From the other side of the fence

Traditionally for me, Teachers' Day has been looking forward to the term ending, a good lunch and occasionally some memorable presents thrown into the mix.

This year marks the beginning of something different. And even if I did go back to work full time, this will not change for the next 10 years at least! For the first time, I found myself on the other side of the Teachers' Day fence and it wasn't fun. Well, I guess it could be fun if I had all the time in the world and wasn't rushing round Singapore running errands and all the other countless things I do in a day. But it being the way it was, there was little time to come up with gifts for the twins' teachers.

At some point, they'll do it themselves. Right now, I do the bulk of it and they pretty/ mess it up. Progressively, they'll do more and I'll do less but it'll still be up to me till they hit secondary school and figure out for themselves what they want to give their teachers and which teachers they want to give presents to.

As a teacher, I knew that teachers generally don't fancy another stuffed toy or flower and often preferred useful gifts. A teacher mom friend of mine makes it a point to get her son's teachers red pens (VERY USEFUL) and her daughter's kindergarten teachers muffins or lozenges (lozenges are also useful and often much needed). So I set out to try and do something that wouldn't be a waste of time but would be easy enough to execute because the only time I had was Sunday night after 10 and that wasn't enough time to make something for 4 teachers as well as cards to go along.

Eventually, we settled on easy bake brownies with M&M chocolate bake bits and sprinkles that the kids could mix in and toss about. Of course, most of it went into their mouths, including the brownie which I quickly took away from them. A mom once commented that every mom had a thing they were particular about and what I was particular about was food. Hmmm, perhaps. Am I weird that I don't allow my kids to indulge in junk food, sugary foods, salty foods or deep fried foods? I'm particular about other things as well, like manners, sleeping times and the amount of tv they watch so I must be an aberration, being particular about so many things. Or I'm just particular. Ha!

Anyway, that's not the point.

We also made cards for their teachers, or rather I thought about it, found cardboard, stencilled it and Packrat cut it out. I wrote the cards and the kids scrawled on it and stuck it on. A communal effort of sorts. Sounds easy enough but in execution, exhausting, stressful trying to get everything done in time with as minimal error as is possible for two-year-olds.

I don't look forward to years of this. But it's a nice thing to do and it's a nice example to set for the children. Not so much that they had to give presents but they had to learn how to show appreciation to people who have been there for them.

I'm glad it's over and I have another year before I have to worry about it again. Now, I just need to get on with their next project. Building a fish tank. Being a mom of 2 playschool-going kids sure is tough and full of homework. Gah.


































Decorating and making sure the brownies passed the taste test.











The eventual baked good product. Not looking all that bad.





























Of ducks, rabbits, cats and coloured paper cards. One in halting and stilted Chinese because it's been more than 10 years since Mommy has concocted a written sentence in Chinese. To make sure I got it right, I wrote it on rough paper first with my mobile phone's dictionary on as reference. Stressful and tiring on the wrist.





















All packed and good to go! And now, Mommy can breathe again.


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