Before you know it, it’s time for my youngest one to enrol into standard one. I’m not gonna lie, we are more nervous than the kid himself. We got him into the same school that his sisters went to in Bangi. Should we have enrolled Asif into the nearby Rinching Hilir school instead? To be honest, the school didn’t even cross our minds at the time. Anyway, we prepared for everything early on. Uniforms, bag, stationery, you know the lot. The orientation was one month before school actually started. Asif didn’t show it but we know he looked lost among his schoolmates. I mean, it is a huge leap from kindergarten into primary school.
We took the day off for Asif’s first day in school. We shepherded him to the canteen to assemble before the bell rings. Despite his nervousness, Asif put on a brave face while leaving us to march into his class. We left the school and came back just before recess. On the first day, Asif lost half of his pocket money. Fried vermicelli is not his first choice for lunch but he attempted to finish it anyway. On the second day, he lost another ringgit from his allowance. On the third day, he wore the wrong track pants to school so he was penniless during recess. Luckily, Linda was there to help him out. I don’t remember what happened during recess on the fourth day but he came home coughing and with a temperature. He didn’t go to school that Friday.
As for the religious school situation, Asif still goes to the same kindergarten that he went to last year. Our plan was to enrol him to the same religious school that his sisters went to but they were full. At least, going to the same place, cushioned the shock somewhat we thought. I showed Asif how to use the toilet during orientation. On the first day of school, I tried bringing him there again to practice but he said he didn’t want to pee yet. So how did it go for the rest of the week? Apparently the solution is to not go to the toilet at all during school. I suppose these kids have an exceptionally large bladder to hold themselves until they got home. I hope that he’ll learn to use the toilet sooner or later cause one of these days, he’s going to have to relief himself and I pray that it’s in the toilet.
When I picked him up in the evening, the kid is usually famished since he didn’t find anything he like at the canteen, except for biscuits and cold drinks. Asif is a picky eater so it’s no surprise that he’ll need some time to adjust to the realities of the world outside his kindergarten. We can only pray that he’ll adjust and settle down eventually. He will have to because there’s no other alternative then his current school. Amen.
