Marymount Kindergarten Orientation for Parents

After morning's furoy at the Rise and Shine expo, P took a deep nap after she got home. I had to bring her over to in law's place at 5.00 PM so I can go meet hubby at United Square, where we had our dinner before going to attend her school's orientation. P didn't wake up when it was time to go, so I had to move her to my shoulder. I thought she will wake when walking over to in law's, but she didn't. She slept all the way to my in law's place (technically just 2 blocks away), and continued sleeping after I passed her to MIL's helper. Haha, the tired little creature... 

I took a bus to Novena to meet hubby. We had Bakerzin pasta for dinner and it fell short of my expectations. I ordered their seafood pasta (as I always do) but they definitely did it a lot better the last time I had it. The noodle was overcooked and the texture just didn't appeal to me. Hubby's Aglio Olio with mushroom, ham and bacon fared much better, but I'm not really a fan of garlic, eeks. We (well, it's more of I) beat a hasty retreat from Bakerzin, but it was still early. We found our way to Sogurt, which charges yoghurt and toppings by the weight, so you can add anything you want. It doesn't come cheap compared to other yoghurt shops where youghurt usually just come with 1 or 2 types of toppings, but I really like the flexibility of adding what I want (a lot) and what I want to try (1 or 2 pieces). 

 The orientation for parents is to be held from 7-9PM at MMK compound. We arrived close to 7PM to see that most people are already seated. They had several stations - 1 for registration, 1 giving out orientation materials, 1 giving out CDAC forms (for those who wish to pay school fees via Baby Bonus scheme), 1 dishing out water and curry puff, and 1 for school bus. When we reached the presentation hall, we found a few classrooms transformed to childcare facilities (with teachers helping to look after the kids) for parents who had brought their kids along. We didn't want to bring P along partly because of the late timings, but mainly because of the potential disruption she will cause. On hidnsight, if I had known they provided childcare facilities, I MIGHT be a bit more inclined to bring P along. 

 The principal Mrs Kew kickstarted the presentation at about 7.15PM, bringing us through the organization of the kindergarten, staff strength, rules, dismissal procedures, meals at school etc. It was comprehensive, but quite dull. She finished off at about 8.30 PM and the big group was broken up into smaller groups based on the school level of the child. The English HOD spoke to us about the curriculum, followed by the Chinese teacher. It does seem that P will have a lot of fun at this school next year. I like that they take a very hands-on approach when educating the pre-nursery children. It was close to 9.30 PM by the time everything ended. 

There is going to be another orientation for our toddlers come 27 Dec 2013. I can't wait to bring P to see her school again.

Rise & Shine Expo 2013

There was a lot of online hype regarding the Rise & Shine Expo 2013 held at Suntec Convention Hall 401 from 27-29 Sep 2013. It supposedly features 500+ premium brands, 100+ parenting talks, 50+ fun classes for little ones and many more. There was also Meet & Greet with Nickelodeon characters like Dora and Diego. I happened to be on leave on 27 Sep 2013, so decided to check the expo with P and my mom. 

We arrived at about 11.30AM to a completedly made over Suntec City, found our way (not as intuitive as before) to the Convention Center Hall 401 and saw a long queue, presumably for the goodie bag. We started at the right side of the Hall and made our way through the booths. Luckily, there wasn't a very big crowd and we could maneuver at ease. I have definitely experienced worse at Expo baby fairs. 

We came across the Anlene booth and I made my mom take the free bone density test that they made available to all. She seemed keen to get some of the products, we but decided to come back later so as not to lug the heavy products around. Slightly further down was the NTUC booth, giving away free walking pet balloons if you complete their form to join their mailing list. Mom joined the queue first with P while I went in search of the form to complete. It was lucky we queued early. By the time we got to our turn, there was a looooooooooooong line of people behind us. P was very happy to pull her walking cow (looks like a dog if you asked me) around. I signed up for the Passion Card (yes, I'm quite slow to take this up) 2 booths down, and that's pretty much what we took away (with Anlene products at the end) from the Rise and Shine expo. There was really nothing much to buy. To add salt to the wound, our biggest haul was Anlene (senior products IMO) at a kid's fair, how ironic. I guess it's to make up for the lack of things to buy, my mom kept asking me to go get their goodie bags. We headed to the entrance/exit area and I noticed the goodie bag queue has died down considerably. It was also not simply queue and get it. According to the staff, I had to sign up at the website, have 5 friends 'Like' their event on Facebook before a QR code is generated for me to collect the goodie bag. Thanks to the hype among all my mommy friends, the 5 'Likes' was available immediately, and I collected the goodie bag without much problem. 

P was probably the most shortchanged. She usually get to try a lot of snacks and product offerings at expo baby fairs, but Heinz booth wasn't at this exhibition and she doesn't take any of the milk powder that are exhibited there. To quote her, "No mum mum." We also didn't stay till 3.30 PM for the Meet and Greet, but she did have fun on the bouncy castle though. 

 Left the exhibition and went in search of lunch. Suntec is so foreign to me now. Their post-renovation look is very modern looking, and I had difficulties trying to figure out the directions. With the help of some signs, we managed to find our way to the fountain area where most of the food options are located, and even that area has changed considerably. For one, I think the new design makes the place looks brighter, probably letting in more natural sunlight. I actually like its new look. Unfortunately, it was lunchtime when we got there, and office workers thronged the restaurant queues. We finally managed to settle at Ichiban Boshi when P had several meltdowns as the lunch was eating into her nap. We took a hurried lunch and brought P home before her full blown tantrum kicks it. She didn't make it though, felling asleep on the feeder bus just 1 stop away from my house.

eXplorerKid Race 2013

P took part in the eXplorerkid Race again this year. She falls into the 25-30 months category, and is just nice 25 months and 1 day old on day of competition. Race format is to have the toddler run 2.5m to pick up a bean bag, then run another 2.5m to the finishing line. P did a great run to the 2.5m mark, but she did a touch and go on the bean bag without picking it up. By the time she went back for it, the other kids have already reached the finishing line. It was my fault actually; I ran off to the finishing line too quickly before making sure she picked up the bean bag. You can see from the video my mom took. Nevertheless, it was a great improvement from last year where she crawled halfway before sitting down to clap with gusto, haha. 

We will be back again next year!