Reflections on the Last Day of June School Holidays

Today is the last day of the June school holidays. It's time to do a stock-take of what we have done during this period. 

I started by asking P last night about how he was feeling. As expected, he replied "No good." My response? "Why no good? You can start saving up again. With 20 cents a day, by the end of the week, you can remit 1 sticker with $1." That's the way, we are trying to inculcate the importance of saving in P. But in this little episode, I am trying to teach him to look at things from another perspective - look at the perks of amassing pocket money instead of the homework associated with school life. 

What Have We Accomplished this June Holidays

No, I did not send my child to tons of enrichment classes, except for Chinese which he needed as this was not my forte. But once a week, it was not exactly those intensive holiday programme. I did however, go through with him on what he was weak in and set goals as to how many marks he should be aiming for in the next class assessment. Likewise, with R, I have also sat down with the youngest man in my family to have goals - to complete his phonics program by end of the year. To do so, I have gotten them to pen down their goals and put it up in the kitchen wall.

So much for the work stuff. As the saying goes too much work and no play make Jack a dull boy. There was also fun stuff like bringing them to cinema. They particularly enjoyed the Kungfu Panda movie, which they literally laughed from the beginning of the show till the end. P was the most lucky fella in our family - he went with his friends in student care, to catch the latest Indiana Jones movie. In addition, he was the first and at the moment, the only one in our family to have gone up Singapore Flyer.

Self-Designated Family Day Last Friday

To mark the end of the holiday, my hubby and I designated last Friday as the Lims' Family Day. And so, we both took leave and pre-celebrated R's birthday in his childcare.

Birthday Celebration in the Morning

The day started early at 8 am. My hubby went to do some last-minute grocery shopping for disposable plates and forks for the birthday celebration, while I went to collect the birthday cake.

When we were at the childcare centre, the kids were all very excited by the Pikachu cake. There was quite a buzz at the centre. With all the "wows" and "cools", R was shyly albeit happily basking in the attention showered onto him that he had quickly forgotten the earlier tantrum that he threw when he insisted to have another cake design. Phew! After the birthday song, R and P were gleefully distributing the little birthday goodies we have prepared for the children.

Parents' Only Afternoon Time

After the birthday celebration, the boys were sent to their Grand Aunt's place where they indulged in the matriarch's love. At the same time, their parents could have some together time at the golf course. The three-hours at the green did wonders and help us regain some sanity in our own lives. This was something really important as we could get carried away with taking care of the kids and forget about ourselves. Just like our boys, we were also individuals with our own unique interests and needs. Thereafter, it was time to chauffeur R to get his last two cavity-infiltrated molar teeth fixed. 

Family Time in the Night

When the night has come and the sun has set, it was "Night Safari" time! It was great to be on leave and we managed to reach the zoo well before 7 pm. There, we had our dinner on a very relaxing and leisure pace with time even for the boys to have fun with coloring and just explore the surroundings.

At 7 pm sharp, we were amongst the first customers of Night Safari. We quickly went up tram and before long, we were training our eyes hard to spot the night creatures on the prowl. To have a closer look at these fabulous animals, we also set afoot very stealthily on the some of trails in Night Safari.

At the end of our tour, the two boys went up to the gongs and played some non-recognizable sounds complete with their spluttering of laughters. We knew they really enjoyed themselves and that was what matter to us most.