The Zoo Trip

Went to the zoo this morning with Abby and her school. Ben dropped us off and somehow Abby thought I was leaving her in school - the SOP - but I kept reassuring her that mummy was going to be with her today. She even cried abit. I had to tell her, "Look, mummy's sitting her in this corner. My bag's here. I'm not going away. Now go and give Teacher J a hug." But she didn't want to, afraid that I would disappear by the time she turned around. We don't do the disappearing act on her, in fact if we need to leave, we would tell her as a matter of fact. Sometime later, it finally got into her that I wasn't gonna leave today.

Anyway, she was really attached to me except for the times when I needed her to be, i.e. during our walk around the zoo. She'd go her own way and I'd be calling out to her to "follow the group, darling!!!" Strange, how the 3 kiddos with the 3 accompanying mothers are probably the most non-conforming kids... one boy wanted his mum to keep carrying him, and his mum obliged but kept saying, "Look at your friends! They are walking by themselves! Go and join them!" Repeated rejections. Until during the lunch break, he kept fussing and wanted to be nursed. I suspect it's to regain the confidence that mummy won't totally reject him. Literally nursing for comfort.


See the kids who are walking around? Their mummies are around...


Finally managed to get her to sit down to wait at the entrance with the other kiddos.

As for my little Abby, she gave up asking me to carry her after I kept saying, "No dear. I'll hold your hand instead." In fact, she stopped in mid-request, "Mummy, bao-b..." when she saw that I wasn't gonna carry her during the walk. My hip was giving me problems and I couldn't really walk properly. But I still carried her whenever she couldn't see the animals.


Trying to get the kids for a group picture. Not easy. But really cute.


Excited to see the camels!

This was one great opportunity for me to see the teachers functioning in full capacity under testing conditions. And I am really glad that Abby's being taught by them. They are really very caring and very efficient. In fact, even when there were difficulties - impending rain, the occasional runaway kid, KFC's lousy lunch arrangement, big winds threatening to tear down the pavilion (I had to carry Abby who was seated already away just before possibly getting hit by the huge flyaway umbrella - they were possibly the most calm and collected people I know. In fact, when another group of pre-schoolers turned up at the pavilion during our lunch, they were upset to see that half the place was taken up by us, and some of the teachers started complaining - the typical Singaporean grumble - 'grumble-loudly-about-stuff-but-don't-do-anything-about-it' kind - and gave glares to inefficient fast-food stuff and even to our teachers. Sigh. Our teachers, on the other hand, were just focused on the safety of the kids and even had the mood to laugh and be impressed by this kid who finished his huge unpalatable KFC portion! Very very impressed.

I realised - it's not the curriculum that a school promotes - because even if one can position it a certain way - there are only so many 'special' activities one can do. More importantly, it's the direct teacher that influences the chlid's experience, just like how one article states that it's the direct supervisor that causes employees to stay in or leave the organisation.

Even though up to this point in time, I can't fully grasp the approach that Abby's school uses - except that it emphasises on bilingual literacy skills - seeing the teachers rise above stressful conditions is really impressive. I really admire their quiet perserverance.

Anyway I died before the end of the trip. Left the group early and took a cab back. I was having really bad chills and was about to collapse. Can't be a liability to an already-stretched team. :P


Trying to look good while dying. Such is vanity.