The high point of my week occurred this morning: I just finished enrolling my son in Nursery! He will be starting classes on the first week of January, and will be attending afternoon sessions between 1:00-5:00 pm.
I cannot believe how fast time flies. My baby will be a school boy in the coming months, and that means he will start having a life of his own, away from me. Prior to enrollment, one of the thoughts I had was, will my boy be crying and clinging on to my skirt (or denims) when it's time for him to enter the classroom? That remains to be seen on the 4th of January, but seeing how tickled pink he is at the thought of going to school, it looks like I'll be the one left to deal with my own separation anxiety!
It's a big step for everyone. For my son, it's a whole new world for him, the start of many years of academic learning and social education. For both my husband and I, it will primarily be a crash course on proper budgeting. And then there will be the lifestyle changes; apart from having to think about monthly expenses, we can no longer go on spur-of-the-moment holidays, seeing that our activities now has to follow the Ministry of Education's 2010 calendar.
Adjustments notwithstanding, my son is excited to attend his classes. He has a sense of ownership already ("Have you seen my school? Did you see my teacher today?"), he's looking forward to wearing his 1st uniform, and he's happy that some of his playmates will become his classmates. As for me, sure I have the normal maternal fears (Will there be bullies in class? How can he eat properly when I have to chase him around for each spoonful of food? Will he be able to cope with his Mother Tongue (Mandarin) class?), but overall, it will be for everyone's good (well, I HAVE to send him to school at some point, right?). And ultimately, I think that Mommy and Daddy will learn a lot in the course of the school year.
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Which brings me to another point. I think I'll have to learn Mandarin together with my child. Number 1, I need that to help him with his lessons. The principal explained to me this morning that kids will bring home one book per week to read together with their parents...so if it happens to be in Chinese, then what the hell will I do? Pin Yin, here I come.
Number 2, it's logical. I'm living in a Chinese-speaking country, and for practical reasons, it's a good idea to learn the language. I'm pathetically stuck at "Ni Hao" and "Xie Xie", so I'm welcoming the opportunity to learn alongside my son. If anything, it will be a great bonding experience for us.
And thirdly, assuming my son will be perfectly conversant in the language in the near future, I wouldn't want to be shut out from his activities with Chinese-speaking friends, right? (Oh dear, I sound like a nosey Mom there...).
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That said, I am stuck in the office all by my lonesome self (at least in my department). My colleagues are in Indonesia today to celebrate an ex-colleague's wedding. Both hubby and I were actually invited, and I was really looking forward to going. Unfortunately, we had to wriggle our way out at the last minute because of some personal circumstances and schedule problems. Then, there's another co-worker currently in Scotland for a two-week holiday.
So while they are out cavorting in the streets of Jakarta or busy roaming the Scottish highlands, here I am keeping house. Thank goodness blogging is keeping me occupied.
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Hubby and I will be celebrating our 9th anniversary as a couple this November. It's funny because until now, we remember that anniversary better than our wedding date.
As luck would have it, Hubby will be missing this important anniversary because he has to attend a roadshow in Bangkok. He's asking me to join him on his trip so we can have a Thai celebration, but the practical side of me is kicking in and I am wont to refuse.
It must be a sign of the times. Imagine throwing away a nice holiday in favor of practical reasons! I'm getting old!
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On more inane things, that pink cow on FarmVille is frustrating me. I can't adopt one on time. I want one!
4 comments:
wahhhh!
I can still remember very vividly Kara's first day as a nursery student. She had just turned 3 a few weeks before that, but she acted more like a 30-year old by the way she quietly went inside the classroom with her teacher. Which meant I was the one who had a separation anxiety attack! I waited for the tantrums to start, for the crying, wailing, whining, which didn't come. She was too mature for that.
I actually don't know how I got to have a very level-headed kid when she clearly had a demented mom in me. hehehe...
One thing I can be sure of, is that Miguel will be one of the smartest boys (if not the smartest boy) in class.
but i agree when you say it'd be a big adjustment, which i'd say would be fun, as well.
Happy Anniversary, too, to you and Aymer. 9 years and still going strong. :-)
as to the pink cow which gives strawberry milk, I'd like to witness how you'd explain that to the little boy. "Mom, how can pink cows give strawberry milk? don't strawberries come from strawberries and milk from cows (or goats, for that matter. haha!) I miss my farm!
take care, honey. give my love to Aymer and big hugs and kisses to the little big man. Ninang Kaye loves him to pieces!
thanks for the greeting and the encouragement. yeah, i'm pretty sure my baby boy will breeze through school (such cockiness! spoken just like a stage mom, hahaha...!). the only thing i'm worried is if he can keep quiet! but perhaps a social setting will be the best way for him to learn self-control in that respect. it's hard to teach him to lower his voice or not call attention to himself when he knows all the grown-ups' ears are his for the taking.
let's not even discuss strawberry milk. i haven't even figured out how to explain the brown cow and why you always love him to pieces!
haha! yeah, brown cow that gives chocolate milk.
and how can ninang love him to pieces when he's one whole big little boy. haha!
at shempre, ganyan talaga ang stage mothers. diba nga, ako, people would ask me why i named kara such, and all i could tell them, is, I was pretty confident that kara would grow up an intelligent and smart girl, she wouldn't have a hard time learning how to spell her long name. I wasn't wrong at all. hahaha! so yeah, I believe he'd breeze through school, you'd be the one having a hard time keeping up. :-)
naku, with the way this boy's mind works, i have no doubt about that!
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