after staying at home for 3 months, i dread the thought of heading back to work. and worse of all, leaving baby wei at home. it's only natural that i'm attached to her since she was inside my body for almost 40 weeks and for the first 12 weeks of her life i've been at her beck and call. so the separation is going to be difficult for us both though i have no doubt she'll get used to the new routine much faster than i can express milk for her!
we had a rather eventful past week, the highlight being 3 july thursday as i registered my firstborn at my alma mater st. nicholas girls' school for her primary school education.
as i'd joined the school alumnae association 2 years ago, i qualified under phase 2A1 (For a child whose parent is a former student of the school and who has joined the alumni association as a member not later than 30 Jun 2007; or whose parent is a member of the School Advisory/Management Committee). plus there was the school's 75th Anniversary & Fund Raising Celebrations Dinner in the evening at raffles city convention centre, raffles ballroom.
i'd initially intended to take xian out of school for that day so that she could tag along for the registration and have a 1st hand glimpse of her future school where she'll spend the next 6 years, and hopefully continue to the secondary school as well. but in the end, i brought wei along with me (bundled up in the faithful sarong) as it was much less of a hassle.
the hub dropped us off at about 10am and it was a nostalgic feeling going through the school gates. i hadn't stepped into the school compound in yonks, minus the last time i attended the alumnae AGM in 2007 which was only for 2 hours and i didn't get the chance to walk around much. my old VP was there and when she saw me, broke into a wide grin and said (in chinese), "you've finally come back!"
while i was filling in the forms for the registration, wei got most of the attention naturally. she was snuggled in the sarong and everyone was cooing at how cute she was. slept right through the registration process, which saw me running to several "counters" including a trip to the canteen to photocopy some documents. i was the 34th person to register xian under phase 2A1, and the 111th person on the overall list. with 210 places available, i was confident that xian wouldn't have a problem getting into the school.
i called my folks after the registration and they said they'd come by to pick me up for lunch. i waited for them outside the bus-top and we went to AMK hub for lunch and grocery shopping at NTUC. baby wei was up by then and i adjusted her position in the sarong so that she could take in the sights:
at the tomato section
oooo...yummy cakes
at the frozen seafood section 
cakes of a different kind - fishballs and fishcakes, anyone?
grandpa's in the background!
and that was half a day gone!
no sooner had i stepped back home at 2.30pm, i was preparing to go out again! this time, to attend the night function to meet up with my old school chums. it was ironic that i was going to sit with members of the Chinese Language Drama and Debate Society (CLDDS) especially since i'm known to be absolutely hopeless in the language. but i'm family with half of the ladies on the table as some were my ex-classmates or those from my batch.
and, of course, wei was the youngest attendee at the dinner event. some of my friends commented that i was very "brave" to bring my 2-month-old baby along (by myself) and via public transport at that. and throughout the night, i was approached by ladies who wanted to carry him to "show off". they nodded in knowing approval when i told them i was breastfeeding her - in fact, that was the main reason why i'd brought her along with me in the first place - the older girls had school the next day and MIL had to help watch/get them ready for bed. by taking wei with me, MIL had less to worry about.
journalists, writers, lawyers, doctors, pharmacists, teachers, entrepreneurs etc. it was really fun meeting up with old friends and acquaintances - one of my ex-classmates was in the midst of her PhD in fine arts while another friend's an assistant professor at NUS's engineering faculty. and of course there were many others who've done exceedingly well in their chosen professions, with a few who'd already obtained their doctorates or in the process of completing theirs. i was surrounded by these bright, intelligent and successful ladies who managed to juggle their responsibilities as mothers/daughters and career women.
academically speaking, i'm not in their league - i'm more an average student while 97% of them had at least 6 distinctions in their 'O' level exams. but i think i've done a fairly decent job in creating a moderate and modest lifestyle for myself. here's a (rare) shot of me and wei at the dinner, taken by dor:
by the time we left it was close to 11 o'clock, and i didn't even finish up the food as i was busy running around meeting up with old friends. thank goodness the hub came over to fetch us home as i think it would've been tough trying to get a cab at that hour.
i had a great evening. and i managed to exchange contacts with friends whom i've lost contact with over the years...and added them to my facebook account too.
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