Separation Anxiety

It was a very adventurous month in March.

My baby had a melt down which lasted for about 2 weeks from end March till beginning April.

She refused to go to school and cried non-stop in the morning which lasted about 2 hours each day.

She came out with creative excuse like leg pain, tummy ache, not feeling well all over, or friends not refused to play with her or she couldn't write or follow teachers instructions.

I gotta send and fetch her from school as her daddy couldnt manage her.

When I checked with her teachers, they said bb Rae has no learning issues, in fact she is very good and fast in learning, and is always the first to accomplish the task assigned.

We tried to reflect on what had gone wrong then I recalled that the week prior to the melt down, I brought her out during one of the weekdays to meet up with her play date friends. 

She must have thought that if she doesn't go to school, mommy would bring her out to play with her friends.

I brought her out regularly, usually once a week on a weekday to bond with her or let her meet her non-school going friends.

So as she grows, she begins to understand the concept of Time and associate school days with routine learning and non school days as play.

Her teacher advised me not to take her out so that she won't be confused over school and play during weekdays.

The teacher shared that after this period she will be alright.

Fortunately, she got over this separation anxiety after 2 weeks else it'll be tough. 

Last day in school

Last Friday was bb's last day in school as she'll go to a new one in February after our CNY trip from Ipoh.

Yes, we're changing bb to another sch because I don't really like the food menu there.

Weekly lunch menu includes hotdog, fishball, fish cake, chicken nuggets and crab stick and these are processed food which I seldom (actually never) give her at home.

However, the school still keep a place for her so that we can go back should she can't adapt to the new one.

To let bb bid goodbye to her friends and teachers, I've baked some Choco and blueberry muffins for her to distribute to them individually.

I've used the recipe in my blog but up the qty to 18 for each flavor to yield total 36 muffins.

On Thursday night, after putting bb to bed, I packed the muffins in a ziplock bag with a Thank You & Goodbye message stick on.

Happy Teachers Day 2013

Last Thursday was Teachers Day celebration day in BB Rae's school and the following day was a day off for all the teachers in SG, so no school for bb (not sure if it applies to just preschool and primary schools).

I only realized on Wednesday about the celebration and was wondering if I had sufficient time to prepare the gifts for the teachers.

On Thursday morning, I quickly sent bb to school then came home to do house cleaning and left home at 10.30am to the shopping mall nearby to shop for gifts.

After walking around, I decided to get the teachers a gift pack consists of a Hand cream and a Face mask.

I bought the items from SASA and the sales assistants were very kind to help me removed the price tags and helped me packed them into individual packs.

Next, I went to a kiddy shop to get a Hello Kitty (HK) post it note to write the message.

Then I found a quiet corner to repack and sealed the gifts and attached a HK note each.

I checked the time, it was about noon and I had not finished packing.

Lucky RY called me and informed that he was nearby and offered to fetched bb home.

I got him to fetch me from the mall to go to the school together.

We reached baby's school at about 12.30pm and I told bb to distribute the gift to the individual teacher personally, there were 13 of them.

The teachers were very happy and my bb enjoyed giving too!

I am glad that I managed to get the teachers' gifts in time (in a mad rush of course).

Hopefully next year I can be more prepared!

Baby in School

Yesterday was bb 1st day in school!

I woke her up at 7.50am to fed her milk and shower her.

We reached school at 8.20am to q up to let the teacher check her temperature and examine her hand, foot and mouth before letting her inside the school.

It was breakfast time and bb Rae sat down at the dining area to eat with her new friends.

Breakfast was cornflakes with milk but bb preferred hers without milk.

After breakfast, it was story time before the children went into their individual class.

There were 2 other new kids in her playgroup and the teacher let them play at the big play area.

I left the school at about 9.30am as I felt that I should let bb get used to not having me around when she is in school.

The teacher informed that should bb cry uncontrollably or any emergency, she will call me.

I went back with a heavy heart.

I came home to do house cleaning and prepare the ingredients for dinner.

I also checked on my phone continuously for fear that I might missed the school's call.

RY fetched me for lunch at 12 noon and then fetched bb home.

The teacher informed that Bb behaved very well and was able to sit through the class.

She was also able to follow instructions and didn't look for me.

She managed to eat half a bowl of porridge with teacher's assistance.

But bb had a bruise on her left upper eyelid on the first day of school.

Before I left in the morning, she was ok.

The teacher was very apologetic and explained that she didn't cry and nobody knew what happened.

RY and myself were "heart pain" but nothing can be done except to apply some ointment on her when we got home.

On the way home, bb told me that she is very happy and likes school very much.

I gave her some apple and milk.

She napped for 2.5 hours.

Today is her 2nd day in school.

I woke her up at 8am to prepare her and reached school at 8.40am for breakfast, she ate cheese sandwich.

I left at 9.30am and fetched her home at about 12.15pm.

The teacher feedback that she was good except that she doesn't like to share toys with friends.

She also finished a bowl of rice with tou foo, fishball and veg soup.

My precious bb had a fragrant pear and milk.

she just slept at 2pm and I shall wake her up at 4pm.

I hope my bb can adapt well in school fast and pick up good habits like toy sharing, self feeding and good social skill.

Ok, we'll go to School!

We've finally decided to send baby Rae to school and she'll start on 2 Sept for half day class.

The school allows a 2 weeks trial period and in the event that baby doesn't like it, we can withdraw her.

During the registration, I've raised few concerns to the Principal and she assure me that my worries are trivial and can be easily resolved.

These are my concerns:

1 Baby Rae is still unable to self feed

Principal : the teacher will feed her till she is able to self feed and usually with peer learning, she'll pick up the skill fast.

2 Baby Rae prefers soft diet and chew her food thoroughly so she eats really slow

Principal : she is an active toddler and requires lots if energy to be active, should encourage her to eat more solid diet and the teacher will be patient in her feeding.

3 Baby Rae is very active and can't sit still, so may not be able to blend well with the school system

Principal : it's normal for kid like her to run around and many kids started this way and gradually get used to the school routine

4 Baby Rae is very expressive so she may make loud noises if things r not to her liking.

Principal : it's normal for young toddler to make nose as they have not master the right communication skill. They'll learn through teaching and playing.

5 Baby Rae is tall and strong to her age and may exert too much force on other kids, like pushing or patting hard.

Principal : the teachers will observe and ensure the safety of the kids and do corrective action should they spotted any pushing or beating incidents.  Teacher will feedback the incident in class to parents but will not reveal the "culprit" identity so as not to victimized the child.

6 If due to emergency we're not able to pick baby up by 1pm, what should we do?

Principal : Arrangement can be made for the parents to fetch the child later if due to emergency, but not on frequent basis.

We're pretty satisfied with the Principal's replies and went ahead with the enrollment instantly.

School or No School

My baby is 19 months old and next week, she will be 20 months.

I am in a dilemma whether to send her to preschool.

In SG, 18 months old toddler can attend preschool or child care for either half a day or full day.

I've found an ideal school for BB Rae and is able to enroll her anytime but am still pondering which is best, should I send her to school now or defer her till she turns 30 months or older?

I feel that baby is not learning much when she stays at home and I certainly doesn't want to make her a TV addict.

I am always tired as I gotta wake up in the middle of the night to comfort her as she tends to wake up in her dream.  During daytime, I will do housework, cooking and laundry and can't do much teaching as I am burnt out.

I feel sorry for my baby that she has to follow me around at home watching me cook or I will turn on the TV to keep her occupied.

If she goes to school, she has playmates and get to learn while I get some rest.........

But sending her to school may mean that she will get sick easily.

I'm also afraid she may not be able to adapt well in the school environment as she has me around most of the time.

Am in a dilemma ..........

What should I do?

School Hunting for Bb Rae

I've been researching on schools for baby to attend when she turns 18 months this June

I ve visited one centre yesterday near my house.
This school caters for toddlers range from 18 months to 6 years old for play group till Kindergarden 2.
Being a private run center, the school fees is at $1k per month for half day service and about $1.5k for full day one.
This school is new and really near to my place as its just 5 mins walk and has big clen class room and big green area and plenty of space for play!

I'm really tempted to enroll baby in this school but is deterred by the high fees!
With just single income earner, it may not be wise to put her there in the long run as I still have no plan of returning to workforce yet ........

I'm also also considering the public run centre and hopefully I can find a place for baby.
Pls wish me good luck!