Thursday, December 30, 2010

Preparing for Primary One: A Little Panicking

Alright, just a little. 

I finally got my act together and found my boy a Transformers wallet of the right size, a Transformers water bottle and a Transformers pencil case. Phew! 

And there is a big relief too when I finally got confirmation from the school bus driver on the pick up and drop off time, which gave good reasons for cheer! 

My slow eater will have 25 min more time than expected to nibble his super-duper nutritious breakfast that I have every intention to prepare EVERY morning. Just as importantly, I don't have to shoulder the added responsibility of walking him to school. 

Actually, I quite like the idea of walking with him every morning, since it can be a good way for me to factor in some exercise. The only problem is there are a few challenges that I can foresee straightaway. 

Hmm... do I really want to put myself in a daily situation when I have to cheer him on after every few steps on our way to school, even if I am the one carrying his heavy school bag?

And on days when E is away for business trips, I will also have to bring along my 4-year-old in a stroller since there is no way he will be cooperative at 7am.

Also, what if it rains? The thought of trying to hail a cab with two kids in the rain on the main road is enough to put me off. Besides, the taxi will not be able to bring us all the way to school, so there will still be another few hundred metres of walking in the rain with both grumpy boys, a big school bag and most likely a stroller. Won't be pleasant at all! 

Thankfully, these are all moot issues now. All I have to do every morning is to kiss my boy good bye and nudge him towards the school bus.  :> 

What's left to do?

I will still need to pack his books and stationery into his brand new school bag and start some form of labelling. Yikes! 

Now that we are inching closer to Day ONE, there are still two issues that need some decisions. 

1. Recess. I'm planning to pack two snacks for him, one for his recess and another for a break after recess. In the last few months, I have been experimenting different quick-to-prepare and nutritious snacks for the boys' after school snacks. Maybe I will create a 2 weeks menu to take away the need for daily planning. More about this in later post. 

2. Pocket money. Though M said he prefers to bring his own snacks instead of queueing to buy food from the tuckshop, we will still give him some loose change. Just in case, he decides to join his friends. But I wonder how much is the right amount. 



18 comments:

Lyn said...

Hi Shirley

The principal in my boy's school recommends $1 a day. He says this amount will be enough for food and for drinks, plain water will do.

Looking forward to seeing your menu of nutritious meals for M!

Alice Law said...

Mr Brown huh... quite interesting experience he has jotted down.

You probably are excited(rather than panicking)! I enjoyed walking my girl to school too, with an extra burden though(the little one)... I should treasure this moment before the time I have to send her into a school bus, lol!;D

Enjoy your boy 1st primary school day! Happy new year to you and your lovely family!

Precious Memories said...

Hi Shirley,

Sarah wants to bring a snack box too, instead of queuing to buy her own. So now, I have been surfing the net for simple and quick to prepare snacks for her. I share the same concerns as you about walking M to school. Sarah firmly refuses to take the school bus, so we have decided to try walking to school for the first month. On the bright side, I tell myself that at least I get some exercise in. But I am so not looking forward to rainy days.

Lrong Lim said...

Wooh, it sounds tough to be in your shoes eh... happy new year to you and your loved ones...

DG said...

Hi Lyn

Thanks so much for sharing! I took pictures of the menu in my boy's canteen during orientation and all the hot dishes are at least $1, some are even $1.50 for smallest portions. Maybe I will give him $1 to start with, and see whether he spends it at all before adjusting it.

Are you planning to prepare snacks for your boy too?

DG said...

Thanks Alice! Oh you must definitely cherish the remaining time to walk your girl to school. Kids grow up too fast! :>

Wishing you and your beautiful family a happy new year too!

DG said...

Hi Leng Leng, I thought of getting M to try walking to school for a few weeks too, but when I heard the difference between one way and round trip is only $10, I changed my mind. :D

In our case, even if M walks to school in the morning, he is definitely returning on school bus.

Oh, please share your snack box ideas!! :>

DG said...

Hi Lrong, I suppose it just takes a little adjustment to get used to the new routine.

Happy new year to you and your family too!

MommyAngel said...

Glad that everything was iron out before school started! Can't believe that he will be in P1 soon :)

I am amazed that your boy actually wants home prepared food rather then buying it from the canteen! I still remembered when I was younger, I beg my parents not to pack food for me to school as everyone is buying from the canteen! @_@ Now I know how lucky I was at that time :)

Take care there and Happy New Year to you and your family Shirley!

The Beauties In Our Lives said...

Hi Shirley,

Enjoy this journey of a new chapter, and I am sure you will be beaming with joy at M's smooth adjustments to P1! I had been packing food for Big Bee's recess since P1, and it saves a lot of time for her, so she can eat up her food and go play with her friends! I tried sitting down with her to buy food at the canteen once...and she was left with a miserable 5 minutes to relax before the time was up for recess! As for pocket money, her school advised $2 :) as things can be rather expensive in the bookshop and canteen these days :)

Happy New Year to you and your family!

Precious Memories said...

Shirley, here is what I have come up with so far. Nothing elaborate as I wanted something I can whip up in a jiffy.

1. Sandwiches (different types)
2. Potato salad
3. Oven-baked potato wedges
4. Pasta/pasta salad
5. Pizza
6. Homemade muffins, banana bread/cake
7. Fried rice
8. Hard-boiled eggs/omelet
9. Meat balls/meat patties
10.Grilled chicken/pork
11.Mini cottage pie
12.Sushi
13.French toast
14.Gyozo
15.Buns (for lazy days)
16.Dried fruits and nuts, crackers

I will add on fruits too.

Do share yours too.

DG said...

Hi MommyAngel, thanks! Happy New Year to you and your family too! I can't believe he is going to P1 tomorrow too. Time is flying too fast!

Oh you were lucky! I think I would have felt the same as you, begging my mum not to pack anything for me. Anyway my mum was too busy back then, so she would rather just give pocket money for me to buy my own. :D

I don't know how long the packed food trend will last with M but it does seems like a lot more kids these days are going to school with bentos. But I am sure the majority will still be buying, especially for boys. So maybe he will refuse bentos in a few weeks. :P

DG said...

Hi Linette, thanks! Happy new year to you and everyone at home too!

One sure advantage of bringing along a snack is definitely the time factor, especially for slow eaters like mine. 5 min = 2 mouthfuls of whatever food in his case! Hee hee..

Wow $2 is quite a bit especially if the kids are already bringing along some food. Actually I have not thought of money for stationery. I just assume that if there is a need, he will come home to ask for more. I prefer that for a start, instead of leaving him with a lot of spare change to go shopping at the bookstore. :> But this may be more of a girls' habit than boys, or I am just stereotyping! haha

DG said...

Hi Leng Leng, thanks for taking time to make the great list!

ls Sarah going to morning session and how many snacks do you have to pack per day? I considered sushi before but overnight sushi rice will be too hard and won't be tasty, and I can't imagine making it at 6am! How will you do it?

Some of the food that I plan to pack will just involve reheating in the morning, but since recess is not till 9am, they must still be tasty when eaten at room temperature and not risk food poisoning. So for the 11am snacks, I think it has to be dried food for sure.

My list is very similar to yours. I guess having considered the same factors, we probably end up packing very similar food. Besides typical bread sandwiches, I plan to pack different types of wraps such as tortilla, pita pockets etc, onigiri, fried noodles, homemade quiches, frittata, roast potatoes/vegetables and a few more.. will do proper blog post when I have more time.

Thanks once again for your sharing! :>

Precious Memories said...

Sarah is in the afternoon session, so I have time to prepare the food in the morning. She has only 1 recess at 2pm.

I was browsing through your old bento posts. Plenty of ideas from there too. By the way, where did you get the boys' bento boxes? I can't seem to find any suitable ones. Maybe I did not go to the right places?

DG said...

Ah I see. It does gives you time to prepare before you walk her to school. Makes all the difference! I used to make those bentos at 11am, drop it off at M's nursery school at 11.30am to pass to his teacher. Lunch was at 11.45am so he always had nice warm lunch. :>

Most of my bento boxes are from Daiso. They are cute and pretty but personally I really like the Lock N Lock boxes with the airtight and leakproof quality.

The Beauties In Our Lives said...

Domesticgoddess: Yes, actually, you are right - if there is a need for stationery, they can come back and ask for the pocket money and then buy the next day. $2 was a recommendation by the school - actually, I had not been giving pocket money to Big Bee since she was in P1 (she is now in P3) as she insisted she does not want to spend money :)

DG said...

Hmm... no pocket money at all? Big Bee is good at resisting temptations! :>

I have been packing M two snacks each day which he couldn't finish at both breaks. So he didn't even think of buying anything though I also gave him a $1 worth of coins.

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