Eat, drink and be married!

The fear has not died down since the number of cases has not stagnated and we ended up with more from the other classes and older kids.




Day 26:


He was supposed to be joined by new friends the week before but nobody showed up still, I guess we could say this 1:1 attention was "worth the money" yet not in an ideal manner.


I don't think there is a surest way of keeping HFMD at bay but we sure did what we can within our means and pray really hard!


Day 27-31:


Everyone was on high alert and we still continued school. We trust the school would know how to handle the crisis and keep the situation controlled. For the second time the school was sanitized before CNY.


Whew, we made our way to CNY safe and sound. One HFMD outbreak averted.

With bated breaths we took on a very fun-filled weekend, he smiled and laughed and threw his tantrums but weekends are always such fun times I fear Monday. Particularly when we were progressing to longer hours in school.


He showed some interest in staying with his classmates when they napped towards the end of Week 3, so I guess that was a sign we could go ahead with our plans.






Day 16: Napping in school


Armed with a heavier bag, we dropped him off rather happily. I snuck out in a corner stealing peeps at him as he made his way to his second breakfast unaware of the longer than usual day ahead. Guilty me even prepped his favourites at breakfast - blueberries!


First extended half day and he actually napped! I was prepping for a situation where he fought nap because of a strange environment.




Day 17: New bedtime preferences!


By the second day he had a opinion about his grobag, a sleep aid that we've been using since he was 3 months old. On day 16 we thought it was him being naughty and by night of day 17, he kicked, resisted, pulled off the milk bottle to holler his preference of doing away with his grobag.


And we wonder, was it because of school? Where nobody actually slept with one and he probably associated it to being a baby and suddenly did not want it anymore. Sigh, my dear boy...just remain little a wee bit more?


There, I tucked away his well used, well worn, squishy as hell grobags with milk stains to prove how far we have come together. I stole a glance at the almost brand new 24-36 month old grobag meant for his transition and cannot help but sigh.




Day 18: First time mama didn't drop off


And he waltz in like a champ, no tears, no fuss...I guess we can officially say our boy's a fan of school...except nap time which seems to have dwindled from a decent hour to just 15 minutes.


Day 19: Little mister fusspot


The day began cranky because he officially decided his socks were so precious to shower without. The crying and tantrum bout lasted a good 10 minutes before I decided to ruthlessly yank the dripping wet socks from him (yes, he insisted on showering holding them).


I guess that kind of set the tone of the day too for him. Fingers crossed he wouldn't tekan his teachers too much!








Day 20:  He fell...splat!
Drop off was good and I was almost lamenting the week coming to an end and Monday could be another of those blue days until I received a call from his teacher. Calls from the school are hardly a good thing and he fell and grazed his nose. Some cries later and he got so interested in the ice used to ice the grazed area, we were all good until he fell again. No further updates from the school but thankfully nothing major.






4 weeks in school and at 82 weeks old, I am just relieved we are on plan. His main caregivers have kinda gotten a decent bit of freedom back and now let's keep him as healthy as possible though HFMD cases have started in some parts of the island and our first case of ZIKA?!

I was looking forward to this week because it'd be his first water play session in school and I had all his items labeled and packed.





Day 21: THE call


By now, we kind of formed a routine with the drop off. We'll head over to his classroom, drop off his items and then to breakfast. Say our goodbyes and then do a pick up late afternoon.




Sometime early lunch I received notice from his classmate's mom that her daughter saw a PD and she's confirmed of HFMD. ARGH. Then in between the first few minutes of exchange and trying to update his grandparents, I received THE call.




The teacher broke the news to us about the HFMD case and they had to send C to the sick bay because he registered a higher than usual body temperature, noticed some spots at the back of his neck (he has had this neck rash since day 1 and...sigh, I mean the teachers mean well but...) and his poop was mushier than usual. We had to take him back, send to the PD to get a clearance letter or keep him in for the next day.




Thank god for support, his grandparents picked him, did the run to our family doctor's to get the clearance and there...our Monday ended on sucha high note. Time to start oiling him and loading up vit c's!


Day 22 - 25 : All by himself


Turns out with the scare, we took on the rest of the week mostly by himself in class. His peers were probably too afraid and preferred to stay home. He wasn't particularly huge on school with the change in check in procedure, no longer could we walk him to class and settle him properly before waving our goodbyes.


Sigh, stay healthy baby boy!

With the Parents Curriculum Tea Session happening at the end of the week, I started the week hoping very hard the crying bouts would be weaned by this week. Talk about expectations huh.






Day 11: Moving onto extended day?

He sensed we were going with the routine of dropping off bag in the cubbyhole, place his waterbottle in the basket and then head out for play. He started raising his hands to be carried and whining before wailing. His Chinese teacher came over to take him to breakfast table and despite the whole dramatic "MAAAMAAAA" with arms outreached and tears spewing out, he settled rather quickly.


Thank GOD for a tamchiak child.


On a separate note, we are considering shifting him to extended and full day soon - onward to more normalcy in life!








Day 12: Finally another teacher that he is familiar with


I had my reservations when I was told he loved one particular teacher and she had to devote her attention on him, no other child could be near her and the crying would ensue if she was not within eye shot.


Today I saw for myself how he took to yet another teacher from his class, phew! At least he won't hate school if the other quits or for some reason joins another class.








Day 13: Disrupted sleep and a grouchy pickle


He napped and slept poorly the day before hence we had a super duper very grouchy pickle on our hands. The slightest irritation got him tantrum-y and really, this reminded me why we put him in school in the first place. (Shift of responsibilities dealing with the cranky haha!).


He cried in the car seat, refused to be placed down in school, adamantly did not want to place his water bottle in the basket and then was clingy at breakfast table (almost dropped his French toast) and...starting wailing before the toast made it into his mouth.


I heard him yelling but nooooo turning back. In less than a minute later, the waterworks stopped and erm, he was actually having his second breakfast happily. I sense some emotional blackmail going on in the little mind of his.






Day 14: The first no-tears drop off


I was somewhat expecting that he as graduating out of his teary goodbyes especially when his water works lasted all but a minute. He was hesitant to go over to laoshi but food is always sucha a huge temptation and in no time, he was carried off and I swear I almost did a fist pump - AT LAST.




Day 15: Byebye mama!


For formality's sake, at 81 weeks all in, we did not have a fluke when he was dropped off without a tear and he managed to wave goodbye. I am glad we are making progress and at his own pace I am glad he is enjoying school.


With a tear in my eye, I heaved a sigh of relief we crossed our first milestone in school - dropping off without tears. My baby is...no longer a crybaby. These entire 15 days taught me one thing: I am definitely not ready nor prepared to revisit this entire crying business again if we ever need to change schools. Ah, intertia.


And it was how aptly the same day that I received a call from his teacher with plans to extend his half day to extended and finally full day. We discussed in length all the possibilities and how we'd go about executing it and that, I am really thankful there are such good teachers around. While I do not have any for comparison, this is what makes choosing the preschool/kindergarten/childcare so important because these important people make their first years so fundamental.


We received his first two week report and we're thrilled he is enjoying school. No rejection of the uniform or the initial resistance towards teachers changing his diaper...baby steps!

The hubba claims he was otherwise, yet the in laws sing a different tune.




Well, jokes aside...I knew we were getting ourselves into some teary and messy affair - it's juts normal toddler behavior when they cannot verbalise their unhappiness otherwise apart from really crying.




And we had loads of it.




Day 4 - The jab screwed things up for us. We were late, they went into assembly (cues panic because he's not encountered it before). Clung like a koala and cried for his dear life.


Day 5 - Damn the weekend, the dropoff was expectedly tough. Plus, no familiar favourite teacher.


Day 6 - Another group of new faces at play area for dropoff. He ran towards us and was picked up by a strange face. Cues a good 30-45 minute wailfest. The only time he settled down was when his teacher appeared.


Did we say the crying will stop, soon?


Day 7 - The heartless drop off continues. I walked off without looking back and I heard the wailing become sobs and kept my fingers and toes crossed I will not get a call.


Turns out apart from the morning fiasco, he was actually ok for the rest of the day and it was only on Day 8 did we realize it's because they offered him breakfast (TWO portions! and he already had breakfast at home) to placate him. Sigh, this boy, food is the root of all evil and good here.


FIRST taste of raisins and emo mama wish I were there to see him partake of the forbidden sweet fruit.


Day 9 and the same clinginess, refusal to be put down or left alone. He knew what was going to happen, with his faced scrunched up and one hand holding his wholemeal toast but he remembered to bawl so loudly.


By the time the car drove past the dining area 5 minutes later, he was barely sobbing and still munching his toast whilst laoshi carried him around.  WHEW.


Second week down...and when things are looking up, it's time for weekend and then the terrible bout of Monday blues.

And I speak as if he is 18.




18 months, that is. We knew from the start he needed to start some form of routine and school searching started really early for us. At some point, infant care was considered and that's how I embarked on this search for THE school.




Depending on which part of the island you stay in, starting early never hurts. In some cases, waitlists are years' long and some end up graduating without ever getting a place in the first choice childcare/kindergarten. Well fact is, kindergarten only starts at 3 years old, anything prior is play group.




We had a checklist in mind and after some hemming hawing and calculations, we signed up for his first school when he was a year old.




First day jitters




Yes me. More than C who probably had no clue what the fuss anyway. We collected his uniforms, got them tagged and when I finally packed his school bag, reality sunk in. My baby is going to school, this 2nd January onwards...every single year will be a school year.




Half day first for us, we wanted thing slower and more manageable than to already culture shock him with friends, teachers and having to take a nap in a foreign surrounding.




We took the effort to tell him more things about school a week prior, and then last minute hug Buddha leg by teaching him his Chinese name (ahhaha, sorry son, we decided to enroll you in a Chinese immersion class when we don't speak much at home).




I like the fact that the school had an orientation session for us parents, sent us communications before school started. However, I wish I was given the chance to bring him in a week earlier just to orientate but I do understand insurance and indemnities and all.




It was a 100% accompaniment on the first day where he explored his new classroom, loved the toys and food (Cheese sandwich! and Miso soup!). I would have cringed at even serving him miso soup but...school being school, close both eyes.




The first day went well except for the slight resistance to diaper changing by the teacher (I really cannot fault him here since all along it's been family who's been doing that honours, and suddenly a stranger!).




My pee break was nervewrecking because he ran after me, almost had a melt down and well was a sign of things to come.




Second day...more tears!




I discussed this with the teachers prior on my plans and we both agreed that I should transit him since we only had 3 days. He was left with the teachers for 2 hours and I'd return when lunch was over. Save for a few sudden realizations that I wasn't there, he was mostly distractible - phew!


And then the mother of all meltdowns at diaper changing again.



Thank god I wasn't there to see him cry - else I'd have cried along with him!




Third day - are we ready?




By fluke or not, he was dropped off without a tear...had so much fun he didn't want to return. Got his clothes and diaper changed without fuss and we almost felt that we could just transit to full day within the month.




Four days into it, I can only pray after the weekend we don't have that many tears to deal with come next week.




So there, our first week done and dusted.

A couple of friends had good reviews with Growing Up Gifted (GUG) and since we are at a stage of trialing, I thought why not? At 90 minutes, this had to be one of the longest trial sessions C had under gone and fair enough they had a snack after 45 minutes, it was still 90 minutes of class time for the accompanying parent.

The programme went as followed with 2 teachers, 1 for English and the other Mandarin

Playtime
Introduction
Story telling  in Chinese
Introduction of new alphabat for the week - V
Craft time - PAINTING. My holy nemesis since he was busy attacking the paper, then the vegetables with paints and officially, I dislike paints.

Snack time
Game time involving some crepe ribbons
Music time (this sounded mild on paper but be prepared for tossing of your child in mid air, plenty of rhythm and beats. C was most interested in nailing down the tiniest bits of dirt on the ground.)
GOODBYE

For 90 minutes, it does sound like a whole lot to accomplish but time passed really fast. No photography or videography's allowed so that explains for the lack of pictures.

What I liked?

The camaraderie the teachers built with the regular children. It is heartwarming to know how engaged the teachers are with them.

The multilingualism of the class, rather than attend enrichment classes in both languages why not just have two in one?

What I didn't?

The class was a mix of babies and toddlers with the oldest at almost 20 months and with C at 11, the age gap did mean there are moments where he is not able to sit through a session as well as the rest.

What's next?

Back to the drawing board for us!

His first Teachers' Day and while it's not quite considered so since Cyrus hasn't started school but I thought it'd be nice to remember the teachers who contribute to these play group days. He probably will not remember Teacher Rino who cups his cheeks and gives him sucha squeeze, or Teacher Zoe who always has a huge smile and a hug many years down the road but at this moment, I hope these teachers know how much I appreciate them.

I baulked at the idea of creating handicrafts for them since our horrific craft sessions have landed both of us messy and messier. Perhaps next year?

When C was slowly approaching his big One, I thought we got down to serious business on having a proper schedule for classes. Granted children these days are attending classes earlier and even earlier, I still maintain that until school officially starts for him at 18 months old, play should still be the bulk of his schedule.

Through word of mouth and several positive experiences from the mummies I know, I was really keen on Julia Gabriel's programme and hooray to their summer camp that allowed us a peek into their programme proper and also act as a trial before we decide to sign him up for good when term commences.

Having experienced GUG, 90 minutes at Julia Gabriel was not so daunting. 

First Day



His first and clearly parent assisted craft work - a hat!

Second Day

Sensory play with bubbles

Third Day



Painting with balloons

Fourth Day

By this time we got used to the drill of free play, story telling, song and dance!

Fifth and Final Day!

Carnival day with game stations, plenty of snacks and song and dance performances throughout the 90 minutes.

 

Photobooths! 



Snack booth's a clear favourite of his.

 

Game stations too!
 







A juke box that performed at regular intervals. 




Fish in the pond!



His favourite teachers :)



And the rest of them!



The prizes that he loved so much. 

The teachers took the effort to know everyone by name by the second day of class. I probably sound like a noob here but this was really impressive.





We loved the fact that the teachers encouraged children to roam around during class. As silly as it sounds, as long as they display interest doing something...they should not be forced to sit down and listen to the class with the exception of story telling. Similarly for painting class, there is not right way of painting, if he does not like painting with the balloon? No problem, use his fingers to explore the textures of the paint and sponge. For early childhood (while neither of us are experts in this), we wish we did not have to implement 101 rules, do's and don'ts and have to stifle their progress.

At this point, the commitment level for classes twice a week is challenging for us as full time working parents. Unless of course his G-parents decide to lend a helping hand, this is high on the list of programmes I'd enrol him in.

In my own growing up years, the swimming pool was a friend (not quite best of friends sort) but when the need arose I can swim to save my life but probably not others (clearly, I did not get any certs nor passed any tests beyond the elementary). Then we both thought it was just about the right time for C to be acquainted with a bath tub many times bigger than his own at 9 odd months. Hearsay their fears develop and they may reject the pool altogether next time so better late than never!

I registered for a trial class online with an easy booking form and the widget indicates the number of vacancies left which works for me in situations of hemming and hawwing.

So we were actually running late for the class after misjudging the distance and faced some traffic along the way - phew we were still in time so I'd highly recommend getting the bub fully clothed in his swimming garb and dad or mom who'd be accompanying in also be in full attire so that would save time. In our case, I settled the administrative matters whilst his dad got to spend some 1-on-1 time with him in the pool. 

What I loved about the class?

Indoor heated pool! Being indoor means rain or shine, class continues. The room temperature water also ensures that he doesn't get a shock going into the waters - unless of course I clad him in a thermal suit.

The pacing was just right! No forcing nor insistence that all babies should take to swimming like a pro. The instructor was firm with parents and great with the babies.

They check that the babies are double diapered (swimming diapers and swimming pants), I cannot reiterate how important this is since poop leaks are no joke.

What I didn't?

I couldn't go near the pool, only over the fence or outside watching the super duper very laggy live transmission of the class.

Narrow changing tables which isn't quite the fault of theirs since space is limited and after class all 5 were struggling to change their bub on the already dripping wet table - so two adults to a child and all in a row? You get the chaos.

Sharing of the pool with another class so at one point there will be 10 babies and 12 adults in the pool. 


What next? 

C had a ball of fun though it started off with a mini meltdown, we were all ready to sign on if not for  the fact the preferred day and time is fully booked for the month ahead. I suppose that puts us back onto the drawing board for other swimming classes.

Right brain training is the buzz word these days for developing one's child with quantum leaps. How true or even scientifically proven, I may never know until I try. Back in my time, these were unheard of (cues: generation gap) and as the new age parent where everything new is uncharted area which deserves some exploration.

I wasn't keen on signing on a full term and having to drag both myself and C to class so trial classes are much appreciated.

The hour long class conducted in Chinese went as follows

• Flashcards for numbers, gemstones and a string of other categories which I clearly did not manage to retain
• Laminated board activities which range from spending 10 seconds to look at position of the coloured fish and the child had to place them correctly on the board furnished. 
• Associating flash card pictures to sounds (thunder, rain, seaside)
• Introduction to the sea turtle and reaching out to touch it
• Stacking cup game
• Goodbye song

Classes are conducted in English, Chinese and Japanese.

The hour passed by in a flash and really before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye.

After the first trial class with MyGym, I was tempted to bring C for more trial classes to get a better grasp of his interests before actually signing on full packages and regretting thereafter. Kindermusik offers a pocket friendlier trial class at just $20, dollars off their full priced classes of $25.67.

Contacting them via whatsapp or phone is definitely faster than email (snail mail would be more appropriate given the speed of response) so over a short exchange I booked him for a weekend class at Katong V.

Turns out there were 4 in the class, of which 3 were there for trial classes and they ranged from 6-18 months.

I delayed sending C for any baby classes because I thought he was too young to even benefit from them and I was apprehensive towards them so 4 months came and went, so did 6 and finally a few days shy of his 8th month, I decided to pack him off for an hour long trial class with MyGym.

No real reason why MyGym of all the baby gyms, but convenience.

The not so great

• I bought my voucher and thought that "our friendly consultants will be intouch with you shortly" meant the next working day? Okay, 1-3 working days but no, it took them a good 10 working days later before I picked up the phone to chase them for a slot. 
• Phoneline was busy and I left a voice message for followup. 
• My appointment was then made within the day and an email and sms reminder sent. 
• I am a sucker for experiences and it was not wow already before going. 

How did it go?

It was an hour of....

Singing songs, some floor exercises (with me sweating more than him), free play (includes him crawling after a ball, trying to crawl up a ramp and at some point I just left him in a cylinder to self amuse), practised walking, went on a swing and a baby flying fox...a really short while of testing his separation anxiety with a pile of toys and instructors trying to balance toys on his head (this amused me that he was barely impressed)  and a goodbye song.

Time flew by and he was extra keen on crawling thereafter. No hard selling thankfully!

The big question - To enrol or not?

I would if the premises were not so tired looking and play area alot bigger? Bodyache was definitely part of the experience for me since I spend the hour lifting and carrying and it was just alot of physical work involved.