Printed Itinerary for Z

When I was younger, I used to gloss over the itineraries provided by travel agencies. Fast forward to today, since most of our trips were free and easy, there was no itinerary except for a trusty excel template.

Z asked many questions and repeated questions about the trip. So much so that I decided to make him his very own version of the itinerary. It would save my breath from telling him what we would be doing from day to day, where we would be staying and more.

I was so happy whenever he asked me anything about the trip that I could tell him, “Go read your itinerary!”

A 2pp Tri-fold itinerary   

 

The feedback for this from a parent’s point of view was awesome. Z stopped asking me repeated questions and had a very good idea of the itinerary. He went as far as to tell his preschool teacher and friends about it. His teacher noted that he remembered many details by heart. It showed how he was able to grasp a big picture when he was passionate about something. Didn’t we always? 

Last Preschool PTM for Z

Given everyone’s busy schedule, we had to split the PTM into 2 parts. We did the first session with the English teacher and had to arrange for a separate session with the Chinese teacher.

We used http://www.littlelives.com to check on Z’s progress. Basically, he was already at the tail end of preschool and he was able to accomplish everything on the list. There was hardly any surprises there.

The teacher covered his progress in English & Math. Generally, he understood the basic concepts for Grammar but had to work on his composition writing. He was unable to extend stories on his own. I hoped that reading Enid Blyton would help him. His Math was generally good so no issues too.

However, what surprised us was when we heard he had behaved in a surprising manner in school. He was aggressive to a classmate, the resident bully, who had picked on him. While one wrong did not right a wrong, it made me wonder how boys of that age should stand up for themselves in tricky situations likes this.

To be honest, Z had stayed away from the boy and told the boy not to do certain things. Unfortunately, the bully persisted on, as he did not see a problem with his own behaviour. It did bring to mind the unfairness of the situation that people only noticed you for irregularities you did, and not the constant thing you were known for – such as consistently bullying others or consistently taking care of others.

The second session with the Chinese teacher materialized a week later. She commended him on his love for the language and the enthusiasm shown. We hoped he would continue to enjoy the language and embrace the learning of Chinese.

She noted that he was still unable to write a short story at this point but it was only a requirement when they hit P2. My guess was other children who went to Chinese enrichment classes were probably savvy in doing so.

I also asked her about some of Z’s random or overly sensitive behavior. She attributed part of it was because of how he was so used to be in the center of everyone’s attention. Another part was that going to primary school was a major transition in their lives and we ought to be more patient and supportive.

She noted that he was already thinking at a mature level and shown deeper level of analysis of situations.

With a snap, I was going to miss Z the preschooler very much.

Changing Faces of Z

Thanks to technology, Z’s preschool had captured the daily ‘Check in/Check out’ photos.

After a very long while, I got round to downloading all the pictures. I saw how my son shed his baby looks to the sharp, angular face he sported today in a span of 2 years. I had not realized the drastic changes till I saw the photos. No wonder everyone kept telling that they thought Z lost weight.

Here were 23 photos tracing Z from Feb 2014 to Dec 2015.

Sunday at Sports Hub

After lunch at the nearby La Barca, we headed to Singapore Sports Muesum which was outside the main entrance of Kallang Wave Mall and the Singapore Indoor Stadium. It was free entry for Singaporeans. ✌🏻️

Kids at the entrance

Striking a pose

Wall of fame
  
  

An old sailboat  

Polo
  

Past medals   

Recalling YOG 2010

On a swing    

The old stadium’s benches where I also learnt that it was built in 1973 and hosted the SEAP games 

The mascot in various sports, not unlike the modern day Nila in different poses    

Winning spoons instead of medals

I never knew motor racing had been legal in Singapore!    

All in all, I thought the exhibits were good. I liked how they explained the history of sports, of the National Stadium I had grown up with and later torn down and the contributions of past sportsmen. 

When we visited the museum, it coincided with the opening weekend of Para Games.

Street performance 

Caught Nila at the stadium while watching the athletic heats and finals   
Three boys clapped, cheered and chatted on their own   
  

Rowing activity  

Z liked it so much that he tried it thrice!

X was flipping the tyre
  

We made our own certificate where X learned to make his name with sign language.  

Proudly showing their certificates 
 

It was a memorable day, even for me, as I saw the visually disabled athletes competed in 100-200m. The running guide shad to be as proficient as the athletes. There was a great deal of synchronization and trust. These athletes set an inspiring role model for the kids.

The discretionary boy

The thing about having a child of this age and sensibility was that he would inform me if I could or could not upload photos in Facebook.

Well, when he knew that I had a blog and would write about him (for obvious reasons), he was rather concerned about what I could possibly write about him.

Of late, he would ask me what photos I was posting, checked on the video contents and read my Facebook status.

If I complained that he was a naughty boy on my blog (and he knew about it), he would get upset and tell me I was not supposed to say that. It was simply not nice.

The good thing was I seldom commented anything negative about him. Hahaha.