my melody.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

♥ Good Friends for life…

Do you have good friends?

Sometimes, I do not know if I have good friends. Coz’ I realized I have become more self-centred.

However, I know that I need to make more time for my friends and to make more effort to care about them. Somehow somewhere along the way, with kid and all, I have chucked my good friends in the backseat and have neglected the fact that friendships need to be nurtured as well.

Especially my Primary school classmates. They are friends whom I don't meet up a lot but have always remained close all through the years. When we meet up, we transform into Primary kids in the 80s. I have to say that coz' Pri kids these days are mature and clever and chic. We? We were silly and childish, and no matter how sophisticated or grown up we have become over the years, we will just transform into those nerdy, silly, Pri kids we used to be.

It's magical.

Not to forget my Secondary schoolmates too. And of them all, I am always thankful for one of my closest friends.

It is obvious that we are still good friends. We complete each other's sentences, we laugh over things which I'm quite sure nobody else in the world would find it amusing, we chat and chat nonstop and usually it's over nothing at all, and sometimes, we aches in our tummies coz' we laugh too much.

We really laugh over the silliest things. And in the bag of jokes that we have collected over more than 16 years of friendship are little pockets of memories about one another, some embarrassing, some hilarious, but all of them precious.

Together, we've been through a lot. I have 1 kid now and she is getting married soon. There were good times and there were bad times. I won’t get to see her once she migrates to America after her wedding. But I really think we are going to grow old together and talk about our young days and still laugh ourselves silly when we are toothless. By then, I think our joke would be who has the most uneven bald head. I think we will still be silly when we are 70.

♥

bong~bong @// 27.1.10

Thursday, January 21, 2010

♥ Being bully or....

Even since Melody started her nursery early this month, I have noticed lately there’s bit of finger nails scratch marks on her shoulder and neck.

I was wondering if she’s been bully by her peers or she’s been fighting or snatching things with others.

Well, kids are kids. I know how they behave in school. However, as a mom, I do not wish my kid to get bully in school.

So, these few days, I’ve been preparing Melody what to do if someone bully/beat her.

"Melody, do you know what you should do if someone pushes or beats you in school?"

She smiled sheepishly and said "I don't know!'

I decided to demonstrate. I stood up, stuck my fists on my waist and said - "You tell them - 'DO NOT BULLY MELODY!' very firmly and loudly. OK?"

She looked at me, and said - "DO NOT BULLY MELODY!"

I burst out into laughter.

YES!

My kid is so cute.

♥

bong~bong @// 21.1.10

Thursday, January 14, 2010

♥ Melody's grandmothers

Melody is so fortunate to have 2 grandmas. Both grandmas sayang her so much..

♥

bong~bong @// 14.1.10

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

♥ Enjoying school..

This morning, Melody’s teacher told me she settled quite well in school. She enjoys and participate all curriculums and activities in class. I was totally blown away by her enthusiasm. I was also there to observe her. I’m glad she knows where’s her name in the cupboard which she keeps her shoes and bag. The only hiccup is during meal time, she is very choosy and eats very little.

More parents are sending their kids to extra classes and enrichments in a hope to better prepare higher academic expectations.

For Melody, so far, she has Little Note Music class once a week.

I don’t know if I’m the odd one out, but while I still can, I prefer to keep my kid’s days less busy with programmed schedules, especially since she is only 3 years old.

I prefer my Melody to enjoy her childhood days, like having arts and crafts or reading session together on one day, and playground time on another, biking around the neighbourhood, going out and about to fun places, or…. shopping together.

At the rate and way that I am teaching her now, she's not going to be able to catch up with her peers when she starts formal school. Not that I feel there's anything wrong with it now! I am actually quite proud of how we spend our time exploring and having fun.

The last thing I want is for her confidence to take a serious beating when she enters formal school or being called "stupid" by her peers. We all know how kids are these days.

I have always said I don't care if my kid fail her exams in school or come in last in class. School is the place to learn, but what and how much she learns should not be determined by how well she does in exams. It is how much effort she put in, her experiences in the process of learning, making new friends and keeping old friends, how she manage her time and stress during exams etc.

BUT. All this time, I forgot to consider how my child will feel if she was to do poorly in school.

Would all kids really even out before they enter the compulsory school system, whether or not they have attended preschool or not? I hope so. I really do.

But I doubt it for the majority.

I still think attending school at the age of 3 is a crazy thing to do. But I guess it's not too too too bad if it is with the right preschool and the right teachers. And I should have more confidence that Melody will enjoy her school days more than I did during my time.

♥

bong~bong @// 12.1.10

Saturday, January 09, 2010

♥ Melody @ 3 years 4 months

My Melody was sick after her day 2 at school, with her recurring fevers, running nose and phlegmy coughs. She has been resting at home for the past 3 days. She told me she wants to go school. Well, I think she really enjoys school.

To be very honest, I am still not sure whether sending her to the new school is the right thing to do. But I'll try to let go and let my Melody learn about the world with her new friends and teachers, without me, for 8 hours a day.

While I’m a full time working mom, I always try my best to share everything together with Melody, we are hardly apart in the past 3 years. And we enjoyed the wonderful experiences we share together.

Watching Melody and thinking back on the years, I seemed to have gone through so much and my Melody has grown so much too.

But at the end of the day, I think it's all worth it. A kid's laughter is addictive. Watching your kid beam with happiness is truly priceless.

♥

bong~bong @// 9.1.10

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

♥ Melody’s Real Schooling days begin!

It’s the beginning of another school year for almost all preschoolers here in Singapore, and yesterday Melody officially started her Nursery class!

Why do I said Officially. Coz the one that she attended last year was more of like pre-nursery.

And again, I was totally unprepared. Not ’separation anxiety’. But ‘independent’.

She has to keep her bag and shoes properly in the cupboard all by herself, no teachers will guide and help her.

She has to take off her clothes herself during shower time and wear her clothes herself, she also need to comb her own hair herself.

She has to go toilet without any help from the teachers and clean herself after she done her ‘business’

She also needs to spoon-feed herself during meals and clear the table herself without any help.

Of course the teachers will oversee everything.

However, I’m not used to this kind of ‘independent’ for my little gal. So I’m kind of worried and heartache.

Oh well. It’s a new phase that she and I will learn to sail through. And in my heart I know she’ll be okay and happy with school.

♥

bong~bong @// 5.1.10