Back to School 2013

the day i've been waiting for for 7 weeks has arrived. after spending 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with the four boys, they are finally going back to school!

amir was extremely excited to enter Year 2, asyraf was stressed out of his mind at the thought of 2 new schools, ariff was at his normal no-feel self (according to him he's been at the school for a whole year so there nothing new!) and akmal refused to move into a new class.

the weekend before school started the boys and i prepared their bags, shoes and uniform. i spoke to asyraf at great length of what to expect. hubby and i went through the schedules - who to send who, who to pick whom up, what happens when there's emergency etc.

come wednesday we were somewhat prepared. we sent ariff and akmal to bicdc first. we walked them to their classrooms, said bye and left. after 3 years, we're pretty confident of the teachers' capabilities. next was sra for amir & asyraf. since there was no news at all from sea during the school holidays, we thought we would be spending more time there as we didn't know which class asyraf would be in, what we need to pay, how much we would be payin, and such. and yes, we were there for almost 2 hours. we first had to find their classes. amir moved class, apparently because he scored in the top 85% in Year 1. after finding amir's class we went to look for asyraf's class. then we had to register & pay his fees. the queue of parents in each class was long. we finally left at 10am before showing asyraf a bit of the school.

after picking up akmal from bicdc and having a quick lunch, we went to skbj for asyraf's first day of school. we went out quite late thinking school started at 1.40pm so asyraf did not join the other children in the hall and had to go up to his class straight away. as they were having their recess at 3pm we opted to wait at the canteen along with many other parents. recess is a stressful time for me. i'm not able to trust asyraf yet, with his purchases and with his clumsiness. i dread the day he comes home with yellow and red-spotted uniform.

on the second day of school, we took time to see akmal & ariff at bicdc. we didn't have to but we just wanted them to not feel left out since everything was about asyraf this year. what can i say except that they were more than fine but at least we went to see them. we then went to see asyraf during recess at sra. amir was around to keep an eye on him, which was wonderful. we still had to wait at the canteen to see how asyraf was doing at skbj. he's still in his buying mood, he was buying almost everything at the canteen. i told him, as long as there's nothing with gravy and absolutely no ice cream!

the third day of school was a bit more relaxed. asyraf quickly adapted to the sra environment. not having too many students helped. he was also able to walk into skbj with amir (mainly because i had a massive migraine). hubby went to see him during recess and he was doing fine with his classmates (and classmate's mummies).

so far, he's been ok on his own today. he did ask me to come see him during recess but akmal was asleep and didn't want to wake up at all. i'll still drop by a couple of times this week and next, just to make sure he's getting on alright.

As We Move On...

goodbye 2012

hello 2013

i only have one wish for 2013, that is the health (and then some wealth) and safety of my family, Amin.

And there are men who say: "Our Lord! Give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and defend us from the torment of the Fire!"
Dan di antara mereka pula ada yang (berdoa dengan) berkata: "Wahai Tuhan kami, berikanlah kami kebaikan di dunia dan kebaikan di akhirat, dan perliharalah kami dari azab neraka!"

School Holidays 2012

alhamdulillah, we're almost at the end of the holidays. just another day then i can hang up the rotan, the hangers, rest my voice somewhat and take it easy on the panadols. the 7 weeks passed by quickly but at times, not quick enough.

i saw quite a few buntings and banners around the neighbourhood on school holiday programmes but they mostly do not suit the boys, particularly age wise. most cater for 7 years and above, and i do not want to send amir alone. it should, at least, cater to children 5 years and above, for me to consider.

thanks to bicdc, the boys were able to join a holiday programme for a week. the timing was just perfect because the SK bookshop opened on the same week, so i had time buy and wrap amir & asyraf's books. they came back bearing many, many arts & crafts and a new-found love for dinosaurs.
(pictures courtesy of bicdc teachers)

the boys also went to a cooking class at teacher hanifah's house. i had a couple of days to run around settling the school uniform & sewing the school badges & name tags.

(pictures courtesy of bicdc teachers)

on weekends they had swimming lessons over at cahaya spk resort. the pool is seriously not great, they have a lot of cleaning to do but at least the boys have basic knowledge of swimming, after 10 lessons.

akmal did not join the swimming lessons and played by himself whenever he followed his abangs to the class.

next year i need to browse earlier for holiday programmes. i'm targeting to sent amir & asyraf to an english programme and hopefully the new mosque would have some activities the boys can join.

other than the programmes the boys attended, they mostly stayed at home. they would spend the morning playing and cycling at the porch or playing at the nearby playgrounds. after their shower they would watch the telly or play their PSPs. asyraf and ariff would take out their activity books and are able to move from one activity to another. amir, however, would either play his PSP or watch the telly. he gets bored quickly with both and starts disturbing his brothers which leads to me screaming and yelling. akmal and ariff would take their late afternoon naps and that's when the house is relatively quiet.

all in all its not that bad. i do wish amir would disturb and irritate everyone less but according to him, he doesn't know how to be nice *sigh*