School for Annika

I have been rather stressed about sending Annika to school this year.

It was already organised last year, so as Febuary drew closer I kept asking myself if it was the right time to send her to school... for some reason Annika seems like such a baby to me! ( Madison was already attending drop off classes 3 times a week at 18 months! )

So I emailed the principal at Joy Little, just to check that she was indeed supposed to start.

They didn't reply to the email, but a teacher gave me a call instead.

So it's confirmed, she's to start Friday, 3rd Febuary.

Now that I've started this new thing with SGH on Fridays, this means the kids sleep over at Novena Thursday night. My parents willingly volunteered to help with transport to and from school for Madison, so that leaves Warni with Annika.

I feel guilty and a little sad that I'm not going to be accompanying Annika to school for the first 2 weeks, but it's probably better for her that it happens this way. Warni is to stay with her for the first 2 weeks, then depending on how she copes, just to bring her lunch in early subsequently and take her home whenever she got tired. I think she'd be more clingy and fussy if I were there and then tried to leave. Or worse still, dropped her off. It's like the naps. When I put her down she fusses and cries and it just seems so stressful, but when Warni does it all is well.

Yesterday Annika was looking for Warni all afternoon! She actually didn't "want" me and specifically looked for Warni. And cried at night when we were about to go home! Of course I felt a little sad, BUT, again, hindsight is really useful. Madison did something similar at the same age, and of course, it was a phase.

Anyway.. I made sure to spend more time with her this morning. She does spend quite alot of time with Warni, and I'm happy that she is loved and well cared for. Her speech is developing at a phenomenal pace, which is also why she would benefit from a Mandarin playgroup.

When I googled "preschool for 18 month old", I was taken to a Berkeley parents network forum discussion on the topic. Looks like this is a universal concern amongst parents(specifically, MOTHERS). I wonder why fathers don't seem to have the same concerns! Or have this type of discussions on forums!