Athena's First Trip .....

..... ALONE without the naggy mummy and her irritating little sister.
 My big girl, is making her very first overseas trip with the school Handbells Ensemble.

She was really excited in the beginning of the year when she heard that the P5s were going for a 3D2N camp in Dairy Farm. And even more exhilarated when the Handbells - for the first time - are heading out to Hong Kong for workshops and performance. She did ask if we were going with her, we replied no and she seemed alright with it. Lousy parents!

Fast forward the months, and today she's finally leaving for the trip. I packed her bag for her and had everything labelled. Ha! I'm too systematic. Had a checklist pasted on her ziploc bags which I hope she'll make a check before checkout. 

We woke up really early for the first day of the school hols, earlier than usual. Grandma had to send her off too. 

I felt excited too coz' she gets a chance to travel without us, and she seems to be handling it so well. Goes to show she's finally grown up. The next 4 days, she'll learn to take care and be responsible for herself.

Without much ado, these are some of the photos I took today.

Leaving the house

Thought she's been wanting Mcs breakfast so we brought her there. But she wasn't so enthusiastic, was worried if she'd be late for the meet up time. Sigh..... if only she's always so anxious when it's school term

Woah! First time leh! My daughter asked us to hurry our breakfast. And she turned around and dragged her bag towards the lift. The parents and grandma became her children, tagging behind her

Her BFF was already there

A picture with the Teachers in charge of Handbells. One of the teacher had been a teacher since my time and no... she didn't teach me

.Checking in. The all so familiar procedure, however this time round they do it without the daddy and mummy's help. The parents were the free-iest people around there. Not really for this Mammarazzi who's busy snapping pictures

Their instructor

A prayer at the beginning of the trip

A group pic of our ringers

CHIJ (Katong) Primary ringers and their teachers and Instructor

Waving goodbye to us. They can't wait to get in

Not 11 yet and she knows what is "being embarrassed" 

Oh no! Does it mean I can't hug her next time ??

The parents running to catch up, they're like chasing after stars

Finally!

Is mei-mei feeling sad??

See you on Thursday, my girl!

 

Disney on Ice 2013

The girls saw the advert on TV and begged to go. I thought last year che-che said the show was lame? Nonetheless, I went to buy tickets for them. Was late so didn't get the first row - ended up the third row. Sigh....

I love this!! Bubbles

1st day in school

Woke up extra early to get them to school. I needed to be in school by 7am.

Lil' one was exceptionally excited, she couldn't wait to see her friends (no mention about exchanging Moshi Monster cards - thank God!) She was such a cheerful girl, I'm so blessed!

I was happy for her. Having gone through one kid prior, this is easy peasy. The night before, I hugged her and telepathied to her my confidence in her.

 

Walked the girls to the school gate, the priceless photo must be taken. And so she gamely gave me a peace sign. This would be the first and probably last photo of my girl at her primary school gate. Hmm.... perhaps I should take the final one on the last day of school (Primary 6) for both girls.  

 

I then recalled 4 years ago, I took a photo of che-che too. Athena's 1st day at school, click here
Che-che walked to where her friends would usually gather and meet in the mornings. She had a lot to chat with them.

Whilst I brought the lil' one along with me. First gathered with some PVs and briefed on what we were suppose to do, Diana saw lil' one "Oh! She's P1 this year!" 

Lil' one has that alertness in her, eyes darting around. Pleased to say everything is very familiar to her. Brought her to the canteen. She was the first to be there. She sat down where a table was labelled with her class name and chased me away. But where was I suppose to go? It's too early for me too? Even the houseflies are not awake yet. 

Once in a while between my assistance, I pop by to see her. The canteen was then crowded with many anxious parents, she didn't understand why the big booha. Just sat down there smiling and hugging her orange bag which was next to her.

Her FT was there and I was really lucky to have a few pictures of them. Mrs F is really nice to the girls and I'm sure Aricia will enjoy her first year in school

Anxious parents.
Relax parents...........no need to worry about your girls.  

And then the few hours flew by and the PVs were back in the school hall. Blur faces, anxious parents. Some parents were there to make sure that their kid knew how to get on the bus. I must praise the school on how they organise everything. It was a breeze. No crying girls, no girls lost. Ha! I can't imagine my girls taking school bus to and fro. I'd be worried sick if my girls get bullied in the bus. 

Aha! I spotted my girl. Mamarrazzi is so spot on! 

Waiting for che-che who would be dismissed at the usual time. We had our lunch in the canteen and she kept herself occupied reading a book.

Day 1 passed exceptionally well. I'm  so proud of my girl.

Getting ready

2013 came too soon. The day I've been waiting for is finally here.

This is the day my lil' one, the baby in the family, is marking a new chapter in her life. She's finally in Primary school. 宝贝上小一了！！

Since she is my second and last kid in school, I didn't have to deal with "what if she cries", "what if she's afraid". Nah! You know that second kid syndrome when you don't really bother as much as you would for the first kid? Moreover she knows the school better than her P1 peers. Hmm.... let's see - she knows where the canteen is; she knows where the ground floor toilets are (she always walk into the school and go pee-pee while waiting for che-che); she knows where the eco pond and aviary is - always running there. She knows the security guards; she knows some bus aunties. Nothing for me to worry except getting orientation right for some important places in school - she need not know where the Principal's office is though!

She's independent and I have no worries at all.

Days before, I made her practice putting on and taking off her uniform again. She seems alright with it except buttoning up her blouse neatly. She will need more practices for sure but I'm not going to spend my time making her practice again. I ironed that set of uniform and hang it up in the cupboard.

Yesterday, she took out her uniform from the wardrobe and hang her uniform outside all by herself and without me asking her to do so. She unzipped her schoolbag saying that she had to pack something else too for school. When prompted further what she needed to pack since I had already done so for her, her reply was "Moshi Monsters cards". Haha! She wanted to change her cards with her friends.

Since it's her FIRST day in a NEW SCHOOL, mamarazzi had to be there right? As what she said, "mummy you volunteer and help other mummies. Later I wait for you at the gate ok?" My heart cringed when she said that; then my mind went bonkers - "WHAT DID SHE MEAN BY THAT? SHE DON'T WANT MUMMY ANYMORE? SHE'S SHY TO BE SEEN WITH MUMMY?"

 

Anyway, here are the girls' bags. Orange coloured bag belongs to lil' one; Hello Kitty belongs to che-che.

Brand new shoes for the girls and un-stretched socks. All neatly placed and first school year - without any helper out too! Let's hope I survive without a helper. 

Day & Night

A phonecall from daddy this morning.... The kids were talking happily to him.

Mei-Mei: So ru going to work now daddy?

Daddy: I'm going to sleep now. It's already 9plus at night.

Mei-Mei: (stunned look and looks outside our window)???? But daddy I just woke up and you are going to sleep?

hmm....need to explain abt time/day difference to her 

😂 

Small but fiery

Scene : Lil pretending to be a doc

"I'm going to use my microscope (stethoscope) to listen. Went up to daddy and did the actions as she sang this song "Time for your Checkup, time for your checkup! I'm gonna check your ears (put on daddy's ears) check your eyes (put on daddy's eyes) find out how much you've grown..

Then I listen to your heart beat (put on daddy's body - wrong part)"

Continue putting everywhere (funny thing is she did it without putting the earpiece to her ear. I told her abt it, she told me its painful) then continue to irritate daddy. Dunno what she did, daddy told her off. She commented "where got patient scold doctor? Only doctor can scold patient!!"

LOL

Hols almost OUT. New school term NEARING

I can't believe where the time have gone. I thought that I would be able to plan at least 2 playdates (on separate days) with mei-mei's ex-MMI friends and St Hilda's. Let me tell you how many we had so far. NONE! Disappointing right? I am as I haven't had any of mei-mei's friends over at our place for playdates before. (that's the disadvantage of being the younger kid I guess. So I can't blame her for having no interest in baking or whatsoever)

In about three weeks' time, our lifestyle would have some slight changes. My little one will officially be in Primary 1. I loved it seeing how excited she is looking forward to see her new friends  and how she exclaimed to me when she overheard my conversation with my older girl "should mummy volunteer for the first 3 days"? 

"Mummy, you go and volunteer and help other mummies. No need to help me, then you go to the gate and wait for me". I had mixed feelings when she said that to me, as compared to her older sister she is definitely a girl with GREAT GUTS. I told you I would be the one crying on her first day in school, she'd kick her Mammarazzi mummy out of the school depriving me of chances snapping pictures of her. And for that once-in-a-lifetime scene I bought a SLR - so that I can zoom on her. Might as well put on a tracking device on her. 

I've been making her practice putting on and taking off her blouse and pinafore. Call her a pampered child, my girl never had the chance to learn to turn her clothes the correct way coz it's usually laundered after one wear. 

I should have made her carry her schoolbag and climb up two flights of stairs. But I didn't want to see my skinny girl being crushed under her heavy bag.

Other than that, I think she may be prepared for Primary 1 academically. It's honeymoon year but ...... with their Principal I'm sure the format of examination and tests have changed. 

So far, I totally leave her Chinese to Berries. She's done the first units, which are basically Hanyu Pinyin, in her assessment books for me. Horrible to hear her intonation still having that angmoh-ish tone.

English, by far, is her forté. I wouldn't say she's perfectly fine in English or get 100% all the time. But for a kid her age I should be snobbish to say, she's real good. So no tuition for now.

Maths, OMG!!!! She's good in her calculation but she's rather weak when she has to deal with heuristics. And because teaching the older one is a breeze for Maths, I swear I was going to kill the little one. I feel my brain cells dying after I teach her. I'll adopt a wait and see approach, if I cannot cope I'd have to send her for Maths tuition.

Okay, so the older girl will be Primary 5 next year. Heard about the dreadful DRASTIC DROP in results tale. It would be a comfort if she didn't score as well coz it happens to most kids but ....coming from me!!! Who have spent so much time coaching and torturing us both all these years ... She shouldn't be getting bad results. Hmm... Maybe I should learn to relax so that I can live longer.

I guess she'd be staying back in school more often. So now I wonder if she would be able to cope with her school homeworks. You would have heard how we often struggle with her homeworks daily. Her dilly-dallying and daydreaming; me getting worked up when she hasn't finished her homework; daddy sees her doing work and accuses me for loading her with my work; I get super mad at both of them for making me the bad person. (God is fair, he gave me an independent younger girl who loves to do assessment books, who has superbly good attitude)

Not sure which class she'd be in next year. I hope she remains in the same class...  Would she get the same FT 4 years consecutively?? Hope so. Pray hard!!

With them in school for a longer period, I don't have to rush like siao-charboh doing the housework. I can probably find a little time to have my early lunch and stuff myself fat with all the good food around Joo Chiat; then pack something for them ( on days when I'm lazy to cook their lunch) before picking them up. Speaking of which, I'm missing the 328 Laksa; poh piah in I12 foodcourt. 

Can't comment much about after school now. I can only see but I do foresee them eating in the car 5 days a week.  *complain complain* Argh! Lil' one had to spoil her Hello Kitty table (her third one so far) again!

Che-che was sad that I did allow her to take HMT. Oh please! Not that she has fantastic results for her Chinese, I need her to buck up first. I don't need her to stay back for HMT when she may have better use of her time. Moreover, I won't send her to SAP school, so the HMT is redundant. But I gave her permission to stay back for Maths Olympiad if she wants/can do it again next year.

Can't imagine how hectic it would be, I know I will be doing the same - grabbing one kid to do work while the other is in tuition class.

No more mei-mei's favourite Shichida class next year, Thursdays are free now. Yay!

Let me enjoy my last 3 weeks of relaxation mode.

Hokkaido

It's been more than 10 years since I last stepped on Japan land. I'm even more happy going to a part where I've never been to.

I kept that part of my brain with Japanese aside for too long, it's turned rusty.

The trip was fantastic, the girls had loads of fun with snow. It snowed heavily and although they've both been to winter countries before, they scream excitedly with it snowing on them. Flakes on their hair; nose; cheeks etc... They couldn't keep their excitement. They would deliberately stretch out their hand and wipe off the snow on the railings; kick the snow. They'd roll on the ground. Yes, they were really happy. I can sense their joy, I too wanted to do what they do. Old liao, scared if I get chilled may end up with rheumatism. The childish thing I could do was to throw snow at them catching them in surprise.  

 

Onsen was good. Che-che spent her time ogling at naked ladies. Haha! Once mei-mei followed her daddy, I hope she didn't shout "Aiyoh! What's that?" Haha! Anyway doubt anyone will understand her.

 

Would love to be back there again. That time, hopefully it would be a Free & Easy tour.

 

Photos are linked on blog page