Jaimie's 1st Day in Childcare Centre

Today is an important day to Jaimie. And to us. This is Jaimie's first day at childcare centre. We did a lot of mental preparation for Jaimie, telling her about the exciting things she will be learning in school, pointing out to her big gor-gors and jie-jies carrying their "backpacks" (as in Dora's backpack) to school, daddies and mommies won't be in the classroom with their children etc. We let her choose her own bag and water bottle to give her a sense of ownership and excitment too. All these preparation... for her big day.

I took leave today and Clement went to work late since he was unable to take leave today. She is not wearing uniform as she will be on 2 weeks trial. I picked a 2 piece outfit for her so that she can hang her handkerchief in her pants.

And the little one looked so grown up today!
We reached the childcare centre at 8.30am. Jaimie was happy and excited to go into the classroom. I went in with her for the first 15mins while papa and por-por observed from the corridor. We didn't want to be too near her to remind her of the comfort she has with us. Mdm Aw asked if Jaimie had breakfast. I told Mdm Aw to give Jaimie a little breakfast since it is part of the routine. Mdm Aw fed Jaimie some coco crunch in milk. Jaimie responded well to Mdm Aw. She allowed her to feed her and hold her hands. After breakfast, Jaimie explored the classroom and played with the toys. I bid her goodbye, Jaimie ignored me as she was busy with the peg puzzles. I bid her farewell again and assured her that I would pick her up after school. She continued to ignore me. Well, I take it as an "ok" and left quietly.

Clement and I stood outside for an hour to peep at Jaimie. We were both keeping our fingers crossed that she'll be ok. We were careful not to let her see us. Jaimie explored the place and then stayed close to Mdm Aw. Mdm Aw gave her many peg puzzles to solve. We were very surprised to see Jaimie putting the right pieces at the right places quite effortlessly! The other children started the day by greeting all the teachers and singing songs. Jaimie continued to do her own things. Mdm Aw stayed close to Jaimie. She gave Jaimie some rubber duckies to play and read books with her. We could hear Jaimie saying "papa yaya, mama yaya, baby yaya" while arranging the 2 bigger rubber duckies with the smaller one. Clement left for work at 9.30am while I left for McDonalds to do my marking at 10am. I took a last peep at the classroom before leaving. Mdm Aw happen to see me and gave me a thumbs up sign. I was quite relieved and happy.

I was told to pick Jaimie up at 12.30pm after her lunch and shower. I reached there at around 12noon and decided to observe a little further before picking Jaimie up. I could hear Jaimie crying for "Mama" while Mdm Aw consoled her, saying "Mama went to the toilet. You need to wait for her. She'll be back soon." Jaimie quiet down a little and consoled herself while sobbing "不要哭！不要哭！". This is what we always tell her when she whines or cries. We always tell her not to cry. Just tell us nicely what she wants/ pick herself up from the fall etc and there is no need to cry. I didn't expect her to console herself in such a situation. My heart melted and I dashed into the classroom to hug my little girl who has seemed to grow so big!

Mdm Aw told me that Jaimie had a good portion of noddles for lunch. She even told Mdm Aw she was full and didn't want anymore. Mdm Aw also feedback to me saying that Jaimie participated in the activities. She was well behaved and wasn't crying until just now.

I am just so proud of my little girl!! I think she has done very well for her first day in school!

When we were waiting for daddy to pick us up (since he can go on a longer lunch today), I asked Jaimie if she enjoyed school and if she wanted to go to school tomorrow. She gave a positive reply. I am really very happy to hear that!

This is just day one. I hope she continues to like school. We have learnt from some mommies in the forum that some children enjoyed the first few days and then showed signs of anxiety after a few days or after a week. We'll keep observing, and keeping our fingers crossed!