Getting back to normal routine after a nice holiday is not an easy thing. This is especially so for little kids — well at least this is true for mine! Mr A cried quite badly at his day care when he first went back after the trip. I felt bad for him even though I knew he would be fine after a little cry. I even rang to check on him at work to make sure he was OK. He was. He was very happy when I picked him up after work. The interesting thing is that he asked to go to his “little school” (3 year-old kindy which he goes once a week) and not day care. Thing is, he has always been very clingy at his little school, and so I was surprised he asked to go there. Anyway, I am happy to report that Mr A really did not cry or was a least bit clingy to me at his little school! That was really good news, like a breakthrough for him (and me!). Maybe he is ready for school? I think I better take things one step at a time because kids at his age can be unpredictable. They are going to have a little concert in 2 weeks’ time and I can’t wait to watch my little boy perform for me! 🙂
Still on Mr A, I am also happy to report that he has stopped crying at his swimming class! What a breakthrough! We enrolled him for swimming lesson at the local pool in a program called the “toddler transition” class. Parents are only allowed to accompany the child for the first 2 lessons and after that the child is to stay with the teacher. Mr A was *h-o-r-r-i-f-i-e-d* whenever I was about to leave him with his teacher. He screamed and screamed and clung to my hip for his dear life! For quite a few lessons, we had to leave before the class ended. No choice. I almost wanted to withdraw him totally from the class. Somehow, I decided to persevere on. And, for the last 2 weeks, Mr A has shown great progress in terms of his independence as well as his ability to listen and follow instructions. The teacher has even commented on him and has “promoted” him to the intermediate class next term!
Last Sunday after church, I saw Mr A dash to the kids’ table for his morning tea. I was talking with a friend and at the corner of my eye, I saw my boy helping himself with the food — what looked like a piece of chocolate cake in one hand and a handful of biscuits in the other. I also saw him going to the adult table looking for food! And, when I asked him later what he ate at morning tea, he said (with a big smile) to me “ummmm, I ate this, and this and this and that!” What a funny boy!
Calvin has been asking to go back to Singapore every single day since we came back from our trip. He said he wanted to play with his cousins and he was worried that his cousins would miss him! Yup, he is such a sensitive boy. *sigh* I have to say that he is happy to go back to his school, but I can also tell that he really misses his cousins. He had such a great time with them, especially with my niece who is of his age. The two of them were inseparable. I am very sure they will meet again, but at the meantime, they can call each other on the phone and write letters. 🙂
Calvin’s class and the other pre-primary class will be performing at next Friday’s assembly. Each class will be performing an item. Calvin’s class is performing a dance. The dance lessons started while we were in Singapore and so the boy has missed about 3 lessons. As a result, he has some trouble catching up with the actions and ….. he is very worried. On Monday when they had the dance lesson first thing in the morning, Mr C did not want to go! He told me he was worried the teacher would scold him because he could not follow all the actions! I was taken aback because he never told me about this at home. I tried to calm him down and even brought him to have a chat with the dance teacher. The kind teacher was very re-assuring and in the end Mr C went for the lesson. Calvin gets very upset when he thinks someone is angry at him. He is very sensitive to such things. I have to take time to explain the situation to him in the hope that he will understand and learn to manage his emotions better. Not easy. Anyhow, after school that day, Mr C was chirpy and was proud to announce to me that he loved the dance class! Why? Because he could follow all the actions! What a pleasant surprise for me. Besides that, I found a note in his school bag the other day that said “Calvin has been selected to speak a sentence at the assembly”. Another surprise for me and another morale boost for my boy. He has to say a simple sentence to introduce the item to be performed by the other class. The boy has been diligently practicing the sentence daily. 🙂
Calvin has lost his very first baby tooth! The tooth dropped off while he was eating a slice of orange at grandma’s house this evening. That tooth has been wobbly for a couple of weeks now and Calvin was too afraid to touch it or loosen it himself. So you can imagine his reaction when I offered to take it out! In the end, we decided to just wait for the tooth to come off on its own. Guess what he did with the tooth? He wrapped it up in a piece of tissue and put it under his pillow. Why? He said the “tooth-fairy” will come tonight to give him money! Who told him that? A friend. Honestly, I have never heard of the “tooth-fairy” when I was growing up. Who invented the tooth-fairy story anyway?
