Tom's first day at school

Sending Tom off to school on his first day was a lot easier than expected. Managed to get him changed without much argie-bargie but couldn't get him to have even a spoonful of his breakfast. Did I mention that he woke up before 7am?! I heard someone 'playing drums' (which in Tom's language is him giving his tummy some very loud smacks) in the living room and told James that T was up and it was only 6.50am! Don't know exactly what time he woke up.

The only hardship getting to Ivy Bilingual School was the taxi ride. The driver, being as some taxi drivers here are, was irritating to say the least as he didn't know the way! Had to call the school twice to give him directions. Perhaps there are too many new roads in Beijing that they can't keep up. Anyway, James came for the ride and moaned most of the way about the driver's incompetence.

Upon arrival at the school, which btw is only 15 mins away when there is no traffic jam but took us about half an hour in the morning traffic, it all went rather smoothly. Tom was greeted by a boy from his class with a big hug and James tells me that he got another hug from another classmate whilst I was talking to his English teacher, Erin. I didn't get to ask the Chinese teacher her name but managed to tell her that Tom ting bu dong he bu hui shuo zhongwen. But she was delighteld to see him none the less and I'm hoping that she can get him to speak some Chinese before July when the school ends for year 2007/08.

Apart from changing him into his new indoor shoes and seeing him being taken into his classrooms by his new classmates I didn't catch another glimpse of my son until after school! James on the other hand was observing Tom's every move and was happy to see that our son was well into his friends and environment within 2 minutes of being there. I was rather sad that Tom didn't even say bye-bye to me but we thought a quick getaway would help in that he wouldn't have time to think about where his mum and dad were.

Anyway, when I picked him up they had just finished cleaning up after lunch and I had to call out to him 3 times before he recognised my voice - perhaps he thought that I wasn't coming to get him just yet! Asked if he enjoyed his first day he said he did. Told me he played a lot and had rice for lunch though I couldn't make out with what, that he'd used the toilet and not potty (they have proper kids sized toilets and sinks). Erin told me that he helped clean-up after lunch and cleaned himself up too. He also told her that dad and mum were at home and were coming to get him later. She also said that he wasn't so good about sitting down for more than 5 mins during circle time (their lesson time) or during lunch but she said that this was normal for 2 year olds and couldn't expect more from him (this is of course the same at home so we are hoping the teachers can teach him to keep still for a little longer!). Other than that he seemed to have enjoyed himself very much and was rather sorry to leave! Wanted to play in the outdoor play area but I told him it was time to go and as I expected he was well into his afternoon nap 5 mins into the taxi ride. I notice that his top has been changed and can't find the other in his bag...hope they still have it - perhaps I'll get it back nice and clean on Wednesday...

He's now awake from his 2 hours nap, full of energy and here I am finding it difficult to stay awake - pregnancy symptom! Couldn't take a nap as the ayi now comes to clean the house at 1.30pm instead of 8.30am and my morning was spent just lepak-ing doing nothing and before I knew it I had to leave to pick Tom up. I have to say that though I missed my son, I enjoyed the peace!

I am looking forward to the school's weekly report on Tom's progress and I am told that they include pics of the kids so I can see how my son is behaving at school. Lets hope Wednesday will be as smooth running as today and am so glad that Tom likes his school.