4th Day of School

Ethan still feels a little apprehensive towards school. As if trying to convince himself that I would be back for him, he would repeatedly say this, "Daddy go work, Ethan go school and Mummy stay at home. Bell rinnngggggg.... Mummy come pick Ethan home." He sobbed slightly and whimpered as I prepared him for school in the morning, and as I removed his jackets and belongings at school. But he was willing to step into his classroom on his own, turn around to say "bye", before entering the classroom further. He looked sad, but he still made it! He's a brave and strong boy.

For lunch, I was told to pick Ethan up from a different room because his teacher had gate duties to perform. I suspected that Ethan wouldn't take the change too well, and true enough, I noticed tears on his cheek when I found him in the other room. But the sulking was transient.

It was a rainy day in Amiens. Although it was rather cumbersome to have to carry Ethan to and fro school in the drizzle, allowing Ethan to be my umbrella carrier turned out to be a great distractor/mood uplifter for him. He was amused whenever a strong gust of wind blew and he felt the tug against the umbrella, threatening to blow it out of his hands. This helped especially over the lunch period. As we headed home for lunch, he was teased by the umbrella. And at the end of lunch as I was getting him ready through his cries of "Ethan no sleep!", umbrella fun once again kicked in on street level, and we had a happy time walking to school. But of course, this distraction only lasted about 5 mins. And as I handed him over to the teacher for his nap, he started crying like the 1st couple of days in school. I left after repeatedly telling him that I would return at 4.30pm.

As far as I could gather from the teacher, he had a good 2hr nap at school, and woke up without crying. When I met him at 4.30pm, he was once again exhilarated and dashed out of the classroom. Thereafter, it was more umbrella fun for Ethan as we headed home; he even sang out loud through the raindrops!

3rd Day of School

After last Friday's traumatic experience, we decided to split Ethan's day in school into half. At lunchtime, I brought him home, and made sure he had a substantial, nourishing meal. Judging from what the school serves at lunch, I presume he would eat more at home.

Ethan was thrilled to see me at noon. When I arrived outside his classroom to pick him up, there were only 3 students in the class, each doing his own stuff, with the lead teacher supervising them. I had not asked how Ethan fared in this first half of the day in my rush to get Ethan home for lunch.

As I walked Ethan back to our apartment, I told him that we would be returning to school after lunch. He responded with sad frowns, almost tearing. But I persisted. At the end of lunch, as I redressed him and got him ready, he started sobbing and repeatedly asked not to return to school. But I kept my cool and continued to assure him that I'd be back to pick him up after the school bell rings. When I finally handed him over to the teacher, he looked truly upset, and was tearing badly. But I knew I had to leave. Incidentally, I witnessed how the teacher prepares them for their nap. She would remove their shoes and pants, leave their underwear on, and offer them their snuggle toys, if they had any. Ethan remained somewhat oblivious to the teacher's handling and continued to cry and whine about my departure. I could only walk away with a heavy heart and hope that the teacher copes eventually. There were several thoughts going through me after this episode: is it really better to have Ethan go through 2 times of crying each day (because I leave him twice), or just once? Would home-schooling for his kindergarten be an overall better option for him?

After a worrisome afternoon for me, I returned to fetch Ethan at 4.30pm. And to my surprise, he was in a jolly good mood! He still dashed out of his classroom eagerly to give me a hug but I could sense that he didn't have such a tough afternoon afterall. Upon asking the teacher, I found out that after his crying struggle, he fell asleep, looking out from the window in the main classroom, and had a decent 1hr nap. And he didn't cry at all after waking up, and did well in class. That was comforting to hear. And as I led Ethan out from school, offering him a Pocky snack, he hopped and skipped occasionally, broke out into singing aloud and was happily naming the colours of all the cars he saw along the streets. My spirits certainly turned for the better from then on, except for the usual afternoon fatigue that crept in.

2nd Day of School

Today was a full day for him. Started at 8.45am, lunch from 12nn to 1.30pm, followed by nap and activities till 4.30pm. When I sent him to school, he cried for the 1st 10-15min upon entering the classroom. Peeping through the window, I left after seeing that he had quietened down.

This is the scene outside school near 4.30pm. Many parents standing around to await the opening of the blue doors through which they enter to fetch their kids.

Ethan didn't do well in school today. At the end of the day, here's the feedback from the teacher: lots of crying, didn't eat much at lunch, each time he's on the corridor, he was reluctant to re-enter the classroom, claiming that Daddy and Mummy were coming to pick him up. When I fetched him at 4.30pm, he was the first to dash out from the classroom. And I noticed that there was some moistness under his nose.When I asked if he'd been crying, he nodded. And shortly after, he said, "Ethan hungry." In fact, he was famished! He gobbled down 4 candy sweets, and a small packet of raisins. And when a stranger mum stood in front of him with a packet of cookies, he reached out for them with his hand.

It's heart-wrenching to see how hungry he was, and find out what a bitter day he had had in school. If he continues not to eat a proper lunch in school for the next couple of days, I will bring him home for lunch at noon, and send him back for classes at 1.30pm. Perhaps I should also come up with a list of English words that Ethan uses, with their corresponding French translations, to aid the French teacher in understanding him.

1st Day of School

Ethan started kindergarten school in Amiens, France, on 1 Sept 2011. He was excited about it, and was eager to carry his own school bag, which had just an extra set of clothes. It was a short day for him, from 2.30pm - 4.30pm. Glimpses of his classroom:

There were many crying kids when we arrived. And Ethan joined in too, when we turned to leave the classroom.

At the end of the day, he was glad to see us again and leave the school, evident from the photographs below.

Ethan wearing 4 piece suit

Ethan's first shot at wearing a 4 piece suit. We are back in Singapore for Lionel's cousin's wedding. Check out how smart looking Ethan is!

Memorial Day Weekend

Saturday, 29 May 2010 - We spent it at Houston Premium Outlets. This time, we made it a point to shop for adult stuff, and to our delight, we managed to enter more shops compared to previous visits to the Outlets. Ethan had fun in a kiddy car stroller that we rented, as well as the playground there.

Sunday, 30 May 2010 - We invited friends over for lunch.

Ethan didn't really play with Valentina, our friends' toddler daughter who's 3 months younger than Ethan.

He didn't do too well in sharing his toys too. But well, these are expected of toddlers at this age; Ethan's 19.5months then. Interestingly though, he tried to hug Valentina. But alas, he's just too fast for us to snap a shot of that.

Ethan was too distracted to have a proper lunch and instead preferred cake at afternoon tea.

Here are some other photos from that day.

Monday, 31 May 2010 - We did groceries at Central Market, and upon getting home, Ethan came down with a fever. It lasted till Wednesday, and our consolation is that it's a "clean" recovery (no cough, or cold etc) Thank God.

We had a wonderful and relaxing trip to Vancouver.