Through my eyes

Finally, mum and dad told me that they will be leaving for work tonite. A taxi will come and fetch them at 10PM. I saw mum packed their clothes into two luggages over the weekend. Dad was charging batteries of his camera, videocam and mobile harddisk.

We had dinner together at my aunt’s place. They sat down and talked to me about having to behave myself, take my meals and do my homework when they are not around. They promised to call everynight to speak to me.

At 10PM, the taxi arrived. I kissed them goodbye. Then, the taxi left to bring them to the airport.

My mum and dad told me they will be going away for work next week for 10 days. I will be staying with my aunt when they are away. They just told me that they will be going away for work and won’t be back for the next 10 days starting from next Monday. They asked me to behave myself when I stayed with my aunt. I have to make sure that I do my homework and take my meals everyday.

Without them knowing, I overheard them mentioning about going to Egypt. Are they going to Egypt for work? Where is Egypt? I know they will send me a postcard whenever they are away for work. I shall wait for the postcard from them.

Today is my 5th birthday. My parents wished me ‘Happy Birthday’ and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ song when I woked up in the morning. They told me that I already had my birthday parties in school and at home, so there will be no party today.

But, they offered to bring me to McDonalds for my favorite Happy Meal. I declined as I will be going to my friend, Jolene, birthday party in the afternoon.

My parents dropped me off at Jolene’s place for her kids birthday party. Only kids were invited. So, all parents dropped their kids at Jolene’s place.

We sang ‘Happy Birthday’ song for Jolene and she blew the candles and cut her birthday cake. Her mum gave us so much food and drinks to eat. Then, it was play time. We played a few games and fun time.

In the evening, my parents came to fetch me home.

This morning, my mum reminded me that we will be making jelly tonight. I was so excited and I told my friends in Montessori school about it. After school, I phoned my mum to remind her to come back early so that we can make jelly together.

My mum came back from work earlier than usual. We had quick dinner and headed home. But, my mum made me practice my music before we can start to make jelly. So, I had to practice my music for the final time. This evening’s practice was not easy. My mum and dad made sure I do not make any mistakes. So, I had to repeat the same song again a few times until they are satisfied.

We started making jelly at 9PM. It was fun. I helped mum to pour the jelly crystals into the hot water and stirred until it dissolved. We did the same routine twice. First was for red strawberry and the other for blueberry. When it cooled down, my mum poured it into the plastic cups which she bought from Giant yesterday.

Then, it was bedtime again. No computer games tonight as my dad to me that it was late and I had to wake up early tomorrow for my Yamaha Junior Music class.

For the whole of last week, my mum and dad were so anxious about my Montessori school exam. They could not imagine why a Montessori school would need to have exams for 4 to 6 years old kids. Montessori school is meant to be fun learning to develop all round students but I still have exams. And I stressed my parents.

They wanted me to go through my Montessori school workbooks to prepare me for the exam. But I wanted to watch my cartoon shows like Barbie’s Swanlake, Mermaidia and Twelve Dancing Princesses. Not only they want me to study, they still want me to practice my Yamaha electone to prepare for my weekly music class.

I have so much to learn and yet, so little time to play.

Today, my Montessori school teacher asked me to bring my school fee payment schedule to my dad. That’s an easy task to do. Just bring it and pass it on to my dad. When I passed the payment schedule to my dad, only did I know it can bring so much excitement in him. His eyes opened so wide and he probably re-looked at the slip umpteen times.

“What!! It cost you $1,800 for one trimester. Montessori education is so expensive” he said. He went on to tell me how little he paid when he was in university compared to my Montessori school fee. He only paid $450 per semester for university fee inclusive of examination fee and health care plus accommodation. A semester was 18 weeks. His accommodation cost him only $1.80 per day in the university hostel.

My Montessori school fee covers my normal class and additional class for Mandarin. Normal class is from 9AM – 12noon from Monday to Friday. Mandarin class is on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and the school provides simple lunch before the class starts. No health care, no swimming pool, no gymnasium and no huge libraries. So, according to my dad, this is incredibly expensive.

Well, he is the one who decided that I should be learning Mandarin and master this language because of China. He often showed me the world map pointing to Malaysia, China, England and United States. He told me that he will bring me to visit these countries when I grow up.

If I don’t attend the Mandarin class, I can watch my Barney, Disney’s Princesses and Barbie’s Twelve Dancing Princesses and Swan Lake movies after school.

But, my dad decides everything