Classes, Children and Movie Review

The children have also started Hindi classes from saturday - so that's another pressure cooker day to add to all the others! Classes are from 9 am till 1 pm, even for the Kindergarteners! So this means that we have to leave the house latest by 8:30 am (even tough the class is just four bus stops away, there is a good 5 minute walk from the bus stop to the school where the classes are being held) to reach on time. Although the children have a break, by the time they get home, they are tired, hungry and cranky! This means a totally frazzled mummy too...Last saturday I finished all my work by 8 so that we could reach on time, but the teachers do not encourage parents to stay on, so this week I will leave them and come back home to finish my chores.

The past two-three days the Princess has been super cranky while getting up! Well this is one girl who loves her sleep and won't mind sleeping all day, but then she does have to get up to go to school. Since it's just us in the mornings, time is extremely hectic and even a few minutes trying to get her to wake up is enough to put everything out of control! (sigh!)

I also saw Aamir Khan's directorial debut Taare Zameen Par. It's a very good movie and a must-see for any parent or anyone who plans to be a parent soon. I won't give away the plot of the movie, but it deals with a dylexic child Ishaan and how everyone - his parents, teachers, friends, brother don't understand him and call him names for not doing well in school. He is also sent to a boarding school and according to Ishaan, it's because he is punished he is sent there. It's only when a new temporary art teacher (Aamir) comes to the school and tries to understand the boy he realises he is dylexic and uses art (which Ishaan is very good at and which he does not do anymore in the boarding school) to give him confidence and makes him come out of the shell.

As a parent, I was very touched with the movie, especially with the tag line "Every child is special". All parents want the best for their child and this obviously translates to good education leading to good marks, which we feel will give the child that edge in life. We equate success with becoming a successful professional in life. Now although I would want my kids to be successful, I would not want that to be at the cost of their happiness.

Chalo, got to get ready to leave....See you tomorrow!

First Day in the new school year

Today the Pilot and the Princess are Kindergarteners!

Yes their school started two days later than other schools here and today they finally left Nursery life behind and went to K1 (Kindergarten 1)! Also their school has decided that a 12 noon dismissal time didn't give the teachers and the students enough time to work, so dismissal has now been pushed to 12:30 pm. This means the children come home 30 minutes later and so everything else gets pushed likewise....

More about the first day later - maybe tomorrow - as I still haven't spoken to them about it. They also have the first day of their Hindi class tomorrow. Like I earlier mentioned, I plan to teach them both Hindi and Mandarin in Kindergarten so that they can choose their Mother Tongue language when they go to Primary school....

I got my room back......

After more than four years, I finally got back control of my room and more important, my bed!

Yes, that's right, the Princess and the Pilot are finally sleeping on their own. The day my parents left, we told the kids that it was time they started to sleep on their own and the Princess was very excited about the whole thing! The Pilot didn't like the idea very much but he really doesn't have a choice - what with his sister and me...

I also put in a new bed sheet for them (from the movie Cars, obviously with the Pilot in mind) and stuck some new stickers (Disney Princesses and Spiderman 3) on the wall directly behind them. I also got them a cork board to put pictures of their favourite things.

All in all, it seems to be going on well, with the Princess being fiercely independent. The Pilot asks me daily if he can sleep with me and failing a positive reply, if I can sleep with him in his room! Well I don't - call me cruel if you will - but I felt that they needed to be independent and so after a story and a kiss, they both go to sleep alone.

I do go to their room many times at night and it is so sweet to see them both hugging each other while sleeping...Aww.......

Happy New Year

A very Happy New Year to everyone at blogoshere!

I know I haven't been posting in a while, but that is gonna change this year. Have you made your resolutions for the year? Here are mine (hopefully this year will be the year I actually stick to them :-()

The first is a perennial favourite - lose weight! I want 2008 to be the year when I finally shed this layer of fat and come out as the person I was meant to be. I also have oher ulterior motives for this - the ones that come to the mind immediately are to be a better role model for my children and to look more professional in my work. If I want to get a better job (more pay and a better profile), I know I better become thin pronto - coz this is Singapore we are talking about - where women routinely wear clothes with single digit sizes...

The second one is to write more - even if it is a couple of sentences. I started this blog mainly to chronicle my children's growing up days and by not writing, I feel I am failing in my task....

The third is not be negative (or failing that to avoid negativity) and be more positive in life. I want to do whatever that I am supposed to do with enthusiasm and a joi de vivre!

I'll write more tomorrow about the kids - today was for me - a lot has happened in their lives in the past month or so and I'll write all about it tomorrow.

Here is something that was in my inbox today. I get on a daily basis small notes from a service called The Daily Om. I liked what it said today and so here it is....

Starting New

A Moment Of Choice

There are times in our lives that lend themselves to starting something new. The beginning of a new year, finishing school, leaving a job, or changing homes-these all are times that turn our minds to fresh starts. Their advantage is that they bring with them the energy of that event, creating a tide of change around them that we can ride to our next shoreline. But we can choose to start anew anytime. In any moment we can decide that a bad day or a relationship that's gotten off on the wrong foot can be started again. It is a mental shift that allows us to clean the slate and approach anything with fresh eyes, and we can make that choice at any time.

Starting new is most powerful when we focus our attention to what we are choosing to create. Giving all of our attention to the unwanted aspects of our lives allows what we resist to persist. We need to remember to leave enough room in the process of new beginnings to be kind to ourselves, because it takes time to become accustomed to anything new, no matter how much we like it. There is no need to get down on ourselves if we don't reach our new goals instantly. Instead, we acknowledge the forward motion and choose to reset and start again, knowing that with each choice we learn, grow, and move forward.

Making the choice to start anew has its own energy-it's a promise made to you. The forward momentum creates a sort of vacuum behind it, pulling toward you all you need to help you continue moving in your chosen direction. Once the journey has begun, it may take unexpected turns, but it never really ends. Like cycles in nature, there are periods of obvious growth and periods of dormancy that signal a time of waiting for the right moment to burst forth. Each time we choose to start anew we dedicate ourselves to becoming the best we are able to be.

Happy reading...