And this marks the 3rd year of Gwenneth’s life.
Gwenneth will be going to Nursery One next year. How fast! She will be 2 ½ years old in January 2011 and she will be enrolled into N1 with all other 2008 babies.
Daddy and Mommy thought it would be a good time to start sending Gwenneth to school now as she can slowly wean her “sticky self” from Mommy , and what better way to check out the school before committing to a 4 year relationship right up to Kindergarden 2 at 6 years old. In any case, Mommy has half a year to decide which school can bring the best out of Gwenneth and most importantly, she must enjoy it!
Mommy deliberately delayed a month before sending Gwenneth to school even though she is all ready with 2 sets of school uniform. The school is new and Mommy felt that the ALL the children will be crying regardless of their class and age. Mommy didn’t want Gwenneth to think that school, is a scary and unhappy place that deprives everyone from their Daddies and Mommies. However, Daddy thinks otherwise, worrying that Gwenneth will be left out, when the children in her class forms their own circle of friends. The final decision was made on the reason that the teachers may not be able to give any attention to Gwenneth if all 12 of them are crying.
And so, Gwenneth went to school on 1st August 2010. Daddy made special arrangement to leave for his business trip in the late noon so that he can witness Gwenneth’s special day.
The first week of school was fine. We kept it to 3hours or 3 ½ hours at most, “Mommy-accompanied”. Gwenneth took only a while to warm up and had a bit of “walk around” time on her own and orientated herself from the playroom to the toilet. She ate her lunch on her own like she would do at home, alongside with many other independent children. She was generous with her hugs as she bid goodbye when her class ended. She liked both Teacher Cris and Xia Lao Shi.
Week 2. Without Mommy.
Day 1 National Day school holiday
Day 2. Cry like mad. Daddy tried to send her to school at 9.30am himself, thinking that it could be easier to say bye bye to her and leave her on her own as she understands that Daddy goes to work everyday anyway. Daddy stayed with her during play time for about ½ an hour and the teachers picked Gwenneth off by the armpits and chased Daddy out of the school. Daddy’s heart wrenched and called Mommy at 10.30am to go save Gwenneth together. Mommy understands that the school cannot have parents loitering around infinitely, but she was just as mad about them robbing Gwenneth off just like that, and she was torn from her favourite Daddy.When Mommy arrived in school with Daddy, she was sobbing on and off, whimpering and screaming. Daddy said that we should call it a day and go for a teochew muay brunch with baby Gwen! By 10.45am, Gwenneth was carried out of school, swearing that she doesn’t want school anymore.
Day 3, Mommy drove Gwenneth to school and adopted the “We ran out of M&M minis. Mommy is going to buy some chocolate, and Mommy will be back soon. Very fast. Promise.” I gave her a big kiss and handed her to teacher’s Cris arms and left in a jiffy. The last I saw was a contorted arched back baby, yelling like her Mommy is going to leave her for good. I thought I saw some “how-can-you-bear-to-do-this-to-me!” eyes. When I went to pick her punctually from school at 11.30am, she was drinking milk on the floor with her beanie, and broke into tears when she saw me. “MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!” :”( She sob her way to the main door and her tears dried up as soon as she sat on that lttle blue chair while waiting for her socks and shoes. Gwen “Mommy buy chocolate for me?” She happily walked with a bounce, and waved goodbye to all the pictures of the bear decals that was stuck on the glass panels as we made our way to the car. She stopped to ask one of the bear why he is crying. DUH! . That afternoon, I suddenly heard Gwenneth singing “One little, two little, three little Indians….” For the longest time, we have been following Julia Gabriel’s lyrics which was “Ten little aeroplanes.” I was pleasantly surprised as I knew Gwenneth picked this up from Agape from my first week with her in class. I haven’t been singing this song to her as her current favourite lullaby is “My bonnie lies over the ocean” aka “Ocean” song (according to Gwenneth). Then she started to continue with “uuh ahh! uuh ahh! shooting arrows! uhh ahh! uhh ahh! shooting arrows! uhh ahh! shooting arrows! ten little Indian boys! Complete with actions! She did learn something in between her cries! And she is happy at school!
Day 4. Gwenneth Pon Tang school.
Day 5. Mommy sent Gwenneth to school. As I was helping her to take off her socks, she cried already. Telling me she does not want any chocolates anymore. One teacher tried to take her away from me at the door but I insisted to make it as “less tramatising” as possible for her. I had to leave her in school alone, but not in a manner that she is being snatched away from her Mommy. I had to be extra careful to not hurt that little heart. I want her to have fun, learn social skills and most importantly, be happy in school. Why make it an awful experience for her? I ignored that insensitive teacher, took my Gwenneth back from her arms, and walk right up to her class before giving her to Teacher Cris. I did a quick good bye and reassured her my promise; that Mommy will definitely come back for her. Gwenneth’s face cramped up like a crispy prata, and cried like nobody’s business. Mommy then went to do groceries shopping with the maid before going back to pick Princess G at 12pm. Mommy bought grapes for the children in class. Mommy sneaked up to class to video how Gwen Gwen was coping alone. To my surprise, Gwenneth was NOT crying. She was playing toys with a friend, and walking around the class at ease, keeping herself occupied while waiting for the rest to finish up their lunch. She ate half her lunch and Mommy witnessed the little girl taking her own bowl and placed it into the designated pail under the teacher’s instruction. She was happy, with no signs of distress at all! Mommy was so proud and went into the class to give that little grown up a well-deserved hug. Gwenneth was delighted to see Mommy and excitedly showed Mommy her little souvenier from Darius, who came back from Thailand over the National Day weekend. The children ate up all the grapes cheekily and my heart grew fonder for all of them.
Gwenneth is ready for school.
Gwenneth will be going to Nursery One next year. How fast! She will be 2 ½ years old in January 2011 and she will be enrolled into N1 with all other 2008 babies.
Daddy and Mommy thought it would be a good time to start sending Gwenneth to school now as she can slowly wean her “sticky self” from Mommy , and what better way to check out the school before committing to a 4 year relationship right up to Kindergarden 2 at 6 years old. In any case, Mommy has half a year to decide which school can bring the best out of Gwenneth and most importantly, she must enjoy it!
Mommy deliberately delayed a month before sending Gwenneth to school even though she is all ready with 2 sets of school uniform. The school is new and Mommy felt that the ALL the children will be crying regardless of their class and age. Mommy didn’t want Gwenneth to think that school, is a scary and unhappy place that deprives everyone from their Daddies and Mommies. However, Daddy thinks otherwise, worrying that Gwenneth will be left out, when the children in her class forms their own circle of friends. The final decision was made on the reason that the teachers may not be able to give any attention to Gwenneth if all 12 of them are crying.
And so, Gwenneth went to school on 1st August 2010. Daddy made special arrangement to leave for his business trip in the late noon so that he can witness Gwenneth’s special day.
The first week of school was fine. We kept it to 3hours or 3 ½ hours at most, “Mommy-accompanied”. Gwenneth took only a while to warm up and had a bit of “walk around” time on her own and orientated herself from the playroom to the toilet. She ate her lunch on her own like she would do at home, alongside with many other independent children. She was generous with her hugs as she bid goodbye when her class ended. She liked both Teacher Cris and Xia Lao Shi.
Week 2. Without Mommy.
Day 1 National Day school holiday
Day 2. Cry like mad. Daddy tried to send her to school at 9.30am himself, thinking that it could be easier to say bye bye to her and leave her on her own as she understands that Daddy goes to work everyday anyway. Daddy stayed with her during play time for about ½ an hour and the teachers picked Gwenneth off by the armpits and chased Daddy out of the school. Daddy’s heart wrenched and called Mommy at 10.30am to go save Gwenneth together. Mommy understands that the school cannot have parents loitering around infinitely, but she was just as mad about them robbing Gwenneth off just like that, and she was torn from her favourite Daddy.When Mommy arrived in school with Daddy, she was sobbing on and off, whimpering and screaming. Daddy said that we should call it a day and go for a teochew muay brunch with baby Gwen! By 10.45am, Gwenneth was carried out of school, swearing that she doesn’t want school anymore.
Day 3, Mommy drove Gwenneth to school and adopted the “We ran out of M&M minis. Mommy is going to buy some chocolate, and Mommy will be back soon. Very fast. Promise.” I gave her a big kiss and handed her to teacher’s Cris arms and left in a jiffy. The last I saw was a contorted arched back baby, yelling like her Mommy is going to leave her for good. I thought I saw some “how-can-you-bear-to-do-this-to-me!” eyes. When I went to pick her punctually from school at 11.30am, she was drinking milk on the floor with her beanie, and broke into tears when she saw me. “MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!” :”( She sob her way to the main door and her tears dried up as soon as she sat on that lttle blue chair while waiting for her socks and shoes. Gwen “Mommy buy chocolate for me?” She happily walked with a bounce, and waved goodbye to all the pictures of the bear decals that was stuck on the glass panels as we made our way to the car. She stopped to ask one of the bear why he is crying. DUH! . That afternoon, I suddenly heard Gwenneth singing “One little, two little, three little Indians….” For the longest time, we have been following Julia Gabriel’s lyrics which was “Ten little aeroplanes.” I was pleasantly surprised as I knew Gwenneth picked this up from Agape from my first week with her in class. I haven’t been singing this song to her as her current favourite lullaby is “My bonnie lies over the ocean” aka “Ocean” song (according to Gwenneth). Then she started to continue with “uuh ahh! uuh ahh! shooting arrows! uhh ahh! uhh ahh! shooting arrows! uhh ahh! shooting arrows! ten little Indian boys! Complete with actions! She did learn something in between her cries! And she is happy at school!
Day 4. Gwenneth Pon Tang school.
Day 5. Mommy sent Gwenneth to school. As I was helping her to take off her socks, she cried already. Telling me she does not want any chocolates anymore. One teacher tried to take her away from me at the door but I insisted to make it as “less tramatising” as possible for her. I had to leave her in school alone, but not in a manner that she is being snatched away from her Mommy. I had to be extra careful to not hurt that little heart. I want her to have fun, learn social skills and most importantly, be happy in school. Why make it an awful experience for her? I ignored that insensitive teacher, took my Gwenneth back from her arms, and walk right up to her class before giving her to Teacher Cris. I did a quick good bye and reassured her my promise; that Mommy will definitely come back for her. Gwenneth’s face cramped up like a crispy prata, and cried like nobody’s business. Mommy then went to do groceries shopping with the maid before going back to pick Princess G at 12pm. Mommy bought grapes for the children in class. Mommy sneaked up to class to video how Gwen Gwen was coping alone. To my surprise, Gwenneth was NOT crying. She was playing toys with a friend, and walking around the class at ease, keeping herself occupied while waiting for the rest to finish up their lunch. She ate half her lunch and Mommy witnessed the little girl taking her own bowl and placed it into the designated pail under the teacher’s instruction. She was happy, with no signs of distress at all! Mommy was so proud and went into the class to give that little grown up a well-deserved hug. Gwenneth was delighted to see Mommy and excitedly showed Mommy her little souvenier from Darius, who came back from Thailand over the National Day weekend. The children ate up all the grapes cheekily and my heart grew fonder for all of them.
Gwenneth is ready for school.
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