good natured 老 baby (ha!, she's turning 10 in a few days' time!) the important value of  gender equality and standing up for female rights.   I also hope that my sister and sister in laws will do the right thing in educating their daughters and sons. 

My new 偶像 is Michelle Obama. 
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/13/politics/michelle-obama-donald-trump-election-2016/index.html

And I kept wanting to have a opportunity to post this again, as I really admire this young chap's respect for women and his wife:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3384822/Be-nerd-school-successful-inventor-Mark-Zuckerberg-brilliant-response-woman-said-encouraging-granddaughters-date-geeks-school.html

The one thing missing

An article, dedicated to my sweetie. 


http://refineus.org/the-one-thing-missing/


This is the 2nd time I am dedicating an article on couple relationship to my darling-daughter rather than darling-hubby.  On one hand, people only live once; I had already picked my life partner, and we will keep learning together to grow the relationship for the better.  On the other hand, the dream of a second chance at something even better, isn't this the reason why we all want to and feel excited about having children?   I fantasied about Lynn asking for my opinion on how to pick a good partner and what I think of her daddy.   It's a challenging and interesting question to answer.  But she may never ask, like I never asked my mum.  I hope she does.

Anyway here's another great article to read.   

Peacock and Pikachu

It's a holiday today; spent the morning at Sentosa and Vivo city, and "captured" 2"P"s on my mobile!

Mid autumn 2016

It's September already. Not going to watch up on updates today. Instead, on this windy night, here's the latest happening today.

This morning, I brought Lynn to Chinese garden, to catch Pokemon. She is now at level 20..

See the twin pagoda on the right, is where we headed first, to take the gym..

Some beauties:

There's not much Pokemon at Chinese garden, so we decided to head to Macritchie reservoir again. On our way out, took a picture of this couple taking wedding photo:

We have been spending quite a fair bit of time at Macritchie, cos Lynn is currently collecting Magikarp, which is "water" Pokemon.  When we went in the evening last weekend, there were monkey families..

Today:

Last week:

And this evening, and right now, the cousins are celebrating mid autumn together again.  Looks like it will take another year or so, for the young ones, as in Clara and baby Clariss, to be able to join in. I wonder if by then, how many out of this group will still be interested in playing with paper lanterns..