First day at School

Today is the day. The first day to school. We have just changed his daycare/school from the previous one to this new one known as Little Footprints. He has been attending daycare for the last six months but were sick so frequently that we have opted to change to this new center which looks better managed, more passionate towards the welfare of children and definitely looks much cleaner.

After more than 2 months not having to go to `school' we were apprehensive of how he would behaved this morning. We could not get him to sleep any earlier last night and we dread having to wake him up this morning.

At 8am, I gave him a gentle push and told him to get up. The first thing he did was giving me a frown and said "I don't want to go school!" (We didn't even tell him the night before that he was supposed to go school. How on earth did he knows, beats me!). Then "I don't want to go `mum mum' (eat)" followed by "I don't want to go `kai kai' (out)". Then he turned away and mumbled "Ryan want `ngoi ngoi' (sleep)"....

So, in order not to agitate him any further, we went to have our shower and let him lazed around a bit more. Then as expected, he wanted his milk. Made him his milk and he was having it with his eyes half closed..I was worried as to how to get him to dress without him making a big fuss!...

Luckily, after he finished his milk, he got up, still holding on to his pillow. I tried my luck and asked him to brush his teeth. Surprisingly, he agreed. OK..first hurdle done!..While he was brushing his teeth, I suggested that he changed his clothes and diapers. "OK daddy!" Phew...2nd hurdle done! So we quickly changed him but the moment he saw his uniform, he kept on saying "No school! No school!" Luckily his uniform is just an overcoat, so, we planned to let him wear it only when he gets to school.


Got him to wear his socks and shoes without much of a fuss (though he looked rather grumpy) and got him into the car. 3rd hurdle overcame! Phew.


But the moment we reached the school, he started to cry "Don't want school! Don't want school!". Well, we have no choice. I grab him and carry him inside. The teacher came out and helped him to put on his uniform. There were many other children crying with their parents and the moment he saw that, he stopped crying. He was more curious now. We led him into the playroom with toys on the table. Within minutes, he was busy playing with the toys accompanied by my wife.
After a couple of minutes, while he was busy playing and watching others, we `excused' ourselves silently from the playroom and stood watching from the glass window. While others were either busy crying or running around, he sat on his stool, clutching his bolster, watching others. Since he looked OK with the environment, we left.

When I went back to pick him up at 11a.m. he was already busy mingling around with other kids and was happy to see me. The moment he saw me, he went to the teacher and told her "Ryan go home!" He immediately grabbed his bolster and went looking for his schoolbag. Found it at one corner and immediately dragged it to the door, ready to leave.

A round of good byes and flying kisses all round to all the teachers, he was in the car heading home. First day at school wasn't that bad. The only problem I didn't anticipate was he didn't allow me to get back to work without making a big fuss....(But that is another story..)