Tuesday, July 17, 2012

A big step for B - school!

B's first day of school. He was very excited that he could carry a similar schoolbag as K. He has watched her go to school and return from school for so long. It's finally his turn. Of course he's excited. 


All smiles.


A pose for the camera.

At this point, I think he felt a little apprehensive and asked to hold my hand.


I never realized this until these photos. He was pressing his tummy during the walk to school. I wonder if it's a sign that he's a little anxious.


Still smiling but still pressing on the tummy.


Health check before being allowed to enter.


Very excited when he got in. He saw lots of toys and lots of kids. 


He put his bag and water bottle into his cubby hole.


Oats for breakfast.


Trays of toys.


More toys. He said he was calling papa.


Some more toys. 


And even more toys. 


His first lesson. What are the "squeezable" items and what are not. And in that pitiful amount of (blue) water, they were also asked what could sink and float. These are 1 to 2 year olds! Would they understand that?


He was amused at his blue hands.


Outdoors time. He held hands with Sophie.


"Fly like a bird!" screamed the teacher. B just strolled at his own pace.


I showed him a dead lizard. He turned around to where the rest of his classmates were and said, "Children, come!" With no one responding, he went to the nearest girl, pulled her over and showed it to her.


This was B after outdoor when he was in a state of "Hungry, mummy!", "tired", "want drink now!" and "Carry!"


Lunch finally! Doesn't look very appetizing but he finished the whole plate of porridge.


And two pieces of apple.


Then it's more play time while the rest of his friends showered.


And then it was the end of the first day at school. Well done, B!


Day 2 - walking to school with K

His first Chinese lesson. It was to feed the dogs and cats.



Outdoor session was held indoors for a while due to the drizzle.
















His partner was Myo. He is the little brother of K's best friend.

More toys!


Day 3 - He knew exactly what to do with his bag and bottle.


A lesson that made use of household items to paint.


More play time.


Story time. He sat down after some persuasion from me to listen to the teacher but quickly lost interest.


Instead, he pushed this stack around going, "Choo choo!"


Lunch time again!


His first shower in school and no tears! Yay!


Day 4 - First unaccompanied day.

Brought him for his swimming lesson first and then dropped him off at school at about 10.20am. He cried and cried, not wanting to go in. :( I was depressed myself and had to go do some retail therapy to cheer myself up and stop myself from missing him. Then I received a call at 11.27am from the Chinese teacher. 

She said that he had cried non-stop since I dropped him off. She thinks he may have been tired out from swimming. He didn't want to eat much and she gave him a biscuit to pacify him. He held onto it, not wanting to eat it. And he had fallen asleep holding the biscuit. She wanted me to pick him up earlier.

When I went to fetch him, I gently woke him up so that he would still be able to take his afternoon nap. He was still trembling slightly from his earlier sobs. He was happy to be home again. I gave him the Ikea hotdog and he ate almost all of it!


See? My little boy was happy once more! He would periodically hug my arm and say, "Love you, mummy." Melt.


On this day, he would suddenly say, "Funny, mummy!" and cover his mouth while he laughed. Haha. So cute. Dunno where he learnt that from.


Day 5 - Second unaccompanied day

He cried upon separation. Wendy said that when he saw her, he cried very hard. Then said, "Aunty, find mummy!" She said ok and then sprinted off, unable to bear watching him cry anymore.

He cried intermittently throughout the day whenever he remembered but was sometimes distracted by the many toys. Here are his outdoor moments. The other boy who started the same day as him was still crying uncontrollably. I'm just thankful B was intermittent. It's so heartbreaking to see them cry.













I was so worried at this point in time that he had seen me and would start bawling but thankfully he didn't.



















Teacher was holding B's hand while walking back to the classroom. He was looking at everything!



"Want find mummy!" he said, not wanting to go back into the classroom and he cried again.


His treat after school - hash brown! "Yummy egg!" he said, rubbing his tummy.



At the end of two weeks, he was much better. Only cried when I dropped him off and for a while. He would still carry his bag and walk through the door by himself, even while crying. As soon as he got in, he would stop crying. Such a relief.

Week 3 Day 1
No crying. Just a mega pout and two tiny tears.

Today (Week 3 day 2), I dropped him off and he didn't cry! Yay. He was going to drag his bag into his classroom with his shoes on. So I quickly reminded him to remove his shoes and keep them. He actually listened and did everything without once showing any reluctance to go to school. Then he dragged his bag off to his cubby hole. Of course, I had to walk to the other door where I could still see him. Then he spotted me once again and started knocking on the door to come out to me. Yikes. And yes, he started crying.

Note to self, don't let him see self again after dropping him off unless it's time to pick him up.

1 comment:

Fung Peen said...

This is one of your most tender entries. What a good record of his first days at school.