As the final week of the year approaches, sitting here in my bedroom with the kids sound asleep in their's, the overwhelming feeling starts to creep onto me. The very fact that my Renzo is no longer the newbie primary school kid and is well on his way to the second year of his formal education (not to say kindergarten wasn't formal but heck, there weren't grading of the sort that gets anxiety levels up). Actions and reactions that were pardonable shall henceforth be dealt with more severely as my expectations of him being a responsible member of society increases.
But in any case, I can now consider myself a proud parent of a kiddo who has conquered a graded exam in what I might come to consider as flying colors, topped with a congratulatory letter signed off by our minister to encourage the little guy to strive and least maintain his level of academic competence.
Having said that, somehow or other, I must admit that Renzo should get most of the credit as he is really quite an independent learner. For example, just a couple hours ago (as of writing this post) while I was reading the biography of Jack Ma (it is a great read by the way), Renzo was beside me reading his "Dragonworld" fantasy book out aloud. Distracting as he was, it allowed me to listen in on his reading skills and when he masterfully deepen his voice, liken to a medieval story-monger, and regurgitate mythical terms like "Snaggle-Toothed Mountain" and "Glacier Caves of the Antarctic Snow Dragon"...my gosh, I could hardly believe this was the very same kid of mine whom just a few years back was all giggle-filled when whizzing and tooting to the likes of Thomas train and friends.
With a figurative warm tear of happiness rolling down my cheek, I can safely pat Mummy Chan's back and say,"With all the worries that comes with parenting, at least independent reading is one that we can strike off the list."
Now where on this long list is 'reading'... hmmmm....
