Guess what? Today marks my 1st month of
stay in Doha, Qatar. YEAH!!
I know I have been neglecting this blog for a
while. But I will try to blog more now since my two kids are attending
their Summer Camp School, and I have more time to kill. LOL!
Everything has been great so far except the weather.
It’s getting warm here and CT told me, the temperature will continue to rise
till August to as high as 48 degree! I know it sounds insane but I guess
my family will be able to survive the heat – just stay in-door and switch on
air conditioning (that’s what we have been doing for past 1 month). Also I miss
showering in COLD water too, now that it's summer, even cold water has becoming
tepid water and sometimes can be as hot as boiling water - you could even boil
an egg! (I'm just kidding!). Solution? A bucket of warm water to be left
overnight.
Apart the heat, the weather is very very dry, I've been
suffering lip cracks, scaly and itchy skins (I have eczema) on my feet and face
and worse of all my blackheads are coming back. Gosh... my pores are
always congested with blackheads and whiteheads nowadays no matter what I did –
scrubbing, masking and even my current Holy Grail B.liv off those heads is not doing their jobs. I’m actually
seeking for alternative products to combat those heads. Do you guys have any
recommendation?
Wait a minute! Actually this entry is to update about
my boys 1st day of
school!
There lot adjustments need to be done prior their fist
day to school such as:
 |
| Their new school, it's a Canadian School. We are still searching for British Curriculum School |
1) Waking Time
My kids are not morning risers! They usually
rises around 8.30 AM but for the last 2 weeks before start of the
school start, my helper and I slowly wake them up earlier – 2 weeks before
was around 7.30 AM and on last week was around 7.00 AM. In their
new school, Calgary
International Pre-School (Doha) the activities start as early as
7.30 am. My
kids need to wake up as early as 6.30 AM to have breakfast at
home and watch some cartoons before we set off to school. And also we
need to drive them to school; it takes about 5-7 minutes to reach
the school. However in Brayden's previous school, Agape Little University (Singapore)
the lessons start around 9.00 AM. We usually send him to school around
8.00 AM so they woke up around 7.45 AM. The nursery is only 5 minutes
walking distant from our home. So no traffic!
2) Sleeping Time
They usually went to bed around 9.30 PM – 10.00 PM.
It's quite late, but now we're gradually adjusting their bedtime
hours to 8.30 PM – 9.00 PM.
It’s not the ideal time yet!
Young children need to have a good 10 hours sleep.
So hopefully, they could rest early after hard day at
school today!
Here is our ideal time tables:
Morning: 6.30 AM
Breakfast: 7.00 AM
School: 7.30 AM - 1.30
PM
Afternoon
Nap: 2.00 PM - 4.00 PM
Play
Time/ TV session: 4.30 PM - 5.30 PM
Dinner: 6.00 PM
Study Time: 6.30 PM- 7.30 PM
Shower
and Sleep Time: 8.00 PM
3) Neither
breakfast nor lunch provided
In Brayden’s previous school, they provide every meal – breakfast,
tea-break, lunch and snacks. Here in the school they provide nothing so
basically we need to prepare the food the night before and warm up the
next morning to pack to their lunch boxes. So I need to think different
types of bento lunch for them. (Bento is
a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine.
A traditional bento holds rice, fish or meat, with pickled or cooked vegetables,
usually in a box-shaped container. Usually Japanese
homemakers often spend time and energy on a carefully
prepare lunch for their spouse, child, or
themselves.)
Actually now I miss the Singapore Childcare,
it’s so convenient.
4) School Hours
In Singapore, most childcares operate from 7.00 AM –
7.00 PM. But here the school only operate from 7.00 AM – 1.30 PM, so I need to
home-school them and that's the reason why I decided not to find a job
here. I don't my kids to slack at home, i.e. watch cartoons, play Wii
Nintendo/ iPad, play toys, etc. I'm not so sure about the curriculum over here,
so being a typical 'kiasu'
Singaporean mommy, I will prefer to coach them extra lessons (I bought lots
of assignments book for my eldest boy, he's going to kindergarten next
year . Just in case if we decided to pack our luggage back to our
hometown, our kids able
How my boys coping their first day?
Initially my eldest boy, Brayden, is a kind of looking
forward to go to school. The night before or to be accurate a week before the
school start, I kept explaining to him about his new school, new teacher and
new friends. He said “Ok mommy, no more teacher Lali (his favourite teacher),
no more Yu Tong (his girl-friend), Xiang Wei and Jin Yang (his buddy).” He told
me that he misses going to school but on the actual day, he got nervous and
anxious. Probably, he saw many unfamiliar faces in the schools. So he nearly
broke down and wanted to go home with me. But after coaxing him for awhile
(giving him some toys to play with), he finally settled-in. I decided not
to stay longer in school (my initial plan to hang around for at least 2 hours),
I worried if he sees me, he would cry and want to follow me home.
As for my youngest son, Bazyl, he’s the bravest ones.
He didn’t shed a single tears at all despite it’s his first time going to
school and first time separated from us when we left him behind with teacher.
In fact he easily warms up with everyone. Well done, Bazyl!
Well, now that both of them at school, the home feel
empty without them.
Love, Shantz
