There and Back Again

Our tags Today we went climbing. What did you say? Yes, our son who has a history of planning issues is going to climb rock walls. I expected a disaster, but you know what, if we never try, we will never know. It was also a Zee Juniors reunion. For some reason, the mothers of his kindergarten class got along very well. I think it has something to do with the fact that all of us banded together to fight against the tyranny of Zee's ridiculous spelling lists. Needless to say, he was not very keen in the first place. I think he knows his limitations, but the moment he saw his former classmates, he was keen to go. When I saw him climb, I was reminded of his rope ladder climbing during his days of Occupational Therapy, and also when he climbs bouncy castles. He had always struggled. I think it is a combination of his weak upper body strength, his weight and his coordination. Compared to the girls in his class, he was not fast. But I think he did very well in the sense th...

Lucas and his seldom worn Liverpool FC football jersey One day, my mum spoke to me about my son and his adventures in the field just below my mother's house. Usually after my son finishes with his student care, he goes to my mother's house. He started to 'play' football with the kids downstairs. In reality, he is really more of a cheerleader who happens to stand in the field. I am also glad the older boys tolerate the presence of the young ones (there is another younger boy whose 'position' is similar to his). According to my mum, there was one incident when an older boy got angry with the younger boy. Apparently, he was running towards him, and looked like he was going to hit the younger boy. My son, who was nearby, apparently reacted to this by saying something to the older boy. That drew the ire of the older boy who went after my son instead. Fortunately my mum reacted quick enough with a shout and the older boy only shoved my son lightly. However, my...

My parents on the ferry to Bintan. This is a late post - we visited Bintan on the first Sunday of the March school holidays, came back and school has reopened. Yet I am only writing the post today! It has been a tiring March holidays for me. As you know, my son was hospitalised for the most part of the last week of Term 1. We had booked a holiday to Bintan way in advance and we held our breaths as we waited for the antibiotics to take effect. Fortunately, the antibiotics won and he was discharged on Friday. He had one day of additional rest and off it was to Bintan. There was only one problem. He enjoys swimming... but can he swim? I specifically asked the doctor what sort of water stuff he could do. I was told specifically that there was to be no swimming, but wading around was fine. Actually my mother was even not keen for him to go into water, but relented when I told her about the doctor's instructions. Actually, based on my own research, there is a lot of evidence th...

When parents start on the topic of enrichment classes, I always think about the enrichment classes I had when I was young. I had swimming classes - that was something I did well in and maintained my interest in throughout all my life. Not that I swim a lot nowadays. But given the choice of doing a sport, I would probably choose swimming. I also played the organ. It was not something that kept my interest, but my mother made me learn it all the way till I was in secondary school. One benefit knowing the organ was that it helped me in my ECA (now called CCA), the symphonic band. I did a short stint of art classes, and I remembered that I was quite good at sketching at one point. Unfortunately, the lack of practise meant that I returned everything back to the teacher. Now, it is my turn to be a parent and decide on my son's enrichment. I am doing it slightly different from my mother. I mean there are some things that were good - I cannot complain my mother did not try to expose m...

Some time ago, the whole family went to the trampoline park together with my brother-in-law and his family. This was our second visit to the park and their first to the park. It was great fun. Now, I always encourage my son to take up physical activities. This is because I always believe that good physical condition means peak mental performance . I know this sounds hypocritical when you see me, but I really try to exercise. It is just that I have a lot of difficulties in losing weight. (I still can swim pretty well now; I represented Catholic High and Temasek Junior College in swimming). I went to the Catholic High Alumni dinner two weeks ago and I was impressed by their Modern Dance and Wu Shu. I certainly hope that he can consider either one of this. Or a CCA that is sports-based. Though at the back of my mind, I know I should not expect him to end up doing exceptionally well in any sports CCA. One reason is that while I did well enough to participate in the national compe...