Pre-nursery registration

The rat race has begun... where parents, like it or not, get caught up about when and where to register and place their kids in some quasi formal education. From then onwards, the rat race never stops.

Technically, I think kindergarten is the start of pre-school. In Singapore's context, pre-school starts as early as the year kids turn 3 years old. We did our little "homework" late last year, recce-ing possible places for Faith's pre-nursery registration.

In the end, our very short shortlist was whittled down to Pat Schoolhouse and Chiltern House, in that order of preference. Even though we had set our sights on Pat Schoolhouse, like any KS Singaporean, we submitted our application for Chiltern house at the start of the year.

Couple of weeks ago, I had gotten a call from Chiltern. Faith was being offered the afternoon session at its Turf Club branch, meaning that lessons start from 2-5 pm daily. It was a no-brainer for us to reject the initial offer and asked to be placed on the waitlist.

Faith takes her afternoon nap daily anywhere from that time since she wakes up at about 9 am or thereabouts.

The afternoon session would mean that she would have to forego her sleep or sleep after she comes back from class. A kid without sleep equates a grouchy one and its bound to make dinner and the time before bedtime a trying one for everyone in the household. The other alternative of letting her sleep so late in the afternoon will yield either a night owl or again, a trying time for us to get her to sleep at her normal sleeping time.

Since we were still holding out for Pat schoolhouse's registration to start in Jun, Louis and I weren't too concerned about putting her on the waiting list. Chiltern was meant to be our fallback plan if she didn't get into Pat Schoolhouse.

On Tuesday, I received a call from Chiltern that they have now managed to place Faith for the morning session at Turf Club. Its the ideal time slot and branch that we wanted. IF we intended to put her at Chiltern. I asked for extra time to consider and haul butt in calling Pat Schoolhouse to check her chances.

If we were to give up on this prime slot at Chiltern, we wanted be a hundred percent certain that she is getting into Pat Schoolhouse. So, I called the school and spoke to the principal. The last time I spoke with her, she said they would call me in Jun when the registration starts.

I'm not sure if it was becos I sounded so keen on enrolling her for Pat Schoolhouse or the fact that I told them I had an offer from Chiltern, the principal said that if we are willing to register her now and make an initial deposit equivalent to a one month's school fees, then, Faith's got a confirmed place at Pat Schoolhouse.

I called Louis and we both decided that we'll go ahead with the payment to confirm her registration at Pat Schoolhouse. However, with the Influenza A alert, the school is also cautious about the number of parents dropping by its place without appointment. So, the principal and I agreed to contact each other via email for the submission of all necessary documents and to follow up with a cheque payment.

At least, we can now give up that space in Chiltern for someone else.

Truthfully, there's a part of me that can't quite bear the thought of sending my little one to pre-school. I know its a natural part of childhood and every kid's got to go through it. Who knows, maybe I'll be the one crying when I drop her off at the school gate next time.

Hmmm.... that's a sobering thought indeed! Eve, the clingy mom??!!!

Geez!