Thursday, January 3, 2008

Those School girl, Urrrmmm ... I Mean, School boy Days ...

The kids started school yesterday and I know wifey will be relieved to have the boys out of her hair for a few hours ... LOL! They've been more than a handful the past 7 weeks of the holidays, practically running riot around the house (especially the younger fellow) and even more so when my cousins kids drop by for a visit which is quite often. That's when the house sounds and feels like a war zone!

We had to send the kids to school and meet their teachers, pay the fees, sort out the books and attend some briefing and orientation thingy. Since I've also started work, I dropped wifey off before heading to work cos the parents are supposed to be there by 9.00 am and told wifey I'll be back a little later to join her after I report in to work and sort out some stuff. I was thinking that by the time I get there, she would have settled everything but no such luck.

When I reached there, which was close to 11 am, she was still waiting her turn to see the class teacher to pay the fees and stuff. Apparently the thing started late, which was no surprise to me really. When our turn finally came to meet the class teacher, we ended up finishing everything in a matter of 5 minutes! And poor wifey had to wait it out for close to 3 hours or so. God, I hate inefficiency! And to top it all of, the free text books which were to be given to all children had some complications and my sons class ended up not receiving their share of the books. At least she did manage to settle the younger fellows stuff with no problems whatsoever. They're in different school sessions.

You know, back when I was in school I don't remember my mom having too come and see the teacher, pay the fees, attend briefings and all that nonsense. I still remember the first day I went to school. My mom sent me, waited till I was in the proper class and left before the break. I was scared to my bones by then ... LOL! I was afraid she wouldn't come back and who in heavens name would I get home. I'm sure you guys know how it is when you're 7 years old and in a place full of unknown kids, some of whom are crying their eyes out and your mom is no where to be seen!


Gosh, to tell you the truth, I hated school. I've always hated it and I was so blooming happy when the day came to finally leave school forever. It was like a dream come true. But that was before I discovered I hate working even more than school ... LOL! At least with school all you had to do was attend classes, pretend to pay attention (in my case anyway) and then head home after school and sleep, eat, play and watch TV with no cares in the world unlike all the responsibilities I have now. Now I wish I was back in school ... hehehe ...

I was never very good in my studies back when I was in school. I wouldn't even say I was an average student. I never did take studying seriously. When it came to exams I'd study for it one day before it started. I don't know how I even scraped through it. The only subject I ever loved in school was Art, English and Literature. It was the only time I would actually pay attention to what was being taught. The rest I'd just dream throughout the lessons. I had this math teacher who came up to me one day and said to me:

'Nicholas, I don't care if you don't want to study and decide you want to be stupid for the rest of your life but all I ask is for you pretend to pay attention in my class and don't disrupt it. You don't even have to do the homework I assign, just sit there and keep quiet!'

So, there I sat throughout his lessons and not doing a single page of homework. That probably explains why I think 1 +1 is 11 ... LOL! My mom didn't really have very high expectations of me (I wonder why!). When I actually sat for my final exams and got through it, she was shocked, and I really mean shocked! If I'm not mistaken, I think her first words when I told her I passed my final exams were:

'You cheated on your exams or what?'

LOL! Thanks mom for the 'confidence' you had in me ... well, who could blame her. Even I resigned myself to failing it. I even got myself stone drunk the night before I went to collect my results. We had our Christmas party in my place back then and they announced on TV that the examination results would be released the next day and that's when I decided to get stoned! LOL! I remember taking the bus to my school the next with this huge hangover the size of Gibraltar and heading to the school office to get the results. I was stunned speechless when I got the results. I stood there for quite a while with my head pounding like a bongo drum and couldn't believe that I passed. It wasn't the most outstanding of results but I passed! Till today I cannot figure that one out ... LOL!

Well, I'm not going to let that happen to my kids. My younger boy is a little like me now but the difference is, he's pretty sharp with his mind. In his exams last year, he did the very same thing of studying a day before the exam yet he breezed through it and even came out the top four in his class. So I'm quite pleased with him but this year I intend to crack the whip so to speak and make sure they start studying a little earlier. I've already warned them that this year I don't want no nonsense from them in their studies, not that they're afraid of me mind you, cos they see me more of a clown and a friend than a dad. Oh well, there's always mommy there to crack that whip ... hehehe ...

30 comments:

  1. ahh.. yes, the "good old" school days.. with the weird physics teacher and the odd maths teacher and the "garang" discipline teacher too... only misses them when we are out of its clutches :-) Did I give the impression that I did not like school too? hehe..

    all the best to your kiddo...

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  2. ya...my mother also never followed me to meet my class teacher on first day of school. But i like school cos thats the only place i got to see female friends. I'm the only daughter. Ha!

    How old is your kiddo? I have extra text books here. Hehe.

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  3. Sting - yeah, which one of us doesn't remember the 'good old' days. I know I did. All I ever dreamed about back then was to leave school and now all I dream about is to go to school again ...:D

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  4. Hazel - thanks :) I'll be sure to let my kids know you said that ... :D

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  5. Chegu Carol - I somehow think girls loved going to school more than boys, ya? For me I was more of a loner cos I am the only child.

    Don't worry my kiddo got his books today :D

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  6. Hi Nick,
    I dont think girls loved schools better than boys. It just that this is the place that we get to meet up with out gal-frens and talk on and on and on about almost nothing. Seriously cant remember what we actually talk about. Gosh, I remember I have a best friend in primary school, we can meet & talk in school, and then go home and ring each other up & talk some more. My mom actually start to ask me, NOT ENOUGH KAH YOU TALK IN SCHOOL! COME HOME CAN TALK SOME MORE. IF YOU STUDY ALSO SO HARDWORKING SURE GENIUS ALREADY! hahaha...

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  7. Hi there

    School days hey! I was the same, I loved English and Art but everything else passed me by. Especially Maths!

    But I think if I had kids I would be cracking the whip too and telling them to knuckle down and learn as much as possible (unlike their mother!)

    Have a good day.

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  8. Oh, when I studied one day before the exam...I remember it like if it was yesterday :) Your kid managed to do great though :) "he breezed through it and even came out the top four in his class"

    Have a nice day!

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  9. Oh I loved eng. lit too in school, besides BM. Hated Geography to da max! Anyway, I see u changed ur header. Kinda miss the old one but I guess it's your new look for the new year huh? ;)

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  10. Nick, I see that you change your header again. I bet those are all your shoes right... haha :D

    I'm the same as you. I hated gg to school. Cant wait to graduate... only to realize that I hated working even MORE. I'm smart... I faster get married & stay at home... LOL :D:D:D:D

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  11. Jenjen - Yeah, I guess school was a place for girls to catch up on things ... LOL! Boys were more like waiting to get home and play football or something, though I preferred sleeping more :D

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  12. The world according to me - Cool, another English and Art fan :D My believe was, someone invented the calculator, why bother with math ! LOL!

    You have a good day too.

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  13. La delirante - I hope he breezes through again this year, but I seriously would like him to at least start 2-3 days before the exam though ... LOL!

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  14. Janice - yes, those are my shoes, good guess ... LOL!

    Well, you see, women are lucky, just get married and all settled ... LOL!

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  15. I was totally confused at first when you said it was your kids first day of school. Then I realized that you live in a different country than me. Here in Canada the school year starts in September and ends in June.

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  16. Nowadays parents very gan cheong on kids' opening school hor.. I remember last time my mum just leave me at the school then go back lo..

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  17. Nick,

    It brings back memory! I remember when I am in kindy or Primary 1. My parents left me there when everything settled, i.e registration. yeah, I do remember we get free textbook in Primary 1, but then start to buy from bookstores after forth.

    Now you make me dread of thinking schools when my children start schooling! Hahahah!

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  18. Tammy - LOL! Sorry for the confusion. Yeah, the school term here starts on January and has about 3-4 breaks in between the year until the final break which is in November right up to January :D

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  19. Kee Yit - Yup, kids these days are just too spoilt I guess. I was at my sons school this afternoon to get some stuff for him and the school authorities had to practically chase the parents away from standing outside the classes!

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  20. Rose - welcome to my blog. It brought back a lot of memories if my school days. I think my mom only visit my teacher 3 times in my entire school life ... LOL!

    Don't worry, it'll be good experience when you finally send you children to school ... LOL!

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  21. Bud I hated school too! but it is funny that we met at a school... although we didn't do much learning we did a lot of studying...LOL

    Cheers bud!!

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  22. Adrian - LOL, that we did. I think we made that place like a meeting centre and then we bummed off our classes ... Sure brings back memories buddy.

    I wonder what you meant by the studying bit? Would it refer to the studying of all the girls that went by? LOL!

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  23. Marzie - Geography? what's that? LOL! I hated that subject too, actually I hated all subjects ... LOL!

    Yeah, got a little bored of the header and couldn't think of anything better than to show my dirty old pathetic collection of shoes and slippers! LOL!

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  24. When it comes to schooling, you're my opposite, Nick. And yes, school life is much more easier than working life. Your flashback reminds me of the pain and joy of cutting classes lol!

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  25. Marlene - You know, the strange thing is even tough I hated school, I never ever did cut class, well, there was this one time ... LOL!

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  26. Love your new mast head Nick. Did you say you started school at 7 years of age or did I misread that? Our school year runs just about the same as yours except our kids don't go back until 4th Feb. I must admit, after about 4 weeks of having the kids home, I will be glad to have some "me" time again.

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  27. Gypsy - Yup, if I recalled correctly, we all start school at 7. But of cos before that, there's all those kindergarten and pre-school thingys to attend.


    4th February? Wifey would have totally lost it if the kids were to be on holiday till then ... LOL!

    Oh and thanks for the compliment on my mast head :D

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  28. I was a weird kid.. After coming back from the States, I begged Mom to let me go to school here.. but I couldn't because I was still 6 and they only enroll students who are 7 yrs old. But my mom plead my case.. and I was enrolled! But after that one single year, we moved to KK and I sat Primary 1 for another year. But I loved school.

    Too bad all that changed when I got older. LOL! When it came to physics, I had this dazed look on my face.. because I always thought physics were more of a guys subject.

    I remember my physics teacher (an aging old school Chinese teacher, named Wong Foo) telling me, "At least kamu bagus, tidak sombong.. bodoh saja.. Ada student ah, bodoh sombong punya"! LOL!

    To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything!

    I may not be one of his best students by far, but the only one who greets him whenever I see him around town. :D

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  29. Shemah - "At least kamu bagus, tidak sombong.. bodoh saja.." LMAO! That Wong Foo is a gem la! Even wifey had a good chuckle la.

    Oh, you are weird la Shemah ... LOL! You actually pleaded to go school. I was the exact opposite. I made tons of excuses to skip school!

    I went to the Arts Stream, physics would have given me an early heart attack la ... LOL!

    With my age now, I think all my teachers are probably dead! LOL!

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