Kindergarden 101

One of the things which I find useful about my blog is the fact that it is like a personal forum :)

Today, I'm going to put the "forum" to use. I have a few questions for all parents who have sent their children to kindergarden. I was told that I had better register early (as early as one year before???), I have to choose the kindy carefully and a there is a host of other things to consider too, amongst them food, transport, safety aspects, teaching methods, teacher to student ratio etc etc (which gave me quite a scare.)

So, parents of children attending/who attended kindergarden, could you help me out here? Could you share with me......

1. When did you register? (ie how many months in advance?)
2. How old was your kid?
3. How did you choose the kindy?
4. What is your child's personality and how long did he/she take to settle down?
5. Are you happy with your choice?
6. Any horror/happy stories to share?
7. Questions regarding kindergarden school term. See below:

I just thought of some more questions after reading through some of the comments so I shall add it here.

• When does the kindergarden term start?
• Can one send one's child mid-term?
• Would the child which starts mid-term have more difficulty adjusting since the other kids and the teachers are already familiar with each other?

Please feel free (don't be shy) to leave a long comment as it will be very useful information to me and other parents who have yet to send their child to kindergarden. My list of questions is non-exhaustive. Do share anything else that comes to your mind that I haven't listed. Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.

Or you can leave your link to your old blog post (like Elaine just did) on the subject. I will post it here for those of us which missed it. Thanks.

Related links:

Pre-School - Clumsy Wife, Careless Mum
Pre-School Experiences - Our Magic Tree
Pre-School Experiences - Happy Family
My Boy First Day In Nursery - MyBabybay.Com
Pre-School - II - Clumsy Wife, Careless Mum

My kids love to brush teeth!

"Mummy, I want to brush teeth" says my girl.
"Teeth. Teeth" says my boy pointing to the toothbrush.

When my girl was very young, she used to sit at the bathroom door and watch me brush my teeth. I would show her the toothpaste then tell her "toothpaste", "toothbrush", "mummy brush teeth" and she would laugh we she saw me brushing. Later on, I would use the same trick on my son, with the same results.. laughter.

As soon as she was able to, my girl wanted to brush teeth, especially since she saw that Elmo was doing it in the keyboard O-rama pc alphabet game under "T" for toothbrush and Barney had a nice song about brushing teeth. (Lyrics here) I let her stand on a stool so she could reach the sink and look into the mirror and we sang the song together or we would make funny faces and say "EEEEE" (to brush the outer teeth) or "AHHHHH" (to brush the inner teeth). She loved it. Now she has even mastered the art of throwing her head back (just like daddy) when she gargles. Hahaha.

She would also insist that I check her teeth after she brushes. "Mummy, check, check." she says as she passes her toothbrush to me to do the finishing touches. When I'm too lazy busy to check she would become very unhappy.

Now baby is following close in her footsteps. I think it makes him feel like a big boy to imitate us. I used to ask him to wait for his turn (as I was too lazy to handle two together in the bathroom) but then he would look so sad and forlorn at the bathroom door saying "teeth. teeth." so sadly. I have now incorporated their routine to allow them to do it together. So now he stands on his own stool beside his sister to eat/bite his toothbrush brush his teeth. And when he sees us gargle, he too would bend his head over the sink and pretend to spit. Lol!

Dunno why but my kids love to brush their teeth. I hope it stays that way and there never has to come a time when I have to shout at them to brush their teeth. Hehehe.

Cranial Detoxification Anyone?

Yesterday someone slipped a brochure for various spa treatments under my door. So naturally I took a peek before throwing it in the bin. I looked at the colourful pictures of the various massages being offered at ridiculously high prices.

Then I almost choked in my own laughter when I saw a picture of a person lying down with his ears being dugged by another. "Cranial Detoxification" it said beneath the picture. Ewww! Who on earth would want to pay to have their ears dugged? Siao!

Even the ENTs do not recommend that you dig your ears with Q-tips as it can push dirt further into your ear canal or even cause injury. In that picture, the person was holding a rather long looking thingy to dig out the ears of the person having the so called "Cranial Detoxification". Hmm.. what will people think of next?

He works hard for the money

"Good lah you. Your wife not working."

To me, this is an understatement. I wonder what people mean when they make such a statement? If I were Mr MG, I'd bash up the next chap who tells me that. (Just like the way I want to bash up the next person who tells me "Wah good lah you. No need to work.")

I read an interesting article the other day and can identify with it. The article is titled The Unsung Heroes : What about working dads?

Here are some excerpts from the article which I can identify with, especially the parts I put in bold.

"We are bombarded by stories about the struggles of working mothers (as opposed to non-working mothers, I suppose). ......... It seems that the only time fathers merit attention is when they are criticized for not helping enough with the housework (a claim that I find dubious anyway, because the definition of "housework" rarely includes cleaning the gutters, changing the oil in the car or other jobs typically done by men) or when they die.

......Our society acts as if family obligations are not as important to fathers as they are to mothers -- as if career satisfaction is what a man's life is all about.

Even more insulting is the recent media trend of regarding at-home wives as "status symbols" -- like an expensive car -- flaunted by the supposedly few men who can afford such a luxury. The implication is that men with at-home wives have it easier than those whose wives work outside the home because they have the "luxury" of a full-time housekeeper.

In reality, however, the men who are the sole wage earners for their families suffer many stresses. The loss of a job -- or even the threat of that happening -- is obviously much more difficult when that job is the sole source of income for a family. By the same token, sole wage earners have less flexibility when it comes to leaving unsatisfying careers because of the loss of income such a job change entails. In addition, many husbands work overtime or second jobs to make more needed money for their families. For these men, it is the family that the job supports that makes it all worthwhile.

.....Those fathers who strive to be good family men by being there every day to love and support their families -- those unsung heroes -- need our recognition and our thanks for all they do. Because they deserve it. "

I'm putting this article here on my blog to remind myself to be a supportive wife to my childrens' father. I do know that he faces a lot of stresses at work but nevertheless he has to plod on no matter what, for us, his family. So, the next time someone says this to Mr MG "Good lah you. Your wife not working." I will bash him up for Mr MG. Hehe.

Copycat

My Girl: Mummy, if you are angry, I will be angry too. If you are sad, I will be sad too. If you are happy, I will be happy too.

MG: Why? (Since she likes to ask me why, sometimes I throw the question back at her)

My Girl: Because I copy you. When baby say "kong kong". I say "kong kong". I copy him. Copy means I follow him.

MG: No need to copy me lah. (Aiyoyo! Finishlah. Now got somebody copy me when I am angry. Better watch it liao!)

My Girl: When you angry, I will be angry too. I copy you. That is the way. (It was so funny the way she said "That is the way" as if there was no other way and her face was so serious when she said it! )

MG: What is copy? (testing her further)

My Girl: Copy means when people do, other people will follow. (Hmm. Very good explanation. She really knows the meaning.)

Thats just another example of how we may inadvertently shape our children's emotional growth through our very own behaviour. Having children is really heavy responsibility indeed. Even when we're not aware of it (they're watching us), we are all the while shaping and guiding them, hopefully, to become responsible, well balanced adults. Oops! MG had better not throw anymore tantrums around the house. Hehehe.