small hours and little wonders

Zach graduated from pre-school last week. Look how far he’s come! We skipped nursery although that’s where he was supposed to be placed when he went to his first ever school interview two summers ago. He was four and we had no formal schooling and I was afraid that he would be too old for nursery already. I remembered him being so shy. But he answered what was asked of him very well. How he loved the “nice looking building with the playground inside.”

He managed his interview just fine, like I knew he would. He knew the basics, save for writing properly and was given a pass to skip nursery.

Kinder 1 meets my Little One…

And then there was the first day of school. My Zach, a kindergartener! He was excited and stuttering all over the place when we dressed up our little boy for his big day. Tots and I took him, we both took a day off work. We wouldn’t have missed that day for the world.

Bubbly as he was on the way to school that first day, he was timid and shy and he crawled deep into his shell the minute he saw the halls and classrooms filled with kids and teachers. He was so shy, it was endearing. He covered his face with his hands whenever Teacher Jelly called his name.

But he outgrew his shell, one day at a time. Progress!

Autovermietung Frankfurt Flughafen

The year of serious study in Kinder 2

Enter Kindergarten 2, gone was the shy boy. We had a few setbacks, laziness got the best of him sometimes and he would grumble about school work. He found it grueling, rightfully so since the teachers were prepping them all for the first grade. Even so, he hated missing school and by the end of the school year, Teacher Karen declared him one of her best readers.

All hard work leads to the stage

And now we’ve moved up! We enjoyed a fun program on Graduation Day, a mix of English and Chinese speeches, songs and dance. I know it’s a cliche but my heart was literally swelling all the way. It’s just amazing to see that the tiny boy, who I thought would never take his hands off his face, was up there on stage in a toga and getting his first diploma.

And of course, a celebratory lunch at KFC. The Ben10 Bucket Meal was a hit with our little graduate.

Ugh, yeah… of course THEY happened. We are THAT family, after all.

The occasion wouldn’t have been complete without our trademark bloopers, of course.

Blooper 1: Can be summed up in one word: Sophia. She was a handful, as usual. But her antics were cute and memory-worthy… which will require a short yet separate post. *update!*

Blooper 2: During grad practices, parents were not supposedly up on the stage with their kid but a program with a hundred littles always needs to be flexible. So we {Mama Rose, Tots and I} were at the back of the gym when our little hero runs up, grabs his nanny by the hand and says, “Hurry Mama Rose, the parents need to be up there!” Coz yeah, a lot of the kids had their folks lining up with them to go up on stage. Tots and I shared a look. And then it hit us. He picked his nanny over us!!!

I ran up to Zach.
“Baby, it’s only the kids who go up.”
“No, the other kids got their parents!”
“So I’ll go up with you.”
“No, only Mama Rose, please.”
“You sure?”
“Yep.”
“Okay, up you both go.”
“Thanks, Inday.” <— that was Mama Rose.

And so Mama Rose in her jeans and green shirt went up on the stage with Zach Attack to receive his diploma. And me? Dressed and dolled up for the occasion, I was their photographer.

There was a special kind of glow that emanated from my boy and his yaya when they had their photos taken on stage. And there is a reason why I cannot be bitter about the situation. In fact, we feel very blessed. And if anything, Mama Rose deserved to be up there just as much. Want to know why? Short but sweet. Story out in another post. *update: here it is!*

Blooper 3: The KFC Squabble. A typical family meal for us actually. That family, remember? At graduation lunch with the family, Zach, Sophia and their cousin Leslie fought over the Ben10 cups. You would have thought that because they each got a one, that was it. And yet they insisted each design was different. Sigh. And so with the continuous fight over the cups, one kid spilled a drink and another dropped a chicken piece. There’s life for you. *A little more about it here.*

All in all, it was a great family day!

To the gandfolks and aunts and uncles: Zach says thanks for the presents!

To my son’s mentors at school: Teacher Jelly, Teacher Karen, Zhou Fengying Lao Sher and Hong Jinfeng Lao Sher and all the other teachers, staff, security and utility people at the Kindergarten Building, thank you for Zach’s successful years in pre-school. We’re moving up to Grade 1!

And to my Zach Attack:
I look forward to the day you graduate from high school and university, my son. At every milestone you reach, there will be no one prouder than your ma and pa.

~0~
Did you like this post?
Check out these random entries too:

• your laserbeam won’t save you
• revamp musings
• a party of fun proportions
• words for me (and you)
• colorful weekend: masks on parade