I was at the hospital coffee shop yesterday prior to my husband’s appointment with his speech therapist and regular infusion.  There are shelves of second-hand books in there which caught my attention.

I am a book worm ever since I was a kid.  I bought three books and one of them is ‘Gifted Children:  The Challenge Continues’ (A Guide For Parents and Teachers), edited by Angelica Jacob and Graham Barnsley.  This book was published by the New South Wales Association for Gifted and Talented Children.  It is a very interesting book which I intend to discuss by pieces in several articles here at LMC.

When I picked up Alvin at kindie around 3:30 pm, his teacher and the day care manager talked to me and discussed to me about Alvin’s behaviour at kindie.  He is not very fond mingling with other kids.  He is a very intelligent young boy but they are concern about his social skills.  Honestly, it is the same concern that I have for the last five months.

Since Ivana started big school in January, Alvin became more clingy to me.  His separation anxiety came back in the same way as he was when he’s much younger.  It was a huge change and adjustment for Alvin, first, to be separated from Ivana in schooling; second, to be separated from Ivana in swimming lesson as well; third, the sudden shift from nappy to under pants which is part of his potty training.

Sounds like merely ‘small things’ for us adults, aren’t they?  But for a young boy, they are issues that need to be addressed and taken into consideration.

Alvin’s teacher is concerned about his social skills, but she also emphasized that Alvin is different from other kids in a sense that his intellect is more advanced compared to other kids his age.

A little bit more about Alvin:  He started recognizing words at age 2.  He memorized the alphabet and counted up to 100 at age 2.5.  His sharp memory of letters and images and word association enabled him to spell words at age 2; these are words that are not simple for a 2-year old boy, like: light, shade, slide, orange, strawberry, rocket, alphabet, train etc.  At age 3.5 he already knows how to read simple sentences and write words on his own.  He also already knows to differentiate simple shapes and geometric shapes like hexagon, octagon, pentagon etc.  He is also good in re-telling stories.  He loves singing as well as dancing.

Read related and helpful article:  http://lovely-moms-cafe.com/2009/08/02/my-future-spelling-bee-champions/

Alvin’s teacher opined that Alvin ‘might’ be a gifted child and that they might need to adjust their program to suit his needs.  She suggested that I bring Alvin to the clinic at the hospital where children are brought for assessment to be able to know if he is in the bracket or norm as a ‘gifted child’.  She said that the assessment will help them, as well as me as a parent, to adjust and meet Alvin’s needs.  The clinic also teaches the parents how to handle gifted children.

For me, whether Alvin is gifted or not does not really matter.  What’s important is that he’ll grow healthy and a good person.  It is a matter of understanding how I can help him nurture his intellect, skills and talents and teach him how to use those gifts responsibly.  Having him as my son and the joy that raising him and Ivana brings to my life is already a precious gift indeed.

Here in Australia, bringing kids to child care centres (they call it ‘kindie’) have become a normal errand for parents, whether working parents or full time moms.  Working parents have no other option but to leave their kids to kindie if there are no other family members or relatives to look after them.  Most child care centres accept kids from age 2 to age 4.  The good thing about Child Care System here in Australia is that it is supported by the government.  The government shares a percentage of the amount paid to the child care centre.  That makes it less burdensome for parents financially to send their little kids to kindie. 

But what would a stay-at-home mom make decide to send her little kids to kindie?  There are lots of advantages in sending your kids to kindie.  I first decided to send my 2 year old daughter more than two years ago to the nearby kindie for her to socialize with other kids.  That was the main reason I sent her to kindie.  Socialization is very important for kids where they learn how to mingle with other kids, get involved in physical activities, and nurture their mental and emotional intelligence.

My daughter Ivana used to be a ‘cry-baby’ when she was two.  I was a little bit worried that she might not get along with other kids and just cry at kindie the whole day.  But ignoring my over-sensitivity and worries I still enrolled her to kindie with the main objective of bringing out the best in her.  Now, at age 4, she is a confident, smart little girl who is just too excited to start big school next year.  She is also good now in alphabets, numbers, singing, dancing, drawing, painting, and the like.

I was amazed by how the teachers and carers at the centre look after the kids, discipline them and teach them in various activities.  They are well-loved and taken care of.  Usually, during the first week at kindie, kids would cry non-stop for their parents.  After that, no more crying and all are just having fun that at the end of the day they would not want to go home anymore.

For full time moms or stay-at-home moms, spending more time for themselves while the kids are at the centre also helps them make their day more productive and enjoyable.

I just had a wonderful day today after I dropped the kids at the centre.  I went for my weekly grocery shopping first.  Then, I did an exciting ‘mystery shopping assignment’ (which I will share to you in my upcoming article).  After that, I went for a nice walk near the beach for 30 minutes.  At 11:30am I had my lunch in front of the television watching my favourite television program.  The rest of the day will just be the usual busy day doing house chores and doing errands.

Now, tell me, who wouldn’t love the idea of bringing kids to a day care centre when you reap all these benefits?

This year has started with a big bang for me!

As a stay-at-home mom for 4 years now, I was stacked at home looking after the kids and doing the endless house chores every day. The big news is, my kids started to go to kindie 3 days in a week on January 5! I was alone at home all by myself. That was the first time I was left at home alone. Although there were still lots of things to do in the house and errands to run, I felt like I am starting to redeem the freedom that I used to enjoy. I also felt like the old me is coming back.

After I dropped the kids to kindie (day care) on their first day together there and talked to their carers and teachers at 8:30am, I went back home and prepared a mug of coffee and a slice of panettone (Italian cake). I sat on the lounge, took the television remote and turned the box on. Wow! I haven’t felt that relaxed for a long time. I switched to the channel which I love watching and spent 1 hour sitting there, watching and eating my breakfast at the same time.

After the breakfast, it was time to start the ball rolling again doing house chores and everything at home. I spent less time with my computer though which made me feel I wanted the day to go beyond just 24 hours.

Oh well, I know that I will be able to catch up with all the cleaning and organizing I have to do at home, maybe in a couple of weeks time. I can’t wait for the kids to go to kindie again, lol! I miss them a lot though when I am alone at home.

Now that I have more time for myself, I have come up with lots of plans on how to improve myself more physically, mentally, spiritually, financially…and planning to take up an online course on Child Care & Nutrition…

I hope that this post gives inspiration and hint to all stay-at-home moms like me. Stay happy.

For a little bit more of inspiration read this article:  Gratitude is the Secret of Happiness