Ultra Cool Mama

Finally

Credits: Ocean Cloud by Franziska Altmann at Scrapbook Graphics.

*If you haven’t read my earlier post Kindergarten, you should before continuing with this 

Journalling reads:

Finally you are starting to enjoy your new kindergarten. I was begining to wonder how much longer will it take for you to feel comfortable and fit in to your new environment. I know it is not going to be easy to send you to a Mandarin school when at home all we ever spoke was English and a splatter Cantonese to you. But deep down inside I know that you can manage and that it is important to learn the language or you’ll end up like Mommy and Daddy who can’t even speak in Mandarin nevermind read and write. So I just want you to know that Mommy is VERY proud of you! And I’m so glad that you are finally enjoying kindergarten now. You don’t know how happy and relief I felt to see you runing towards class… Now I know that you’ll be fine and having fun in school. 

So after a not-so-nice or rather should I say… ‘Fine’ first week… Things started to change middle of the second week. Out of the blue, one day when I picked him up from school as we were walking through the chaos of frantic parents (trying to get to their kids or cars) and cars (with parents who are trying to be ‘nice’ to each other but actually in at verge of running each other down with their cars)… I asked my customary question “How’s school today?” not actually expecting anything different but deep down inside still hoping to hear it… and it came… He said: “I had fun today. Actually my school is quite fun hah…Mommy..” In the midst of preventing him (and myself) being run over by some maniac parent trying to get out of the compound, something inside me went ‘PING!!’ So I pressed on further to ask him what’s so fun about school? What did you do today? And in true Aiden style, he never fails to come out with something truly out of the ordinary to surprise… He said: “They all try to make me happy… ‘lao shi’ (teacher) try to make me feel better lah.” I didn’t really quite put it together so I asked, “So that’s fun?” and he said yes with a very straight face. 

Well, something worked there. I’m just glad that he is finally having fun and slowly finding his ‘space’. I was worried and wondered if he’ll fit in at all. At home we really hardly ever spoke Mandarin and just s little Cantonese and that’s usually between me and my parents. Greg and I are totally ‘bananas’! In this time and place in the world, suddenly Mandarin has become a rather important language to know. That’s why I have insisted on sending Aiden to a Mandarin based school in hopes that he’ll fit in and try to learn the language. I think it will be very useful in the future. And I know that I’m not alone to think this from the number of non-chinese students that is in Aiden’s kindergarten. 

I was just so happy to finally see him running off to his assembly hall to gather with his classmates before they march up to their class… One thing however still hasn’t changed though… He is still sitting by himself in class.. But let’s just be happy that he is happy about school for now.