JD came home after a day of school yesterday.  As we sat down to have our afternoon tea and talked about what he did in school…

He announced excitedly he has another a new teacher!

I thought wow, they already have 4 existing teachers in a classroom with 20 kids, now there is one more!  I was a bit puzzled!

JD said “My new teacher’s name is Gabby Get Along! ”  I laughed and said “Pardon?”

But little did I know my child has been introduced to this wonderful and positive character building program called “You Can Do It!”.  Gabby Get Along is actually a puppet the children use to learn about getting along well with one another.  That children learn to care, be friendly and tell the truth about others.  It also means children can fix problems together without fighting.  In a classroom it means they follow the rules, as well as at home.  That way, they can all work together to make school and home cleaner and safer.

It really is a wonderful program and I soon jumped onto the internet to look for related information and was so thrilled to find this!  Have a look at it and I am finding the information really useful for myself and how I could bring some of these positve messages into my family home.  It is most suitable for kindy aged children, 4 years and onwards.

And when I look at this wonderful information, I realise I never had information being presented in such a fun way when I was JD’s age.  It was all stated in black and white:

“Be respectful of your elders”

“Be kind to your friends”

“Do not lie and steal”…..

But now children have all these fun names to relate to, Connie Confidence, Pete Persistence, Gabby Get Along, Ricky Resilience and Oscar Organization…oh, it’s so fun!

Honestly back then, if kids don’g get along in classroom or playground, I can easily think of 2 things that were said in the school ground:

“I am not going to be your friend anymore” and this usually reduce the other kid to tears!!!! or

The classic one I had when I was a kid was “I am going to get my big brother/sister to beat YOU up!”… LOL! I always had to use the “big sister” or “my mum will beat you up” because I don’t have a brother and my mum, ehem, her “one look” is enough to frighten anybody…let alone a kid, hiakhiakhiak!

At 25 weeks, this is my classic symptom.  When the mind and the body is not functioning all that well alltogether.  I thought of doing something, then my body will do something else, then it takes me a while to realise what I had actually done.  It’s all in this slow motion mode.

This morning I loaded the kids in the car, threw in their school bags, water bottles, library bag, lunch bag and what not.  I started the car, drove off and left my garage door wide open!  Now that’s minor.  But I have actually left my own handbag on the floor in the garage and drove off without it!  It took me an hour later to realise what I had done and that was when I already got to the supermarket.  So I had to slowly trace back my steps and you could imagine my shock when I realised the mistake I had made!  Thankfully, my bag was still there and nothing has been touched! 

Then a few nights ago, I actually threw away MONEY!  Yes you get that.  I was sitting down at my desk sorting the mails and in one envelope was a parent’s payment for her child’s weekly childcare fees.  Again, the pregnant mind is just useless and I threw it away with all my other envelopes, scraps, vegetable peels, nappies, food scraps and etc etc.  Once again, my eyes nearly popped out when I realised what I had done the next morning.  I had to go back to my big bin outside, slowly went through the rubbish to find my money!  My kids looked at me wide eyes, wondering if their mum has gone nuts!  I believe I am losing my mind big time!

Oh and how about this?  I went to have a coffee at a cafe after the groceries shopping.  I opened up a satchet of sugar and poured the whole pack of sugar onto the saucer rather than my coffee cup!  To think that I actually drank the coffee and wondering why it was so bitter!  Ah, yes, I admit I have a pregnant brain, just not thinking right at all.

My friend said to me it’s all good, that means all my smart genes are going to the baby, and therefore I have nothing left! 

Ha, let’s seriously hope so, because  honestly if there’s anything this unborn baby in me has heard is….

 ”Has anybody seen my keys?” “Where is my bag?” “Oh, why did I do that for?”  or the worst “Oh no, kids, where are YOU?????  Are you HERE????”

Definitely a reverse to the soothing classical whatever music which the 2 older siblings had, but lots of loud children’s music to the tune of “The bells on the bus go DING DING DING….” and not forgetting the older sister’s constant singing everyday….Oh dear!

Tired.  Fullstop.

The last 2 weeks of bringing JD to school every morning took a bit to get used to.

But I don’t enjoy the business of dropping him off at 9.00am and being in school again at 12.20pm to pick him up every day of the week, due to the school’s gradual integration of kids into full time schooling.  I can only do limited things in that 3 hours and it frustrates me.

Oh, I am tired, just getting in and out of the car, to and fro from home to school, with a few little ones in tow, in the 40 deg c summer heat, then having to deal with a grumpy and tired child as JD is still coming to terms with being in school every day…And it becomes really hard for everyone when Thursday comes around.

Then he wanted his friend from school to come over our place and play EVERYDAY!  I said no, he got upset and the cycle continues.  

Oh, I am exhausted!  My hip bone is particularly sore this week and I am grumpy because I am aching all over.

Just before Chinese New Year, I had this crazy thought that “I want to make a new dress for Chloe, just for Chinese New Year!”.  I swear being pregnant can sometimes give you that adrenalin rush for something to be done, NOW! So just like that, 2 days before CNY, I got myself into this little project.  I have never sewn a dress before.  So, I took out a summer dress from her wardrobe and follow the outline to cut out the pattern.  I knew I wanted a collar but I have never sewn a collar before.  I knew I wanted some trimmings or ribbons to go with it.  Then I thought, I must sew a zip on the side so to make it easier for Miss C to dress and undress herself.

So with those thoughts in my head, I set out to work.  I had no idea how to do it, so I just kept refering to her old dress for stitching methods.  I have also never sewn a zip before, so I took out another summer dress of her and actually sat down to study how the zip was done.  As I said before, I am very amateur when it comes to sewing, so I spent a lot of time just trying and trying.  It didn’t turn out too difficult once I got it all worked out.

This was the original design.  But I ended up undoing it all and started all over again.  I wasn’t happy with my initial stitch work, and I also found the green waist band too broad for my liking.  Then I wasn’t happy with the white thread I used as I should be using a green thread to go with the green waist band.   I realised that “perfectionist” in me was creeping back, yikes!

The next morning, I undid everything and sewed from the start again.  I was happier with how it turned out second time round.  Chloe really like it and instantly gave me a cuddle when she saw it, my husband was very impressed, my mother-in-law was even more impressed when Miss C rock up to the reunion dinner announcing to everybody “My mummy make MY dress!”.  It was quite funny to me. 

Apart from the dress, I also fulfil my promise to JD in sewing a  library bag for him just in time for the start of school.  He is very happy and has been using it when we visit the library.

My son particularly loves this dinosaur print and I have made a few pillow cases, hankerchiefs for him with this fabric.

The 6 weeks summer school holiday is almost over.

My eldest, JD will start pre-primary tomorrow and begins his first year of full-time schooling.  I will miss him around the house during the week days.  I have a lot of love for him and in the past two years, I have really enjoyed his company, little chats, funny antics, helping me with tasks around the home.  However, I also share in his excitement as he knows he is really going into the “BIG” boy school and he hasn’t shown any nerves of being in a room with new kids and teachers yet.  I love how easy going, happy-go-lucky my little boy is.

The first four weeks will be a gradual transition into full-time schooling for him, as his school has carefully planned for.  They will start off as five half days, then one full day, one half day, and slowly they will move into 5 full days from 9am to 3pm.  

But the last 6 weeks of school holidays have been a lot of fun.  I enjoyed spending time with both JD and Chloe.  I must say they have been pretty good and I can see JD was enjoying the time off from school.  We have been on holidays to Margaret River, went to Scitech a few times, been to Adventure World almost every 2nd weekend to splash around in the water, birthday parties, swimming lessons, special holiday programs, fun at home, some quiet time for drawings, colourings and we even continued with our daily casual and fun lessons for writing, reading, maths and etc.  It kept us so occupied that time just went.  I was also working 3 days a week and JD had lots of fun with all the other little kids that come to our daycare on those 3 days.  I can see why there was no chance for anyone to get bored at all

Drawing, colourings, a moment when I appreciate how independent, grown up they have become.

Lego fun for JD….

Puzzle fun for Miss C.  She loves puzzles and can spend a fair amount of time trying to piece it all together.  She likes a good challenge.

Pretending to be Star Wars character, of which Miss C also happily joined in.  At 2.5yo, she knows about R2-D2 and Luke Skywalker, what a laugh!  Almost everyday around 4pm in the afternoon, the 2 of them will start the game, and I have Light Saber, swords, masks, noise, chasing, running around in the house.  It is noisy for me, but it’s fun for them.  So no complain there.

Crazy fun at the backyard…I think Miss C started off by giving the dolls and babies a bath, the next I saw them two jumping into the tub and then threw in a jar of marbles for some instant foot massage. 

Bringing them toMcDonald’s for breakfast.  As a treat for them since I have been dragging them along with me to Spotlight for more fabrics and sewing supplies.   They have been very patient when I carefully browse for fabrics.

Some other wonderul memories we have this school holiday include:

- When I notice how appreciative JD is towards all the little things we do together.  One aftenoon he turned to me and said “Mummy, I had such a great day with you.  The swimming, ice-cream afterwards is great.  Thank you mummy!”  He still love giving me cuddles, big hugs, lying in bed together talking about his Lego, Star Wars, his imaginations, his own story, what he remembered as a baby.  It is a special time for me because I come to learn and appreciate what a special little boy he is.  I love him dearly.

- JD helps me a lot around the house.  In the morning his task is to get himself ready, brush his teeth, wash his face and then he will clean up the bathroom for me every morning by making sure the toothbrushes and tootpaste are put back properly, wiping the vanity top to make sure there’s no toothpaste mark.  Surprisingly, he even knew how to fold the wiping cloth neatly before placing it neatly on the tap.  I must admit the first time he did that, I thought it was my husband that did it or I have subsconsiously did it the night before.  But later on I found out it was JD and it is a bit scary, because it resembles too much of how I do things around the house.  My husband said it is because JD saw what I do everyday and he is copying it.  So good.

- Miss C was successfully toilet trained in 2 days which took us all by surprise.  She is a great helper too and she is in charge of setting the dinner table in the evening and getting everybody to eat together at the dinner table.

- Both of them have also come to understand about mummy being pregnant and has a “baby in her tummy”. So they help me at the supermarkets by carrying the baskets for me, picking up toys from the floor, helping me with tasks where bending over has become slightly difficult for me.  Just last week, the two of them each carried a shopping basket for me when we went to pick up some chinese groceries.  I heard JD said to his sister “I shall carry the heavy stuff.  You carry the light ones.  Mummy’s back can’t really bend because she has a baby now.”  And his little sister just nod her head and happily carry the lighter basket.

I am very thankful that JD and Miss C have been so much fun these last 6 weeks and am so grateful for their understanding and independence.