e kids slept at ard 3/ 3.30am on new year's day, so it was important to me that ky especially, caught up on some sleep the next day. (it was precisely this time last year that his cluster migraines started, so i was very apprehensive, esp with school e following day.)  so that nite we had dinner half-hour earlier at 5.30pm, bathtime at 6.30, boardgames at 7, stories at 8, followed by prayers, and lights-out by 8.30. my job done! :)

kay slept soundly til 10am the next day. ky til 10.30! what a late breakfast they both had!...   i'd planned to be at school by 1pm (15min b4 school officially started). i'd wanted to drop by granny's to wish him well, but as it turned out, she wasn't in, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.... so suddenly we had almost an hour to spare... or so i thought! 

with the extra time we had, we went to a playgrd nearby and let them have some fun.  (i wasnt sure whether parents usually let their kids climb ard in their spanking new uniforms? but then i thot "oh well, i did when i was a kid, even in our own school playgrd- i swung on e monkey-bars daily." so i was comforted knowing that he wasnt missing out on anything :) 

but just as we were enjoying our last bit of free time together, i noticed that e trickle of accompanied p1 kids walking past us, was now becoming a steady stream... "boy," i mentioned to kynan, "these parents sure are going in early today... perhaps i shd be doing the same?..."  "nah," he grinned.... but God agreed and cut short our escapade with a few drops of rain...so we hurried on our way... arriving at the school at 12noon...1 full hour earlier than i'd planned.

i saw a mass of p1 kids and parents, and realised that we were probably one of the last to arrive (and i'd still wanted to speak to his teacher abt his asthma meds and dislexia issues!) what was i thinking... for one, it became clear that i was way too laidback compared with the rest of e singaporeans there! well, i managed to see the teacher and she assured me ky still had 15min to spare. so he had time to wolf down some of my "specially-prepared organic noodles with chicken-stock and bacon" :)  (it's not often i do home-cooked lunch btw :))  when he was done i cdnt even give him a hug as the place was too packed, so i had to make do with a quick kiss on the top of his head.  and that's when i felt my eyes start to burn... but i blinked away the tears that wanted to come, and instead shepherded him to the cordoned-off area where the rest of his class and school-mates were lining up. due to his height he was put at the back of the line...so he never saw me after that.

but my job was not yet done there.... i had to hang ard for another hour b4 going for another principal's address, along with a talk by a rather amusing and gregarious teacher, abt parents' being good moral examples to their kids.  kay was surprisingly patient, thank goodness! after the talk we headed downstairs to watch from outside some barricades as e p2 buddies accompanied our kiddoes to buy their food at the canteen. it somehow reminded me of a cattlemarket. kay and i finally left at ard 3.30pm. as we had to be back by 6, we decided not to go home. all the waiting around had exhausted both of us.... so we plodded to junction 8 for our very late lunch (ya, poor kay had not even eaten yet! thank goodness for her late breakfast...)  

it struck me how afwully quiet it was as we walked. uusally ky wd be talking, but this time, unless i initiated converstaion with kay, it was just silent. a couple of times i wanted to tunr back to check that ky was crossing the road with us, only to catch myself short. how odd it's going to be...

kay played on her own at the playgrd. i felt sad that she didnt have a friend. she kept calling out to me to look at what she was doing... which is something she never usually does.  she wdnt eat her lunch either, but i didnt have a heart to make a fuss. i remembered that ky needed a toothmug for school, so we went upstairs at j8 to go and find one. kay helped me look for a "non-baby" one :)  it was hard when most of them were either barbie princess or dora.  but finally we chanced upon the only "boyish one"- sporting super-heroes of course!

she knew that kynan had got some lunch money today and noticed he'd bought a milo during recess.... so she wanted to go to the "treat shop" to spend the 50c that she'd brought along out of her wallet.  it's hard to find anything at that price nowadays!...but eventually we did.  (some very healthy crackly space-dust ;))  she'd been excited the whole day to go and choose some vcd's for kynan from the library, so that was our final stop.  we stuffed her and my bags full of cd's and books and headed back to meet the little boy.

we were told to be there by 6pm but i was even earlier this time :) 5.40... alas, they only were released ard 6.30!   i'm so not used to all this waiting around!... our own h/s classes have always started and ended punctually, and time is utilised efficiently. but from my experience that day, and even ky's feedback, that is soooo not the case in school...

kynan's feedback:

-we spent all day learning how to line up!

-the best way to do it is to look at the back of the person's head in front of you.

-we watched a video abt 2 kids going to school.

-i got to meet the principal.

-4 kids in my class have had hand-foot-and-mouth. the principal asked and they put their hands up.

-my teacher got very angry today. e kids kept talking all e time.... but not me.

-there's 29 children in my class, including me. another 1 comes on monday, and that will make 30.

-there's no soap in any of the toilets downstairs.

-i went to the toilet soooo many times, cos the teacher said it's imporatnt that we all go.

-e boys' toilets smell reeeally bad, especially when i bent down.

-can you show me where to buy pizza...

-the juices here are 50c for a cup. much cheaper than outside. and i paid 80c for a milo. but the juices are artificial. they're not very nice. can you pack drinks for me each day?

-we played a running game and i fell down and grazed my knee. it's really sore. many lkids fell down, but too many so e teacher didnt bother to check on them all.

-some of the kids were crying. one girl cried at the beginning. then she refused to sit down the whole day!

-i didnt have to hold hands with anyone today.  my partner only comes on monday.  we all have to hold hand when we line up and walk.

-i''m tall so i have to be at the back of the line. the shorter kids go in front.  we have to stick with our partners til the end of the year.

-you know i've got a friend Zooraimi...well remember the other one i talked to last time... his name is Titus.

-i dont have all my books in my bag anymore. the teacher's keeping some of them.

-i need to take x,y,z books on monday. i'll show u which ones.

-e teacher has put some important stuff in my diary here for you.

-this is my timetable and this is what i wrote... it's my name...

-we have to wear our pe kit on monday.

-i liked school. it was easy. all i learned all day was to line up!  :)

***success? ....success    ..... for now.... :)

dh met us at the school and drove us home. we were all very tired, esp me. ky was chirpy though, and kay was excited to ask if he'd made any friends and who they were. she proudly showed him what she'd been up to, with little mazes and dot-to-dots in her little notebook.

things went like clockwork.  we got home ard 6.45pm. they went straight to bath at 7, dinner at 7.30, stories and prayers at 8, and lights-out by 8.30.  surprisingly, my night-time schedule is even tighter since school began. i'm happy abt this... and happy too that the kids can lie-in in the mornings and we can all have a slow and relaxed start, and some time to just enjoy each other's company.  dh says he likes it this way too...

am presently happy, contented, relaxed, relieved, tired.... and quietly thankful that my boy is in good spirits... thank God!