Her First Day

Little Bee went to school for the first time today. She is merely attending Saturday morning classes but I thought it will be a good induction for her going into nursery one next year. I find Little Bee's initiation into preschool a challenge as she is a year-end baby, and true enough, she seemed like a baby compared to the strapping 2 year old toddlers in her class!

I am proud of her. Albeit scared and unsure on the first day, she merely had on her familiar pinched and worried expression and clung a bit tighter to me. But she did not cry. Oh, save for a 2-second melodiously loud wail when the teachers switched off the lights for a rendition of "Twinkle Little Star". Her bawl subsided with immediate effect once I picked her up for a snuggle.

She started warming up after an hour, which coincided with the Mandarin section of class (or maybe it could be that she has more affinity to Mandarin, as evident from the fact that she is starting to say 1-2-3 and many other phases in Chinese first rather than English, much thanks to my Mum!) She smiled shyly at the Mandarin story-telling and was contented to stroll around by herself. She was really excited when it came to singing "Row Row Row The Boat" because it meant that she can do her very favourite rowing action, but she was perturbed by the very different and unfamiliar lyrics in Chinese.

Her favourite activity was snack time (need I say more for my little foodie?) but she also enjoyed her playground time tremendously, squirrelling in those large toy houses and slide stations. She truly warmed up during the mass singing session at the end, and danced a fair bit with me.

I kind of learned from Big Bee's experience some years back to truly take cues from the kid's actions and preferences, and not force them into activities they do not want to do. Hence, I do think Little Bee kind of settled down nicely today. It is also tremendously nice for me to spend some private time with Little Bee as I almost never have enough opportunities to spend time alone with her. It's great bonding, I must say!