Most of the content of my blog focuses on life as an adult, with minor glimpses into the life of an expat child. This entry will be more about life as a child….or at least, the lives of my children.
Our 5 year-old daughter began kindergarten this year at the major international school here in Jakarta. None of the friends she made in pre-school transitioned with her, so she had to start making friends from scratch – something she’s done every year since we arrived. Some stayed at her original school, others went to a different international school – German, New Zealand, British, etc. Luckily, our next door neighbor attends the same school and is in her class. On the one hand, the experience of starting over will help her when we move back to Phoenix. On the other, continuity of friends is a fond memory I have from my childhood, and I’m sorry she hasn’t experienced that yet.
As expected, she has thrived in Kindergarten. So much so that she is sad and upset on days she doesn’t go to school. She looks forward to school. The school she attends includes students from K – 12. It’s where I used to play rugby on Thursday nights (something I’ve long since stopped doing). We originally drove her to school each morning, but now she takes the bus, which picks her up in our driveway. On days she does not have after school activities, she takes the bus home. In Phoenix, she’ll be walking to school each day, so riding the bus is a limited-time experience for her.
She has a teacher with an assistant for her primary lessons – math, reading, writing and general behavior - and a separate teacher for art, gym and music. After school she has Tae Kwon Do and Dance on different days of the week. She really enjoys Tae Kwon Do and has already advanced from beginner to her second belt! Now she’s teaching momma how to kick properly – “use your heel, thrust from your hip!” In December, on the last day of school, she had her Holiday Program and sang and danced for all the parents in attendance.
Moving away from our old home at Kemang Club Villas has made it more difficult to stay in touch with friends and spend time outdoors, but we’ve found ways to make it happen. We’re on our fourth nanny, but believe we have a good one now, and the kids really like her, too, which is important.
Our 2 year-old son started his first school last year, too. He’s attending the same Montessori our daughter did. We started him with just a few days a week, but he enjoyed it so much we extended him to full-time. His language skills are advancing rapidly as a result. We’ve invited a few classmates over on play dates and for his birthday party, but we’ve stopped doing it because he ignores them. He prefers to play with his big sister and her friends or with momma. I’m sure that will eventually change.
He is really interested in things that move – cars, trucks, buses, airplanes – always calling them out when we pass them and playing with his toy versions of them. He also mimics his sister like an echo. If she doesn’t like something, he doesn’t like it. If she likes something, he likes it. At 6:30 every night, when Disney’s Jake and the Neverland Pirates are on, he cheers and shouts like his sister does, even if she is not in the room. He even sings the theme song now.
We’re starting to get glimpses of his personality, too. He is persistent, brave, and very curious. Nothing stops him, nothing scares him, and he wants to be involved in everything. A few anecdotes:
- Sunday afternoon and momma and sister are getting their nails done and I’m watching the two boys. We go out back to get some playtime outside. The 2 year-old sits in the chair next to me and says “Talk to me”. I nearly laughed out loud. I asked him how he enjoyed school and he rattled on for a good two minutes about his teacher, singing, and funny stories. Of course I only understood about half the words he said, but I got the gist of what he was saying.
- Earlier this week after dinner, on a night both children were denied dessert for different reasons, our daughter was on the couch eating a second helping of home-baked fries. Our son, who also likes fries, thought this was dessert and approached us asking: “Dessert me too?” We assumed he was reminding us he did not get dessert, either, and we agreed. He then walked back to the couch while my wife and I remained at the dinner table in conversation. Soon, he shrieked in frustration, our daughter yelled at him, and he came screaming into the dining room clutching a fry. He points to his momma and says “Dessert me too!” I called him over, took the fry from him, and said: “Did someone give this to you?” “Yes”, he replies. “Who gave this to you”, I ask. “Me”, he replies. Hilarious!
- A few days ago, he climbs on the chair at our home office and announces “My chair.” I say: “No, that’s my chair.” He replies, “No, my chair. Sit on my lap.” “I can’t sit on your lap”, I reply, “I’m too heavy.” “No, I’m strong”, he says. So, I sit on his lap, slowly putting more and more weight on him, waiting for him to say I’m too heavy. He never does, so I stand up and he says “See, I’m strong.”
Last but not least is the baby. He’s nearly six months old now and he is by far the quietest baby we’ve had. He seems very content to just watch the world around him. He’ll cry if he’s hungry, and occasionally when bored, but nowhere near the frequency or volume of our first two. He’s sitting up on his own, and he isn’t yet crawling but he spins himself in circles on his stomach. We’ve just started transitioning him from liquids-only to rice and baby food. He finds his older sister absolutely hilarious and also laughs when you make noise by blowing across the open mouth of a water bottle – not sure what that means. He hasn’t had a hardy, sustained laugh, yet, but we’ll video and post it the moment he does.
Overall, we couldn’t be happier with or more proud of our kids. It’s a blast watching them develop.
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