was it not just yesterday that we reached that exciting milestone that is peeing in a potty?

no no, i’m not complaining, not at all. in fact, please, keep growing. i’d even petition for you to skip the whole dreaded business of teenagehood and go straight on to mature adulthood if i could. but i suppose that’s why milestones are necessary in the first place, to prepare them for that full bloom ahead…

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and so, here he is, one of the 38,600 children this week to reach that exciting milestone that is P1.

as you can probably tell, he was VERY psyched to start his P1 life. being in a new environment and making new friends and having access to ‘big children’ – these things have always thrilled him. (what’s that? studying? meh, that’s just a distraction…)

at the school, we were quite impressed that there were hardly any display of first-day jitters or anxiety or nervousness or clinginess or tearfulness normally associated with first-days (i’m talking about the children AND parents here). we reckon that’s the upside of having already been to pre-school. another thing we observed, they were such a well-behaved, orderly bunch. (for now.) and oh-so-cute. (for now.)

the first thing he asked after he alighted from his school bus and met me by the canteen was: “can i buy something?” i think to him, primary school is a kind of ‘freedom’ – getting to hold on to his own money, having the autonomy to choose and decide for himself what to buy without mummy perpetually nagging or ordering him at his side. (instead, he had a P5 buddy to do that, ha ha. nahhh, he was very nice and all big-brotherly. we didn’t have to worry at all.)

“don’t worry,” assured one of the teachers to a bunch of parents peering from behind the barricade surrounding the canteen during recess time, all their eyes searching the blue sea of little uniforms for a glimpse of their kid.

“i’m not worried; i’m just CURIOUS,” i muttered, chuckling at how preposterous we parents must seem, waving at our kids like mad visitors at a zoo.

some, like me, got promptly IGNORED.

LOL.

oh well.

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as soon as i got home, i smothered the girl with kisses and inhaled her heady sweet-sour scent all over her body. “i’ve got one more,” i rejoiced. maybe it’s a last child/only daughter thing, but i got sentimental imagining her first day of primary school in the future, in her oversized uniform and oversized school bag, coz obviously, she too will be as tiny as i was back then.

(like this tiny:)

yes, i’m afraid with the girl, i’d prefer the growing up to go juuuustt a teeny little bit slower. (although her streak of independence, while totally charming now, is quite a force to be reckoned with…!)

me: “let’s say a sweet is $1, 90% off means you only pay 10cts! and let’s say a book costs $10, 90% off means you only pay -*pause for quick mental calculation ha ha* – $1!”

A: *impressed* “that IS cheap.”

me: “so, now you know why I say it’s like being in heaven? since I like books so much?”

A: “no, but if you’re in heaven, you don’t need to buy the books – it’s all FREE.”

me: *damn* -_-

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fine, scrap the heaven part – there’s an unbelievably long queue outside the warehouse and it’s hot as hell.

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still in queue. a guy just walked past triumphantly clutching onto big plastic bags of books, proclaiming “HANG IN THERE PEOPLE! It’s worth it!”

looks like this was also someone else’s idea of heaven. heh.

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$1… $5… $5… $5…

well, that’s mummy’s birthday treat to you accomplished, then.

while the bride & groom had a costume change, the little ones were quite busy themselves…

angels…

… demons?

here comes the bride…

… here come the little boy monsters.

(they were actually pinching their noses because they thought the fog from the dry-ice smelled like smoke, only here it looks like they were pinching their noses due to ‘gases’ emitting from under the gown. i could just PINCH their ears for spoiling this otherwise lovely scene of innocent flower girls carrying out the honourable duty of holding the princess bride’s wedding train!) (so sorry, bride.)

angels again, thankfully.

selamat pengantin baru, adib & hafiza…

2 saturdays ago. a storytelling session of ‘We’re Going On A Bearhunt’, then everyone got to decorate a muffin, courtesy of Bookaburra, with cream cheese, candies and chocs.

it was yums. (i reckon she should start a Bakery-burra too…!)

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the much-anticipated K2 graduation concert happened some time last week. it was a modest affair – parents didn’t have to pay for attending; it was held in the K2 classroom itself, which they converted into a mini-stage, with props, backdrop, banners all done by the dedicated and resourceful teachers at the centre…

they performed a play adapted from Kevin Henkes’ picture book (yeah!), ‘Chrysanthemum’. it was supposed to be a surprise for parents, but aniq of course, had to spill the beans, especially when he kept blurting out his lines at random times. i’m forever amazed at pre-schoolers who can recite lines to perfection and perform to an audience, because i myself have a case of stage-fright, i kid you not!

after a chinese version of The Emperor’s New Clothes, which had a malay boy as the emperor (yes, impressively reciting lines in mandarin!), the whole class went into a rendition of MJ’s ‘we are the world’. no, i did not sing along to it.

and then this part, which was indeed a surprise – each kid’s name was announced and they went up to their parents in the audience to hand them a vcd with an ‘i love you’ message… well, that sorta teared me up, a bit. :p

it also came with their graduation certs and photos, so beautifully packaged, SUCH a HUGE leap from our time, some almost-30 years ago.

the people he’ll miss next year…

and some work they did after their visit to a primary school earlier. the teachers discussed with the kids on what to expect in primary school, practical things like what to do in case they lose things or fall sick, etc. it sure makes it a lot easier for us parents, who are at this stage even more nervous for them than they themselves are.

dear firstborn, here’s to an exciting and memorable journey ahead…. (TO PSLE! HA HA HA HA HAA)

a girl and her mother were about to have tea when a visitor in the form of a hungry tiger drops by, gets himself politely invited in, and proceeds to wipe out all the food and drinks in the house, even the water in the tap and, gasp, all of daddy’s beer! all this while the girl looks on with mild amusement, indulging the feline’s insatiable appetite (he is too genteel to devour humans, being english and all, of course). after he leaves, the father comes home to no supper, and instead of being in a huff, he comes up with a brilliant idea to bring the girl and her mother to a cafe for sausages and chips and ice-cream. ha ha hahaha.

ok, really, its not very funny or exciting, and i’m not nostalgic enough to appreciate the throwback to the late 60′s english household culture of tea and hospitality. speculations are fun, though – is the tiger actually mummy’s lover who comes round for an afternoon delight? did mummy get sick and tired of cooking for daddy and conspires with the girl to make up a story about the tiger? is daddy a little loopy or in denial that he’s been fooled or possibly cuckolded? what constitutes tiger food which the girl bought from the store in case the tiger comes back, hacked up human meat? did the tiger not come back because mummy’s food sucked? was he playing a trumpet at the end because he ran away with the circus? are they all on drugs? was the author on drugs? etc etc etc.

or…. it could just be about a tiger who came to tea.

i think bookaburra’s lovely for doing these storytelling sessions and activities. the kids made mini parfaits “for tea” out of cakes, syrups, candies, biscuits and cereals, all of which they provided out of goodwill, i.e. free, which is a rare thing to find in sg where everything comes with a price, doncha think? of course, if parents (like me) end up spending their money on their books, well then, that works out even.

“i wish that i believed in fate, i wish i didn’t sleep so late…”

FRONT ROW! they were practically VIP, guest-of-honour-type seats! and right from the beginning (they started promptly at 8.10pm, bless them serious musicians) through to the end, I had this look on my face –> 8-D. ecstatic did not even begin to describe it.

being my first time at the esplanade concert hall (and my first time with front row tickets!), i was naïve enough to believe we would be sitting demurely at our designated seats, tapping our toes politely, for two hours.

needless to say, i was wrong. the moment the lights dimmed, the entire row (and everyone else behind us) surged forth towards the stage, a fellow fan beside us excitedly beckoning to join her, and wow, WHAT AN EXPERIENCE. 8-D

we were practically under matt’s beard! bits of his saliva flew over our heads a few times. did we care? HELL TO THE NO. a few times i restrained from molesting aaron/bryce while they wielded their guitars merely a few cm away. did i outrage their modesty? of course not, i am after all a person of culture. HA HA.

“i was afraid, i’d eat your brains…”

(these taped-down setlists became a hot commodity at the end of the show)

“showered and blue-blazered, fill yourself with quarters…”

things went fever pitch when, in the midst of Terrible Love, matt decided to jump down from the stage, SQUASHING MY TOES in the process (yes he was THAT close, i almost wouldn’t let go of his coat), and started wading through the crowd, climbing over seats, the audience parting like the Red Sea, helping him and his mike wire manoeuvre their way to the back of the hall, all the while singing in that beautiful baritone of his. (a little drunk, no doubt, but still.)

8-D 8-D 8-DDDD

“it’s a terrible love that i’m walking with spiders…”

as further evidence that we were right in front of the stage (you believe me by now, right?!), let’s play ‘where’s izadnhana?’. heh. (AND, in true front-row tradition, we got to shake hands with a band member. yes, that scruffy-bearded man in the suit who sings depressing songs. i <3.) #jakunTTM

(photo courtesy of Kristina Cortez on Flickr)

“all the very best of us, string ourselves up for love…”

THANK YOU, The National, for truly making my year.

turned seven. i don’t see him as often as i did when he was a baby and i’d drive to mum’s all the way from work during lunchtime just to play with him (those being pre-aniq days). these days, i can’t seem to elicit as much response from him as i did then.

what i do know is, i’d borrowed his Diary of A Wimpy Kid, and haven’t returned it. aunty will, i promise!

how about i get your NOISY cousins to sing for you again in the meantime?

(dies in embarrassment.)

a father and his children and their dog go on an impromptu adventure to hunt for a bear, overcoming obstacles of nature in the form of swishy grass, sploshy river, squelchy mud, stumbly forest, and swirly snowstorm (gotta love alliterations!). they find that they can’t go over or under these obstacles – rather, they have to go through them, battling their discomforts and fear, all in the name of thrill and adventure. they end up in a cave by the sea, where they do eventually come face to face with… well, a bear. which makes them all helter-skelter trace their route home (and here’s where the kids put their memory skills to use), the bear close on their heels. and they resolve, all huddled together under the bed covers, never to go on a bear hunt again, however exhilarating the experience was.

i like how naturally playful the children are portrayed, and the subtle ways they look out for one another; the older siblings taking turns to carry the baby, the older sister helping her younger sister put on her muddy shoes, the baby reaching out his hand to his older brother and dog as they cross the river.

and i know the bear’s made the villain in the story, having chased the family all the way home and seemingly trying to paw his way through their front door. but i prefer to interpret the bear, shoulders slumped, trudging back to his gloomy cave all alone, as somewhat… despondent. sad, because all he wanted was to be part of the family.

BUT THAT’S JUST ME BEING EMO.

as for auni, well, the repetition of these catchy, sing-song lines won her over, obviously.

and hey whaddaya know, a stage adaptation of this book is coming to town in jan/feb next year, and if you have funds to spare, sistic is selling the tickets. (though, as what i mentioned on twitter, it’ll probably cost me less to go on an actual bear hunt than buying tickets for the family to go to the thea-tuh, sigh.)

i did not end up dating the said JC boy. you could say… there was no chemistry.
(or maybe he thought i was too dumb HA HA.)

anyway.

i had that flashback of dreaded chem labs and dull moments of dripping liquids into beakers, when the twin nephews had their 10th birthday party the other day. if only science was as fun (and full of candy!) as this then…

so cute, they invited their classmates over to the party, the boys came first, and when the girls arrived, THEY ALL SCREAMED AND RAN TO THE KITCHEN AND CLOSED THE DOOR.

seriously, can you understand boys?!

i guess 10 isn’t the magic age then.

maybe… 17. think JC BOYS. mmm.

let’s give it one more weekend…

aniq & auni, originally uploaded by izadd.

as you can see, they’re like my accessories. :p