The holiday weekend just flew by and before I realized it, it’s already Thursday now. Another weekend is coming soon. No wonder they coined the phrase “time flies”. Do you agree? How did you spend your holiday weekend?

As for me, a good part of it was spent on doing house chores – ironing, washing, cleaning etc. I gave my car a good wash and vacuum cleaning – it is now almost completely sand-free. Let’s hope that the weather will be nice this week and my car will remain clean till this weekend.

The old clothing in the wardrobes has been archived to make space for new clothing. Yay! And I managed to declutter my ironing pile and got to the bottom of my ironing basket. Believe it or not, I found my favourite top at the bottom of my ironing basket!

We brought Little Edison to the grass and sand at the East Coast. The weather was fantastic when we reached there at 5pm. Our boy ran and jumped around in the sand. When he was tired, he sat down and got into castle building action.

I sat on the mat, munched on an apple and watched him play. V was busy taking these pictures.

We enjoyed our outing in a very easy and laid-back manner. It was a day filled with simple pleasures – for all of us.

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It was Little Edison’s Kindergarten Graduation Concert last Thursday. We took time-off from work to attend the concert which started at 6pm.

This was the second year that we attended the kindergarten concert. Last year, I didn’t bring my camera after reading a notice from the school that no photography is allowed during the concert. The school has engaged a professional photographer and videographer for the concert.

Parents were advised to purchase the photos and videos from the class teachers after the concert. However, many parents still came with their cameras.

This year, there wasn’t such notice. So, I happily tag my camera along. The school has also informed us that there will be a professional photographer and videographer on that day. So, we can purchase the pictures in CD format and video after the concert.

The concert began with a welcome speech and opening speech from the school principal and management committee. After the prayer, all the graduating K2 students marched into the hall in their graduation gown to receive their graduation certificates from the principal.

My silly husband asked me where our boy is and I told him to wait for another two year – 2013 to be exact – in order to see our boy standing on stage in his graduation gown. By then, I would probably be weeping with pride.

After the certificate presentation, the concert began with delightful performances from the pre-nursery children. The cuteness overloaded as the little children walked up the stage with colourful and fun attires.

Little Edison’s class was the forth to perform. Happiness swelled up in my throat when I saw my little boy walked up the stage in a beautiful blue attire and make-up. He looks fantastic! He performed very well this year – as compared to his debut performance a year ago.

Most importantly, he is happy to be on stage with his friends. All his other classmates have performed very well too. Months of practice and preparation have finally culminated into a heart-warming performance that touched all the audience – each and every one of us.

The principal, teachers and committee members should be proud of themselves for making this graduation concert a success. I’d like to congratulate and thank all of them for all their hard works and efforts.

I managed to record the performance from Little Edison’s class from the projector screen using my camera. It has been uploaded to YouTube, so that I can share it with you.

As I sat in the audience of mums and dads, watching our children performing on stage with all smile and pride, I have this wonderful feeling that being a parent is ultra cool.

After the concert, I quickly went backstage to pick up Little Edison. When I saw him, I opened my arms and scooped him up in a big hug. And I whispered to him, “Boy, you have performed really well. Mama is so proud of you!”

Little Edison in his beautiful blue concert attire

Rewarded with a lollipop for his wonderful performance!

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I drove pass Bartley Road last week and I noticed a banner with words “Open House 29 Oct 2011 9am to 12noon” at the school gate of Maris Stella High School.

I was so excited. I told V that we must attend the Open House. It’s a great opportunity for us to understand the school better and at the same time, our boy can get a feel of the school environment. Oh, have I mentioned that Maris Stella is our preferred primary school for Little Edison?

So, we woke up at 8am on Saturday, had our breakfast at home and drove to MSHS at 9am. But to my dismay, I realized that the open house is for Secondary School only (Primary School is not involved). Nonetheless, since we were already at the school, we decided to proceed with our visit.

Just like his Dad, Little Edison loves to wear sunglasses

Some parents gave us a “weird” look. They must be wondering how “kiasu” we are to attend the Open House when our boy is still in pre-school! I asked the security guard on-duty for information pertaining to the Open House for Primary School and her answer was “No Open House for Primary School”. I wonder if that’s true.

Frankly, I was very impressed by their innovative MACbook learning system and a well-balanced mix of extracurricular activities. The school environment is clean and well-maintained. We also took the opportunity visit the Primary School, which is just beside the Secondary school.

Maris Stella Primary School

The School’s Mission Statement

One big advantage of Maris Stella Primary School is its close proximity to my parents-in-law’s house and my office. My parents-in-law, whose house is just a stone throw away from the school, will be picking up our boy from school every day. So, it will be minimal travelling time for all of them.

The school is also within 1km from my office. So, it’s convenient for me to send him to school and get to work after that. School starts at 7:10am, this means I’ll be in my office before 7:30am! Good or bad, in year 2014, I’ll start work even earlier than the security guard in my office.

Maris Stella Primary School has a proven track record of outstanding PSLE results. In addition, the school has also done well in non-academic areas. Being a SAP school and having an affiliated secondary school are among the other advantages of the school.

The close link between the affiliated primary and secondary school means that our boy will enjoy a sense of familiarity and easier adjustment as he progresses to his secondary education.

In time to come, we would be in the shoes of those parents who went through the dreaded balloting process. Little Edison does not qualify for Phase 1, 2A1 or 2A2 because 1) he does not have a sibling studying in that school, 2) his father is not a former student of the school, 3) his parents are not in the school management committee, and 4) his parents are not staff of the school.

To increase the possibility of enrolling our boy in this school, we will be using our parents-in-law’s address which is within 1km from the school. In order to do this, we need to make a statutory declaration at MOE. Luckily, we fulfill the eligibility criteria where 1) both of us are working full-time, 2) Little Edison is under the full time care of his grandparents, and 3) his grandparents are not employed.

We should also start thinking of a backup plan in case we fail to enroll him into Maris Stella Primary School. What should we do?

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Two weeks ago, on the Deepavali public holiday, we visited the new Punggol Waterway which was officially opened by PM Lee on 23 Oct 2011.

We didn’t know the exact location of the park, so we drove around Punggol Town leisurely to look for it. There wasn’t any signboard that shows the direction to this park, but alas, we managed to locate it near the Punggol MRT.

We parked our car along the road and walked over to the park. Much to my surprise, the park was quite quiet and some of the facilities like water playground are not opened yet. Many construction works are still being carried out despite its official opening a week ago.

We took some photos here and left the park for lunch soon after. We will be back again, for sure, when all the facilities are opened.

Punggol used to be a fishing village surrounded by pig and poultry farms. Today, it is gearing up to become a new and exciting residential town. We recently visited the show gallery of A Treasure Trove – a new condominium project in Punggol Central and we like it a lot.

There are many other new residential projects at Punggol now. We’ve been patiently waiting for the launch of Watertown too (hopefully the price won’t be too far from A Treasure Trove).

We like Punggol, and that’s where our future dream home might be.

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I chuckled when I read this post from Rachel’s blog. Not because it is funny, but it sounds very familiar to me. I’ve been repeating it almost every day with Little Edison.

     Me: Boy, Mama is going to take a quick shower. So, don’t do anything dangerous, ok?

     Edison: (Continue to watch the TV)

     Me: Don’t climb on anything, don’t open the door to strangers, don’t run about.

     Me: No superman, no batman, no spiderman. Ok?

     Edison: (Look at me and roll his eyes) Ok!

Most of the time, I will continue to nag until he officially reply me with a “Yes!”

Now that we’re “maidless”, I don’t have the capacity to watch him every minute and every second. When I need to take a shower or busy with some chores in the kitchen, I will leave him alone in the living hall – with the TV on or occupy him with toys or books.

For the same reason, teaching him about safety is the best thing that I should do now – to keep him save and to give myself a peace of mind. My favourite way to teach him about safety is through story books. It is fun and interesting.

I bought this story book “I Can Play It Safe” by Scholastic from his school few months ago. It’s one of the BEST books I’ve ever read to Little Edison. It talks about personal safety issues in a non-threatening way, covering topics like safe versus harmful secrets, safe versus harmful touches, and the importance of having a community of trusted adults to turn to for help.

The safety information is well presented in a format that is easy to understand for the children and practical for the parents. There are seven rules for personal safety that are further explained with stories, colourful illustrations and how to practice them in this book. Little Edison loves this book too.

I read it to him once in a while as a refresher. As I read, I also take the opportunity to explain to him other safety precautions that are not covered by this book, i.e. on the road, in the car park, public areas, at school etc. He knows that I truly care for him, and I hope that he can take good care of himself when I’m not around.

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