The start of a new year heralds the start of a new school term. This one was extra special for us because we had another little one taking her first steps into a formal schooling education. Little Meips joins big brother Noey in school this year in pre-nursery.
(In case you’re wondering, no, that isn’t her uniform. She doesn’t have to wear one this year so I put her in one of her own dresses which I thought suited the occasion — and matched Noey’s uniform!)
We’d spent the week leading up to the first day of school psyching her up and preparing her for the first day, so when 2nd of January arrived, she was ready. She grabbed her all-important bag, put on her shoes and was ready to go before we were.
Once we got to school, the drop-off was amazingly painless. We stopped her at the entrance and she walked in with Noey, who merrily led her to his own classroom. I had to go guide her back, but thereafter, we stood at a distance as she went through the health checkups and met the teachers. Not a tear did she shed. I was so proud of her.
It was only after going into the classroom and hanging around for a while that her composure started to waver. There were quite a number of kids who were crying and asking for their mummies, and I think that might have gotten to her a bit. That plus the fact that since she wasn’t crying, I think she didn’t get as much attention from the teachers and helpers in the classroom. She saw us hanging around outside and walked to the doorway a couple of times looking as if she wanted to leave the classroom but never once actually stepping out.
We decided that our presence wasn’t really helping so we waited till the teacher led her in then quickly made an exit.
I went to drop the husband off at the office then swung back again to check on Meips. I peeped in to see her sitting down and listening to grace being said then tucking into her breakfast bun. I smiled to myself too, upon seeing that she’d seated herself next to little D, who is the sibling of one of Noey’s classmates, and whom she recognises from hanging around with during school pick-up time. When I asked her about it later, she told me she went to sit with him. A familiar face in the crowd which probably brought her some comfort. Seeing that she seemed ok, I left.
School was only 1.5hours long for the first three days to help the kids to adjust so it was not too long before I had to pick them up. I got a huge welcome from the little girl who wearily told me that she wanted to go home. And when I asked her about school as I was getting her out of the car, she told me “I’m very tired and I never want to go back again.” Oops. She also took a 3-hour nap that afternoon so it looked like school really wore her out!
When I woke her the next day, I faced some resistance, but in the end, she agreed to go to school and again, there were no tears. She did look a little woebegone at the end of the day so I brought both kids out to the Botanic Gardens to have a snack and feed the fish as a little after-school treat and all was better.
(Incidentally, we found out that the Playsets of Yesteryears exhibition is currently making an appearance at Botanic Gardens next to the Botany Centre and will be there till 31 Jan 2014, so you might want to stop and play there for a bit if you’re in the area.)
This week, all’s been good so far. Meips did come down with a cold over the weekend which on hindsight might have been the reason why she was so tired and feeling out of sorts on the first couple of days of school. But all things considered, she’s made an excellent transition into school. I couldn’t have asked for a better start.
As for Noey, he was also excited to get back to school. He’d started asking in the last two weeks of December why it’d been so long since he’d met any of his classmates so I knew the holiday had definitely been long enough. Let’s hope the enthusiasm remains! I was a bit disappointed to see that his English teacher who both he and I were very fond of had left and therefore would not be taking them this year. Fortunately his Chinese teacher still is, and thankfully, Noey hasn’t had any problems adjusting to his new teacher.
With both kids now in kindy, I can’t deny that I’m looking forward to the 3-hour break it gives me in the morning. There’re quite a few things I would like to achieve, including spring cleaning our house for the upcoming Chinese New Year. We are certainly off to a good start.
(Read: Noey’s First Day back in 2010)
Good job, Meips! =) Thanks for mentioning the Playsets of Yesteryears! We missed it the last time at Raffles Place, so we'd try to catch this one!
Thanks Pam! Yes, go check it out at the Botanics and call me when you do! I'll pop by with the kids!
Wonderful! B is still a (very noisy) puddle of tears each morning, big sister's presence notwithstanding
Aww, but at least it sounds like except for the drop-off she's doing ok! I think the fact that I used to bring Meips for BSF and drop her off there once a week helped with the separation anxiety. She seem to like going to school – better than Noey!