Prepping Aisyah for School

Pagi tadi gi jumpa GP. As expected, x dibaginya ubat. Dia kata, tunggu baik sendiri. Dia syak kena jangkitan virus, which I was told can take up to 6 weeks to go away. SIX WEEKS! Ingat Oyis, sakit penghapus dosa. Deep breaths now.

Lps balik klinik, gi register Aisyah ke nursery. We have agreed that starting next week, beliau akan pergi nursery 2 kali seminggu, half day belah ptg. Setinggi2 syukur pada Allah ada jg rezeki Aisyah ke nursery, sbb nya mmg belanjanya agak tinggi di sini.

Before anything, kitaoeg dibawa utk tour the entire nursery. Aisyah will stay in the 1-2 year old group. Kat nursery ni dia pecah2 ikut umur, (1) Babies, (2) 1-2 yr (3) 2-3 yr, and lastly (4) 3-5 yrs old. And I am glad Aisyah dimasukkan ke group 1-2 yr tu, coz budak x ramai, sopan2, and they must take off their shoes, carpeted floor (bersih and soft flooring), plus budak2 nya byk yg baru2 bole jalan, x de la kena buli aje si Aisyah ni karang haha, sbb fizikal dia mmg kecil molek je. Asalnya ingatkan nak masukkan terus ke group 2-3 yr old, coz she will be two in June kan, x lama dah gila kiasu mak Aisyah ni, nak suh anak dia advance cpt2, but after weighing on the pros ang cons, xpe la, biar dia duduk ngan kids her age aje la, biar dpt gentle introduction dulu, x la terkujat nnt.

Antara aspek yg aku suka psl nursery ni (n I believe semua kt UK pon mcm ni):

1. Security from the external elements - Pintu mmg lock baikkk punya, nak masuk kena tekan loceng, identify who you are, what you want, etc, baru bole masuk. Bila u kluar pon one of the carers (cikgu) will immediately lock after you. X kan dpt la suka2 je masuk. I still shudder dkt kes taska kt Msia (Muar ke?) itu hari yg ada kes org kurg siuman mengamuk n tetak budak2. How?

2. Security from internal elements - Setiap penjuru ada CCTV. Klo anak kita cedera semasa di nursery (terjatuh, terhantuk, kawan tolak), not only will the carers explain how it happened, but they will show a CCTV extract of the moment kejadian itu berlaku. Baru la x de kes dera drpd cikgu mcm ni.

3. Log book - semua perkembangan anak kita masa kat nursery dia tulis dlm log. Brp byk kali salin nappy, mkn apa, minum apa, main apa, brp jam tido, achievements that day, etc..

4. Child-to-carer ratio - utk umur Aisyah (1-2 yr), satu carer hanya bole jaga 3 kanak2. Makanya tidak la cikgu2 tu swamped and dpt la diorg jaga budak2 tu betul2. Children are never left unattended, even when they sleep, the carer akn duk sebelah je tggu mereka bgn.

5. Aisyah is not assigned to a particular carer just yet, bcoz they will let Aisyah CHOOSE who she wants her carer to be (the one she bonds best with). Aku rasa terharu dgr statement tu.

6. They have no problem ikut cara n gaya hidup kita dan agama or culture kita. Like I told them Aisyah is strictly vegetarian (nk mudah, sini x phm Halal, sbb x byk muslim population), and they have that option on the menu. Pastu Aisyah is bilingual, and surprisingly the nursery encourages kids to speak their mother tongue as well as English. Cikgu dia even suruh aku list kan perkataan2 yg Aisyah tahu in Malay, supaya sambil2 dia ajar words in English, dia akan selitkan jg in BM. Psl toilet traning kalo kita dah ready utk introduce dia akan tolong dan beri kerjasama, and x kisah la kalo terkencing x terkincit apa semua, dah nama nya budak. Psl EBM pon diorg dah biasa handle. I feel quite confident with them.

7. Having just ahd a close fire encounter not long ago, kitaorg tanya psl fire procedure at the nursery, and berpuas hati la. Drills are done monthly at random times, altho we pray that it never comes to that. Diaorg bg Aisyah 2 hours introductory session yg mana kitaorg as parents , nauzubillahi min zalik.

8. Gile la tempat ni ada mcm ala2 indoor play area tau, ada ball pool, ada tempat ala2 bouncy castle apa semua, in this one room at the back (tp utk budak 3 thn ke atas la, too adventurous utk Aisyah lg). Masa kitaorg jenguk bilik tu, ada budak2 duk 'terbang' ke sana ke sini tau, sungguh x tipu. Henjoy x ingat dunia!

9. We are given a 2-hour settling-in session dgn Aisyah, free of charge. What we'll do is lps dah duduk kjp ngan Aisyah dlm bilik playroom nya, we parents go up to the office and leave Aisyah to her carers (read: expect meraung). But from ofis tu kita tgk la dia melalui CCTV. Hopefully Aisyah settles in well. X sampai hati plak nak tgk dia nangis lama2 carik Ibu. Oh Tuhan, tabahkan hati ini!

Tu je la dulu. Nanti Aisyah dah masuk kang list lg. Tpnya x bole la nak tunjuk gmbr, coz sini undang2 dia x kasi bawak masuk kamera dlm nursery, takut kita mis-use and amik gmbr child pronography gi letak kat internet plak. Teruk betul la sicko2 tersebut, menyusahkan org lain yg genuinely nak amik kenangan milestone anak sendiri *merengus x puas hati*

Oh and after that byr yuran apa semua tu (we were waived of the GBP40 reg fee, Alhamdulillah), Hubs pon gi solat Jumaat whilst I had lunch with Aisyah at the Rolle Cafe. telah menjadi kebiasaan kami berdua tiap2 Jumaat aku akan makan kat cafe ni sementara menuggu Hubs sudah solat Jumaat, before going back to the lab. Tiba2 tgh mkn dtg satu thought yg sayu, 'This will be our last mkn2 hari Jumaat together'. Sbb nya lps ni one of the days yg nak hntr Aisyah tu adalah Friday evening, and since she starts at one o' clock, dah x payah aku gi jump Hubs kat simpang masjid la utk 'pass baton'. We wouldn't get anymore smiles and stares from the cafe people and those dining at it, sbb Aisyah sorg je budak yg mkn kat situ, org lain semua staff or students. Dgn itu, I felt a pang of sadness. Maka telah amik bbrp gmbr sempena lepas ni dah x mkn kat sini lg every Fridays.







But when I told Hubs, beliau gelak je. Beliau berkata, 'Eleh mcm x leh buat mother-daughter outing lg. Kalo nak sgt buat, kita hntr je la dia lambat tiap2 hari Jumaat, like at 3 pm ke'. Hehe... Betul jg... emo je lebih aku nih ;P

Apa pon, Hubs has also shown his tender side as well, when he keeps saying, 'Dah besar dah anak Ayah, dah nak masuk nursery dah. Ingat lagi merah2, tembam2 masa baru lahir, dah nak tinggalkan Ayah sorg2 ptg2. Sunyi la Ayah'.

Sapa lebih emo skang?

Budak nak masuk sekolah dah