Publisher’s Note:
This is yet another embarrassingly long overdue posting of my jottings that
was first written back in 9 November 2012.
Do stick with me whilst I dust off all my old writings that had been
abandoned in the Draft folder and dig out precious old memories.
This just proves that
time flies by in the blink of an eye, and if one puts off till tomorrow what
one can do today, before one knows it, the subject-matters of the posting would
have grown up considerably and one would have to live through embarrassing
moments like this. ;-)
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| My baby girl's last day at kindiegarten |
Milestones of a Different Kind
On this memorable day, my oldest princess graduated from Primary School, whilst my youngest princess graduated from Kindergarten and to make it even more historic, the Little Man started his Montessori playschool this week for trial lessons. How time flies in just a blink of an eye!
It wasn't all that long ago when our First Princess started Primary School. I can vividly remember that very first morning when we left the house before 7 o'clock. As we stepped out of the house and into the car, our First Princess commented "Wah! Mummy..... it is still so dark. Are you sure it is morning already?". That was the start of many beautiful mornings when the First Princess and her Mummy would chit-chat along the way to school whilst admiring the gorgeous early morning skyline with its beautiful tinges of orange, peach, purple and blue.
Fast forward... and almost 6 years later.....Mr T has now taken over to be the primary chauffeur for the morning school runs whilst I run the later shift to take the Little Genius to kindergarten.
It was a rather sentimental drive to the Little Genius' kindergarten this morning as it began to sink in that it would be my last time to chauffeur my little girl to kindergarten. It would be our last kindergarten assembly together...I will miss listening to the carefree children singing their chinese nursery rhymes.They all somehow grow up too fast especially when they reach their primary school years. Sadly, this is also the time when even the slightest tinge of their baby smell totally dissipates to be replaced instead by smelly perspiration!
Equally unbelievable is that our First Princess is graduating from Primary School. It doesn't seem all that long ago when I would rush to get out of the pressure-cooker that I was then in, to weave through the evening rush-hour traffic to pick my Princess from school. Sheer guilt would set in when I finally reach her school after 6 p.m., where very often, I would find my little girl obediently finishing up her school work in the canteen. Ex-colleagues used to brandish me for sending my kid to a Commando school that had longer hours than a normal working person with 9 - 5 hours! The school hours were officially from 7.30 to 4.15, with only a pathetic 30 minute lunch break. A large number of students would then have extra-activities or tutoring classes from 4.30 until 5.45. Over 10 hours of pure torture especially for those 7 - 8 year old's who had just graduated from kindergarten where life was so much more carefree!
Needless to say, I have great pity for the young ones having to endure such extremely long hours as I originated from a "Malay national school" where school was for a maximum of 6 hours with little homework to contend with! It does sadden me that the Little Genius will now be leaving behind her carefree kindie days and entering the Commando school. However, Mr T favours the Commando school as he believes that it gives the younger ones very good discipline and toughens them up for the real world later.
I digress.
Today was also a historic day for another reason as my Little Man stepped out of his comfort zone when I packed him off to a nearby Montessori playschool for a week of trial lessons for a couple of hours each morning. The Little Man is approaching three years and clearly has an abundance of energy to burn off. Him sticking to me like a blood-sucking leech all day and dancing & jumping all over me to burn off his excess energy was testing my patience and driving me a little insane. I badly needed some quiet ME time at home...with no kiddo going "Mummy this... Mummy that...! Mummy, Mummy!"
The Little Man was rather excited to go to school as it made him feel like he was a big boy like his sisters going to school. We walked around the playschool and checkout the facilities together. When I explained to him that I could only stay with him at school for a short while to read my newspapers after which I had to go home to prepare his lunch, he began to have second thoughts and the initial excitement quickly subsided.
Needless to say, my blood-sucking leech held on to me for dear life for the good part of an hour whilst I hung around the playschool to ensure that my poor little leech would not be too traumatised by not having any of his mummy's blood to suck on for the 2 hours that he would be at playschool by himself. I virtually ignored him and just read my newspapers in a little corner of the playschool. My little leech did eventually wander around the playschool area to check out the rabbits in their cages, the wide array of toys as well as the other kids. At times, he wandered off a little further before suddenly realising that his host-parasite was no longer within his visibility and smelling-range. That was when he would come running back to check that I was still sitting in the corner with my newspaper.
Just under an hour later, I made my escape. I thought I had succeeded in making a discreet exit through the main door of the house, but alas, I heard his screams "Mummy, Mummy, I want my Mummy!" as I opened the school gate to hop into my car. I sat in my car which was parked my the side of the school to ensure all was well before driving home. The hysterical screaming stopped after a few minutes but was instead replaced by heart-wrenching sobs from my Little Man.
He survived the 90 minutes along and I enjoyed the strangely quiet time at home.
My little leech survived the trial week largely unscathed. It was the same old story everyday during the trial week and during the one month holiday program. I'd eased his separation-anxiety by showing him that Mummy was going to park the car under that big tree right next to his playschool and read my newspaper in the car whilst waiting for him to enjoy himself in school. Of course, the intelligent little leech would always ask to see my stack of newspapers in the car for reassurance (which I always had handy); at times he would even remind me to bring the papers along just as we are about to leave home.
After attending the holiday program for about a week, the separation anxiety was much better...no more screaming...just a little teary eyed. The toughest part was to get him to leave the house as he would complain of being very tired and not wanting to change out of his pyjamas. Mid-way through the holiday program, I was able to just drop him at the gates, as he could see the other children saying goodbye to their Mums & Dads at the gates. Though a small part of me pined for the little baby that had just grown up in a few blinks of an eye, I definitely treasured the peace and quiet at home for the entire 3 hours!
Fast forward further to January 2013......
As the Little Genius has just entered the Commando School, my lunch partner has now reduced from a table for three, to a table for two. After picking the Little Man from playschool and freshening him up with a cool shower, the Little Man and I will settle down for lunch. If he is his usual happy self, we will have an enjoyable lunch for two. If he is overly exhausted and is in his whining, tantrum-throwing mood, then it'd be silence at the lunch table and my replacement lunch partner will be the faithful old newspaper.
I dread to think what it would be like in the next 3 or 4 years when the Little Man too enters the Commando School when it'll be a really sad & lonely table for one then. I really missed my lunches and my interesting conversations with the Little Genius for those initial few weeks ...... like they say, YOU JUST NEVER KNOW HOW TO REALLY TREASURE WHAT YOU HAVE UNTIL YOU HAVE LOST IT.
So now I really treasure my lunch time with my Little Man. Mr T voices his "enviousness" at the Little Man having the company of yours truly all for himself during lunch.
The Little Genius first few days at the Commando School went smoothly. Though she enjoyed herself as she was now in the same league as her older sister, she did complain about the extra long hours when she lamented "I keep looking at my watch, then think why so long the school bell still haven't ring yet...because I very sleepy in the afternoon. I wait and wait for the school bell to ring!". Poor lil' girl. Poor lil' girl who loves her afternoon naps.
Her severely depleted batteries would instantly go into recharge mode when she gets into the car and her personal chauffeur would have a real hard time waking her up once we reach home.
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| Recharging......spot the blackened knees from a myriad of activities in school! |
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| The highly popular mobile recharging unit |
Fast forward further to January 2014......
second session which starts in the late morning to mid-afternoon. This works to our advantage as the first session would have meant struggling to get the Little Man out of the house by 7.30 every morning.The late morning session allows the Little Man to get his beauty sleep, have a good, hearty breakfast, a little play time and a refreshing shower before taking a relaxing drive to school.
The downside is that I have lost my lunch company! The lunch table is now strangely quiet. Though it took a little getting used to after years of noisy lunches, I now use this time to catch up on reading my papers as well as meeting up with friends for lunch. And of course, it also provides me with treasured ME time, where I get to indulge in blogging and baking time!
Just like how it was with the Little Genius, the Little Man will have lots to update me with when I pick him up from school. Stories that his teacher told him, who said what, and who did what to him in school, who was naughty, who cried, etc. Though the school does provide the Little Man with lunch, he always comes home asking to eat lunch, which by that time, really is afternoon tea. He literally gobbles down the food before he is sent to his bed for a short nap to recharge.
The day goes by so fast as the evening is then filled with chauffeuring the girls home from their Commando School and listening to their respective updates on their commando training for the day, whilst weaving through evening rush-hour traffic. As soon as we arrive home, I remove my chauffeur's hat and replace it with the no-nonsense time-keeper's hat! ..."...hurry up, shower,...hurry up, do your homework, ...hurry up, get ready...time for dinner, ...hurry up, finish your homework, ...hurry up, pack your bags, ...hurry up, brush your teeth, ...hurry up, go to bed...". I am always telling the girls that I really just ought to get a voice recorder that I can just switch on every day without having to work myself up!
Though I complain, I know that soon enough, all the chaos will soon end to be replaced by a different set of problems brought on by the teenage years, which Mr T and I are already getting daily doses of, courtesy of our First Princess. In years to come, the posting will probably just read Forgettable Moments. Till then, I will treasure these bitter sweet moments.
~ Written from the Heart
by a blessed Mother of Four who despite her complaints, is savouring all the bitter sweet moments.
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