The lil’ dude and his family…

We’d like to wish all our Chinese friends Selamat Tahun Baru Cina! :) Hope you guys drive safe and eat safe too, yeah? Haha!

I bought Irfan this samfu last week as today is wear-samfu-or-cheongsam day at his school. He chose the colour and the pattern. There was another pair that I liked, but for something that he’s only going to wear once or twice, not worth itlah. Heh. He wouldn’t stand still for me to take (nicer) pictures this morning, so this is what I have for now. Hopefully he’ll behave better on Monday so that I can take better pictures.

Til then.. see you guys soon!! Gong Xi Fa Chai! :)

p/s: He’s behaving better in school. Phew. Thanks for all your advices. Appreciate them!

It was a rather simple affair - dinner with two of my favourite boys. Traffic was madness yesterday, so I was quite tired by the time I got us into town. And then Irfan was restless halfway towards dinner and wasn’t really himself - probably because of the flu and slight cough but whatever it is, I’m thankful for having them around me. :) Thanks for the dinner, babe! I’ll claim my present in a while, ok? Too many to choose from. Haha! :P

Aaaaanyway, the little one is enjoying himself in school. BUT I’m a little concern on some things. See, as all of you are aware, he’s the ONLY child we have (for now) and the ONLY grandson on my side and has been the ONLY grandson on Irwan’s side too ’til about 6 months ago. He’s not had that many playdates (blame it on me!) and so, he’s not sure how he should be around kids as he’s only had adults as his companions/friends/whatever.

He hugged two girls from his class a bit too hard and now the girls are afraid to come to school. I know he’s only a kid - not even 3 yet - but I can’t help but to be all stressed out about it. And thennnnn, he pushed this boy from his class yesterday. And the poor boy has a bump on his forehead. What gives? Yes, Irfan sometimes push us too. But I guess us being adults, getting pushed by a little kid isn’t that badlah. So, I guess, in his defense, he thought that it’d be the same too with the other boy? Dahlah budak tu duduk senyap-senyap and mind his own business je. Ish.

Had quite a long chat with his principal yesterday and she said that this is a normal thing for kids like him, i.e. never had that many interactions with other kids. He’s sort of trying to adjust to the new environment and happy to have friends around him but doesn’t know how to handle his strength and emotions. I’ve read some sites (thanks Hetz!) and what the principal say and what they (the sites) say are almost the same - that it’s normal and as long as we keep an eye on things, he’ll understand sooner or later. But if it’s normal, why do I feel as though I’ve failed being a good mother and teaching my son good values? Argh!

Well, both Irwan and I (and my parents) have spoken to Irfan about it. And I’ve threatened to give the other boy all of his cars if he still pushes him. He does not like that idea, so we’ll see. It’s good that he can defend himself, but it’s not good if he’s a bully in the making. Sigh.

Have you gone through something similar?

07.01.09 - First Day

Sent him to the school around 10 a.m as it was the first day of school for everyone else and his principal advised me on bringing him a bit later. He was very happy to be there, but wasn’t too happy when my mom and I disappeared into the Principal’s office. He knew that I had to go to work, so he wasn’t particularly edgy about that, but he wasn’t very keen on the idea of seeing my mom go too. What did he do? Crylah! Ish.

His principal then told my mom to give her a ring in an hour’s time to see how things are. She also advised my mom to take Irfan back home after an hour so that he wouldn’t be too traumatized on the second day. When my mom picked Irfan up at about 11.15 a.m, Irfan has stopped crying but his eyes were red and puffy. Poor boy. He immediately ran into my mom’s arms and refused to say goodbye to his teachers. Hrmph.

08.01.09 - Second Day

I sent him at 8.45 a.m and went into the kindy with him. He cried non-stop and refused to let go off me. Aiseh. He wanted to play downstairslah, wanted to go on the slide outsidelah, but I can’t leave his sight. After about 10 minutes or so, I was told to just leave him with his teacher. And so I did.

Half an hour later, his principal text-ed me and said that he’s calmed down already and is very attached to his teacher. Good news! After a few texts between the two of us, his principal said that he has become chattier and she can hear him reciting 123 and ABC as well as singing some nursery rhymes from her office! Haha. Funny ah he.

Since Irfan is not 100% toilet trained, I was told to let them continue training him in school. What we didn’t expect is that he’s not too comfortable with the toilet there and kept saying “scared” whenever his teacher brings him to the toilet. In the end, he wet himself while playing outside and after his teacher cleaned him, he said that he wants to wear his Mamy Poko diaper. Adeh. Well, I am proud that he’s quite independent and knows what he wants and doesn’t want, but malulah wey mintak pakai diapers! :P But she wore him his diaperlah.

09.01.09 - Third Day

Sent him around 8.45 a.m. again and this time he started his “nak Mama, nak Mama” even before I could turn the engine off. Ish. We were greeted by his principal and teacher at the gate and his teacher dukung-ed him and I wasn’t allowed to bring him inside. Well, I didn’t quite mind that because I know the longer I am there, the more ruckus he’ll create. So I left.

His principal called to inform me that maybe we should take one step at a time and let him adjust to be in school and start his toilet training there once he’s more settled in school - which is fine by me - because she doesn’t want him to feel all pressured. Kecik-kecik pun dah kena pressure. Kesian. Heh.

I didn’t instruct my mom to pick him up early and since his principal didn’t call me either, Irfan stayed on until 1230 p.m and when she picked him up, my mom was told that he did lots of singing, reading and eating! He finished the cheese sandwich I packed him and ate one and a half bowl of fried rice! His appetite is still there, no doubt. Haha. And oh, his teacher now knows that his favourite number is 8. That has been his favourite number ever since we introduced to him the numbers. Ong? ;)

he’ll be starting his first day of kindy tomorrow! I am both excited and nervous for the both of us. Haha. I just hope that things will be okay and that he’ll enjoy his days kat situ. We were there last Saturday for the kindy’s open day and Irfan had such fun playing with all the assorted toys, cutting the (toy) vegetables and fruits and mingling around. I heard that some of the parents were moving their kids there from another famous kindy in Bangsar because of the fees hike, but hey, even this one dah naik by a hundred bucks, ok? Gila madness! I think I’m going to have to agree with Irwan on this one - the fees we are paying definitely can pay off somebody’s Diploma course locally!

So yeah, the kid’s happy, the parents are a nervous wreck, but hey, that’s what this is about, right? Right! And poor Irwan wouldn’t be able to see his firstborn off to kindy as it’s only his 7th day tomorrow kat the new office and speaking of the new workplace, sigh, since he’s holding quite an important position, I (or rather we) hardly see him on weeknights. :( And the guys there even work on weekends and Irwan feels bad that he isn’t. W.h.a.t??!!!!! :P I dontch like the blackberry that the company has given him. Maybe I should turn it off on weekends. Haha!

By the way, do kids tend to get sick more often when they are in kindies? That really is my main concern because Irfan just got better from flu, fever, cough - the whole works! - and I really don’t want him to get sick againlah. Dahlah his wheezing got so bad that day that he had to be on the puffs (inhalers) after the nebulizer. Ish! Ikut mak bapak dia jugaklaaaaa…