It’s close to 11pm now. Although I’m physically exhausted, but my mind is still fresh and I want to blog about our Little Edison’s first day at pre-nursery today. He will be at this church kindergarten from 8am to 11am for 5 days a week, following the school calendar.

On the first day, the school lasted for just 2.5 hours. Kindergarten 1 and 2 will start a week later on 11 Jan 2010. All the teachers in the kindergarten are assigned to help out with the Pre-Nursery and Nursery starts this week. Thus, it is much more manageable.

The class started with assembly this morning. The teachers were trying very hard to gather all the students to sit together, and then they read out their names and put on name tags on them for identification. The teachers are like shepherds trying to gather all the little sheeps in the field. It ain’t easy – the children are all over the place!

After the assembly and a short briefing, all the children were brought to the toilet. The next half an hour was outdoor playtime. Little Edison was too excited with this Little Tikes push car; he simply refused to pass it on to his classmates. At the end, two of them squeezed into this little car!

After the first hour, some of the children were grouchy and started crying for their mommies. The teachers did an excellent job in calming them down. After the outdoor play, the children returned to their classroom for breakfast. I hide myself at the corner of the classroom, but my little boy couldn’t be bothered about my disappearance. After breakfast, the children were grouped in five for free-play activities – blocks, puzzles, cooking etc.

I walked out of the classroom one hour prior dismissal. I was confident that Little Edison will be fine. First day at school has been a lot easier than I imagined. Our Little Edison is blessed by a cool and unaffected confidence about everything. He had a lovely time because his school is just like a giant toy store that he can play with anything and everything.

Little Edison was super wiped out after the class. As soon as he reached his grandparent’s house, he fell asleep. I was somehow exhausted too, but I need to return to office to work.

Just before he went to bed, I asked him “Do you still want to go to school tomorrow?” He shrugged his shoulder and said “Yeah!” I was so relieved and thrilled for him.

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We are all set and 101% ready for his first day at school tomorrow. His uniforms and PE attires have been washed and ironed. School bag, water bottles, clothes and shoes have been labeled with his name. Everyone at home is anxious about his first day at school (except himself who is still in his own world!).

As for myself, I have to face yet another challenge in parenting, which is learning to let go. Putting Little Edison into the hands of someone who is not connected is a totally different feeling. It is unlike leaving him in the hands of his loving grandparents when I go to work. I’m feeling a little uncertain now. Letting go isn’t easy for me, but I know that I have to do it. By sending him to school, I’m giving him the opportunity to develop his character and learn to manage the world on his own.

The very first time when I left Little Edison with someone unconnected was two years ago – his first day at infant care when he was 3 months old. I cried the moment I left the infant care center. I was depressed and I couldn’t let go. It took me one month to ease my separation anxiety. However, we left the infant care center three months later. From there on, Little Edison was taken care by my mother-in-law and helper.

Tomorrow, I’ll face with the same situation again. I hope that everything will be fine. Anyway, for the first day at school, I’m allowed to be in the classroom with him. It’s the only exception for the first day. Day two onwards, no parents are allowed in the classroom.

Will I cry? Will Little Edison cry? The answers shall be out tomorrow…

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It is hard to believe that a two-year-old child who has yet to taste the world of food can be picky, but indeed he can! I’m trying my best to provide Little Edison with a variety of food and healthy nutrition, but our mealtime battle is just too frustrating.

Was I a picky eater when I was a kid? I asked my mum and she said no. My husband wasn’t a picky eater either. I’m convinced that his pickiness does not come from both of us. But who? And if it’s not because of the genes, it could be due to our culinary skills.

Anyway.

Whenever Little Edison hurls the rice on the floor or sticks his nose up at his food, I’ll encourage him to try at least one bite but I never expect him to be a “clean-plater”. By allowing him to decide how much to eat and what to eat on his plate helps to ease our mealtime tension. At the end of the day, I still firmly believe that even the pickiest eater will eat when he is really hungry.

I serve smaller portions of food for him, so that it is not too overwhelming for him. I also don’t cook special meals for him. He eats whatever we eat now – even outside food! I don’t ban junk food completely, but I allow him to eat moderately after his mealtime.

Sometimes, he opts not to eat anything at all! Skipping meals have been a norm for Little Edison. I used to be super worried but now I don’t make a big deal about it. I’ll supplement him with milk in order not to leave him with an empty stomach.

Little Edison drinks about 600ml of formula milk and one serving of milo or fresh milk daily. We feed him multi-vitamins syrup during the day and cod liver oil after dinner to boost his natural defense.

Despite eating like a bird, he is still a happy and very active boy. Well, as long as he grows up healthily, I guess I’m on the right track!

To read more about picky eating, please check out this website.

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One thing that I’m worried about Edison’s starting pre-nursery next year is that he isn’t fully potty-trained. I would say that his progress is about 80% now, but without our presence, I’m not sure if he is able to communicate with his teachers when he needs to visit the toilet.

During the orientation, I found out that at his age, it’s alright to wear diapers to school. The teachers will train the students and bring them to the toilet at regular intervals. By the end of first term, most of them will be diaper-free. I’m so glad to hear that.

At home during the day, Edison is completely diaper-free. He will inform us if he needs to urinate (he will say “pee!”) or have bowel movement (he will say “poo-poo!”). At night, however, we still put on the diaper for him to prevent wetting his bed. When we go out, we will also put on diaper for him because we may not be able to find a clean children’s toilet in-time.

However, last weekend, we decided to try going out without diaper. Surprisingly, there was zero accident! We went shopping at Marina Square; I know that they have very clean family room and children’s toilet. We brought Edison to the toilet at regular intervals during our shopping trip. And he didn’t fuss at all!

The rule of thumb in potty training is consistency and a strict regimen. Bring our children to the toilet at regular intervals and educate them on the use of toilet for urination and bowel movement. Even if they are not ready to go to the toilet on their own, it is crucial that they are able to communicate their needs to us.

Never think that our children are too young for potty-training. In fact, the earlier we start, the easier it will be. Edison started his potty-training at a tender age of 8 months old. We started early and slow, we didn’t want to stress him, but rather let him learn on his own pace. It was a good move because wearing a diaper can restrict his movement and it can be quite warm and uncomfortable too.

At a start, occasional peeing on the floor was common. At 8-9 months old, he wasn’t able to talk yet. After a while, he began to communicate with us using body language. When we received his signal, we rushed him to the toilet. And soon after, these accidents reduced and finally stopped. To read about how we started our potty training, please click here.

We are going to try a few more rounds of going-out-without-diaper this month to prepare him for school. When he is completely ready, we will move-on to diaper-free-at-night. I guess this is the most challenging part of potty training. Waking up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet is no fun at all. I’ll need to get a water-proof mattress protector too.

I’m so glad that my little boy has achieved yet another milestone in his life. In general, he is very positive throughout the process of potty-training. And without much fuss, really! 

Have you ever wonder how much TV is too much for our toddlers? Are there any dangers in allowing them to watch unlimited TV?

Most parents will somehow take advantage of our toddler’s fascination with the flickering TV screen to keep them entertained for a few moments of peace. I admit I’m one of them too. However, I’ll ensure that the TV program is appropriate for his age.

There are some good educational DVDs that can stimulate our toddler’s mind and creativity. They offer counting, alphabets, phonics, words, vocabulary, music etc. These are some of the DVDs that we allow Little Edison to watch at home – the Leapfrog and BabyTV series. He loves watching them.

Back to the question of how much TV is considered too much for our toddler, most articles that I read suggested that TV viewing should not exceed an hour or two a day. Excessive TV viewing may cause sleeping disorders, language delays, lack of social interaction or even obesity!

I’m also concerned whether TV viewing can affect their vision. This article suggested that we should keep our toddler at least one meter from the TV, but preferably more than three meters.

My rule of thumb will be maximum one hour screen time per day and minimum three meters away from the TV.

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