short notes about school
Now that my fanfiction binge has slowed down somewhat (but not disappeared completely - I don't think that will ever happen), these days I've returned to browsing through blogs again. The warmer weather has, for me, rekindled a spark of interest in the contents of my wardrobe. No more hiding under a great big coat; bring out the interesting jackets and layers. Even so, the weekend was a windy and rainy one, with a temperature high of something like 9˚C, so it's not quite time to wash and pack away the winter stuff just yet.
Anyway, looking through the various fashion blogs geared towards my, er, demographic just made me slightly depressed. Seriously, how do these women do the school run in heels, or leave the house in colour-coordinated clothes? My confession: I have occasionally just thrown my coat over my pyjama top, pulled on my jeans and boots, and gone to school that way. It's difficult enough getting both kids out of the apartment and into the car with all their clothes and stuff without worrying about my own clothes. And I guess that's what sets me apart from all these fashion blogger mothers. They're meant to inspire; no one wants to look at pictures of a bedraggled mother hauling her bickering offspring to school, right?
Maybe The Bun's school is posh or something, because yes, there are mothers who do pull up at school looking very chic and immaculate. I don't know how they do it. If I'm wearing something that is NOT a hoodie or a parka, that's a good day for me. What I really want to read is not a blog about a yummy mummy. Let's be realistic here: a not-so frumpy mummy blog is good enough for me.
__________________
There's a new girl in The Bun's class who started a week ago, and he told me about her on the first day back but I didn't think further on it. On the second day of term he emerged at pick-up with a tall gangly girl following behind him. 'Are you The Bun's mum?' she asked. 'Can we have a playdate?' She was a full head (and a bit) taller than The Bun so I thought she was a kid from another year and totally confused, but then The Bun announced her name and comprehension dawned - this was H, the new girl in class.
These two have really hit it off together marvellously because The Bun tells me they only play with each other at playtime now, and H's mother told me that she talks about The Bun nonstop at home. Today when they came out of the building together as usual, she came up to me and whined about the playdate some more. After that she threw her hoodie and her bag at The Bun and asked him to carry them for her. He promptly threw them back at her and they both ran up and down the driveway with the hoodie between them, giggling, and the word that came to mind was 'flirting' even though I know that's not what it really was. Still, it's very cute to see them together.
But yes, there is a playdate set up for Wednesday, and The Bun is so excited that he is willing to go in H's car with her father to her house for the playdate. Normally he would balk at this and insist that I escort him, but I think with H's influence he's a bit braver and this will be a good step towards independence for him. Such is parenthood - we ease and encourage them further and further away from us, and then we wish that they were small and dependent on us again.
__________________
This school year seemed to go by especially quickly. In a couple of months it will end and the summer holidays will begin. The Bun will be having a busy final term in school with two after-school clubs each week, Food Fun in French (lots of making food sculptures and working with recipes) and Lego Design and Build. The Bun has always enjoyed making things with blocks since he was a toddler but is reluctant to build with actual Lego pieces because he doesn't like the texture of the blocks (too sharp and hard, he says) and the way he has to use his thumbs to pry them apart. He will play with Duplo though, and I'm hoping this Lego club will encourage him to try out Lego a bit more. I remember spending hours and hours building houses and furniture with Lego when I was little. This club is right up his alley, anyway - he loves writing instructional manuals and drawing diagrams, so to see a design go from paper to 3D model will be quite cool for him.
The rest of the term sounds exciting too: there's a Lower School show that he is enthusiastically preparing for, having brought home the script, he spends his evenings mouthing the song lyrics to himself and talking endlessly about it. His class will be off to watch circus-theatre performance in a couple of weeks, and in June they will all go across the lake (and border) to Yvoire for the day, where apparently the highlight is an ice-cream treat from the teachers. The trick is that they will have to order it by themselves in French. I think the teachers will need to find a very patient ice-cream seller who will take individual orders from forty kids.
Then there will be Sports Day and Speech Day and then school's out! I always see my years bookended by the school terms, really, because they are such significant markers in our household's day-to-day life. It makes things a bit odd because it's not like in Singapore where the new school year coincides with the actual new calendar year, so come September when everything starts up again it will feel like a new year for me.
The Bun will then be in Year Two. According to The Bun, Year Two is a big deal because 1) no parents are allowed past the staircase leading towards the classrooms upstairs; 2) all of them get speaking parts in the school plays (right now they just perform a song and dance); and 3) the following summer, there will be a compulsory residential camp at a Swiss village just off the lake. I can't quite imagine The Bun sleeping away from home for two nights, accompanied by his friends and teachers, but I think that like many of his milestones in school, he will rise to the challenge. It's quite common for Swiss schools to do residential trips from age six onwards, and older kids like the Year Fives get to spend five days in Provence, lucky them!
Like many Singaporean parents we know, J and I are now making Primary One registration plans for The Bun. That's a major milestone. We may not be back for Primary One, but true to our Singaporean roots, it's necessary to register this year in order to secure a place for our future return. I'm feeling quite ambivalent about this - the return to the famed Singaporean pressure-cooker education system, especially now that we have experienced, vicariously through The Bun, how fun school is over here. This is the kid who now complains about the weekend and counts down to Monday so that he can go back to school.
One step at a time. Perspective is key, and there must (must) be a way to hold onto this love for school, this optimism in life.
Anyway, looking through the various fashion blogs geared towards my, er, demographic just made me slightly depressed. Seriously, how do these women do the school run in heels, or leave the house in colour-coordinated clothes? My confession: I have occasionally just thrown my coat over my pyjama top, pulled on my jeans and boots, and gone to school that way. It's difficult enough getting both kids out of the apartment and into the car with all their clothes and stuff without worrying about my own clothes. And I guess that's what sets me apart from all these fashion blogger mothers. They're meant to inspire; no one wants to look at pictures of a bedraggled mother hauling her bickering offspring to school, right?
Maybe The Bun's school is posh or something, because yes, there are mothers who do pull up at school looking very chic and immaculate. I don't know how they do it. If I'm wearing something that is NOT a hoodie or a parka, that's a good day for me. What I really want to read is not a blog about a yummy mummy. Let's be realistic here: a not-so frumpy mummy blog is good enough for me.
__________________
There's a new girl in The Bun's class who started a week ago, and he told me about her on the first day back but I didn't think further on it. On the second day of term he emerged at pick-up with a tall gangly girl following behind him. 'Are you The Bun's mum?' she asked. 'Can we have a playdate?' She was a full head (and a bit) taller than The Bun so I thought she was a kid from another year and totally confused, but then The Bun announced her name and comprehension dawned - this was H, the new girl in class.
These two have really hit it off together marvellously because The Bun tells me they only play with each other at playtime now, and H's mother told me that she talks about The Bun nonstop at home. Today when they came out of the building together as usual, she came up to me and whined about the playdate some more. After that she threw her hoodie and her bag at The Bun and asked him to carry them for her. He promptly threw them back at her and they both ran up and down the driveway with the hoodie between them, giggling, and the word that came to mind was 'flirting' even though I know that's not what it really was. Still, it's very cute to see them together.
But yes, there is a playdate set up for Wednesday, and The Bun is so excited that he is willing to go in H's car with her father to her house for the playdate. Normally he would balk at this and insist that I escort him, but I think with H's influence he's a bit braver and this will be a good step towards independence for him. Such is parenthood - we ease and encourage them further and further away from us, and then we wish that they were small and dependent on us again.
__________________
This school year seemed to go by especially quickly. In a couple of months it will end and the summer holidays will begin. The Bun will be having a busy final term in school with two after-school clubs each week, Food Fun in French (lots of making food sculptures and working with recipes) and Lego Design and Build. The Bun has always enjoyed making things with blocks since he was a toddler but is reluctant to build with actual Lego pieces because he doesn't like the texture of the blocks (too sharp and hard, he says) and the way he has to use his thumbs to pry them apart. He will play with Duplo though, and I'm hoping this Lego club will encourage him to try out Lego a bit more. I remember spending hours and hours building houses and furniture with Lego when I was little. This club is right up his alley, anyway - he loves writing instructional manuals and drawing diagrams, so to see a design go from paper to 3D model will be quite cool for him.
The rest of the term sounds exciting too: there's a Lower School show that he is enthusiastically preparing for, having brought home the script, he spends his evenings mouthing the song lyrics to himself and talking endlessly about it. His class will be off to watch circus-theatre performance in a couple of weeks, and in June they will all go across the lake (and border) to Yvoire for the day, where apparently the highlight is an ice-cream treat from the teachers. The trick is that they will have to order it by themselves in French. I think the teachers will need to find a very patient ice-cream seller who will take individual orders from forty kids.
Then there will be Sports Day and Speech Day and then school's out! I always see my years bookended by the school terms, really, because they are such significant markers in our household's day-to-day life. It makes things a bit odd because it's not like in Singapore where the new school year coincides with the actual new calendar year, so come September when everything starts up again it will feel like a new year for me.
The Bun will then be in Year Two. According to The Bun, Year Two is a big deal because 1) no parents are allowed past the staircase leading towards the classrooms upstairs; 2) all of them get speaking parts in the school plays (right now they just perform a song and dance); and 3) the following summer, there will be a compulsory residential camp at a Swiss village just off the lake. I can't quite imagine The Bun sleeping away from home for two nights, accompanied by his friends and teachers, but I think that like many of his milestones in school, he will rise to the challenge. It's quite common for Swiss schools to do residential trips from age six onwards, and older kids like the Year Fives get to spend five days in Provence, lucky them!
Like many Singaporean parents we know, J and I are now making Primary One registration plans for The Bun. That's a major milestone. We may not be back for Primary One, but true to our Singaporean roots, it's necessary to register this year in order to secure a place for our future return. I'm feeling quite ambivalent about this - the return to the famed Singaporean pressure-cooker education system, especially now that we have experienced, vicariously through The Bun, how fun school is over here. This is the kid who now complains about the weekend and counts down to Monday so that he can go back to school.
One step at a time. Perspective is key, and there must (must) be a way to hold onto this love for school, this optimism in life.