A Modest Proposal

When Ramli has a day off, we usually bring her out- sometimes to the park, and most times, Jurong Point. After lunch and window shopping, we’d take a leisurely walk back to our home which is just a few blocks away.

But on this particular day off, we decided to walk a different route, passing by an infant and childcare centre located at the void deck of the block opposite ours. As we peeked in, we saw kids aged around 2 (or maybe younger) to 4 years old buzzing about their business, playing, fiddling with books, listening to storytelling sessions and lots of other fun activities.

And Ooyah looked in quietly, sometimes smiling to herself, probably wondering how much fun it would be to be IN that classroom and joining the kids who are around her age.

When we got home, we didn’t speak much about the childcare centre- Ramli and I thought it was a wee bit too… Oriental (we saw that most of the posters, signs and labels are in Mandarin, not so much in English).

Until last night.

We were in bed just before her bedtime; that’s when she would usually ask to be cuddled and she’d pretend to be a newborn baby (we actually do swaddle her with our comforter and she’d squint her eyes, loll her head and cry as if she’s only a few days old…real funny!). Last night was different. She crept up to me, looked at me in the eyes and said:

“Kakak nak kolah”. (I want to go to school- she calls herself ‘Kakak’ i.e  Elder Sister)

I was stumped of course. She must have been thinking about that childcare centre, the vision of promised fun and enjoyment must have been etched in her mind.

I told her that we’re thinking of sending her to a playgroup too, something like school. I said to her that she can go to school, but she cannot behave the same way as she does at home- there will be no ‘(T)Ok’, ‘Nek Nah’, no whining, no tantrums- basically she’d have to GROW UP. … I also told her that she has to learn how to share toys with her friends, and play together. While I said all this, Ooyah listened intently and looked as if she was full of thought. She was TRULY considering it!

After careful consideration (which lasted about 2 minutes), she then replied in a sing-song manner:

“Uhmm…kakak nak kawan. Nak main me-nan…” (I want friends. Play with toys.)

I told her we’ll look around for a suitable school for her around the vicinity, somewhere within walking distance. Her grandpa would have to send and fetch her to school, I guess, but perhaps it would be a good break for them too.

We have been toying around with the idea of sending her to a playgroup because she’s just loves to socialise and make friends. It would also do her good- surely she’ll pick up lots of other skills by being in a playgroup.

So I guess we’ll be checking out some places around our area, and of course those that are highly recommended by my Long who is quite the expert in this field. She knows which schools we should look out for.

*sigh* Our baby’s growing up real fast…