So, this day rolled along. After a nervous application experience (I know, I know, I'm part of the privileged phase of being an alumni member but really! There is no real guarantee until confirmed so it was still highly nerve-wrecking), it felt assuring to receive the letter from the school confirming K's spot. And with a lookout on a Monday in November which - at that time - seemed so far away, I couldn't believe it when November rolled along and today came.
The morning was great - I did my motherly duties of dropping the children at school, then had a couple of hours to myself (squeezed in a workout then a bout of work). Then off I went to pick K and we headed for lunch, then made our way leisurely to school.
It felt so familiar and strange to be back.
Familiar because I did spend some of the best years of my life there and though I was only in the compound for two years, it still felt very much like home.
Strange, because - as much as I hated to admit it - it truly has been many years since I left school. 19 years, to be exact (gasp).
I went about the school, moving around as if I knew what I was doing (uh, buy a lot of stuff right?); we started by joining a short-ish Q to buy uniforms. Then headed to her classroom and - shocking - I had to fill in a million forms (seriously, all these administration was mind-boggling) then it was time for us to head to the auditorium.
Yes, auditorium. Not a lecture theatre, not a hall, but a full-blown auditorium. I still remember when we first moved into this new compound, it felt terribly cool to have an auditorium - it had cushy seats and air-conditioning and whatnots. I'd been on the stage before, performing for various acts/competitions as well as off-stage, sitting in the audience being bored (oh, those school preaches speeches), feeling excited (graduation) and well, just being there. I think you never really realise how much of your past sticks with you, until you re-visit it. Today was one of those such experiences for me. I was thrilled to show the school off to K. Surprisingly, I'd never brought her into the school before (I thought I had!) and when she saw the school badge, she exclaimed "Mommy! That is the same badge as your t-shirt!" - yup, proof that I still wear my old secondary school super-comfortable t-shirt.
I was so proud to show the compounds to her and the MIL, the corridors filled with greenery, the pretty classrooms that came with balcony, the play areas, the canteen, even the familiar faces of the school staff (some teachers included) just made it feel amazing. It was also super to see ex-school mates of mine with their offspring! How time has flown by...
I digress. Once in the auditorium, we were given an address by the VP who ran through some key information. It was followed by a performance put up by the current Primary One students in the school to welcome our little girls. Oh yes, I should mention that at a point when we arrived in the classroom, our little girls were taken from us. They were guided off by prefects which made the administration a lot easier to do without needing to keep an eye on our child. During the time that we were in the auditorium, the girls were not with us either. They were only led in at a mid-point, before the performances and after the boring dry essential sharings. A key take-out was how security was quite strict in the school, very assuring for me. Another was how the VP was citing how parents needed to be patient about situations (the infamous traffic situation), how we needed to be kind and not be rude to staff (gasp, the way she said it implied that it's happened!) and how we ought to be there to guide our child, not be them (please do not do your child's homework. guide them!) and funny as it may sound, I can imagine how desperate some parents may be in less-than-ideal situations. Another rule was also how the children will not be allowed to go to class after school has ended if they left something behind, and how parents will not be allowed to send anything to children if they had forgotten anything. This emphasis on planning and alllowing the child to learn about consequences, is a great lesson - for both the young and old. I only hope I am strong enough to either train K to become good at her own matters, or at least become relaxed enough to let her learn through her own trials and errors.
There was a total of 4 performances. A vibrant and stunning gymnastics showcase (it was superb!), a Chinese skit, an English skit and a ballet finale. I hadn't expected the opening act to be that stunning and I wished I had taken something, but it was fast paced and the girls were so professional and it was a great show to watch.
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| Cast of the English skit |
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| Ballerinas |
In between the performances, I tried to sneak peeks at K to see how she was responding to the shows. She seemed fine and calm. I noticed that she was talking to a girl beside her.
It was only a short time that we were away from our girls - about an hour max, and right after the performance, we could head to the amphitheatre to pick our girls up.
I like how this forced separation made me think:
(1) are we parents really ready to let go?
(2) the school has gone to much efforts to make the day a pleasant one for everyone. There were ushers in the forms of friendly teachers, as well as prefects of the school who made me so proud. These girls stood around just giving simple directions to where we needed to go to, they all smiled and greeted us pleasantly and these are such basic behaviour that I really hope K picks up.
(3) how was K reacting to the temporary separation?
Truth is, she didn't even flinch. Not that I'm surprised, because she's always been pretty sociable though I know sometimes, she does retreat into her shell. Today, however, she was fine to just follow the older girl along with many other girls and just went off.
At a point during the auditorium time, when these pre-Primary-1s were led into the space and I craned my neck to spot K. I couldn't, though and yet I wasn't too worried. I was more curious to see what she was up to, and who she was with. Through the performances that the school - effort from teachers and students alike - put up, I was touched by the heart and I also tried my best to look out for K and her reaction to them. When we caught up later, she told me that she didn't even know I was in the auditorium. I translate this as I was fine, Mommy. (Plus her friend's name is Joy)
Another fun part of the day was bumping into girls of my time. Again, familiar sights!
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| Year of 1996 - this is just a handful of all of us from that year |
By the time we were finished with purchase of books and all, it was already 5pm. What a day! I lugged a big box of books (a whole year's worth of stationery) and was close to collapse by the time we reached home.
After a rejuvenating dinner to recharge, I dug out the uniforms again and let K try them on. Absolutely adorable is she!
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| My big-little girl |
I know the novelty will wear off, though I'm pretty sure the excitement and pride of her being in my alma mater will not. Next, the real work begins where we need to get ready to changes (routines) and put in real effort to guide her through school. I have a ton of instructions to read through and prep her books before 4 Jan 2016.
Another milestone in our lives, how terribly exciting!
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