First day of primary school

Does anyone remember their first day of school? I remember clinging onto my mum's hands, fearing separation from my her, in awe of the big school hall where we all had to gather before we were taken to our classrooms, and also excited to make new friends.

I was thinking perhaps that would be how my kids would react yesterday. Especially for Danial, my soon-to-be 7 yr old son, yesterday marked a milestone for him. He started primary 1 - the start of a 6-year compulsory education in Singapore.

But Danial was calm; I was more excited than him. In fact, he was quite nonchalant about putting on his new school uniform, his new pair of white shoes and picking up his brand new school bag.

Perhaps, because he's a veteran at attending schools before this, primary school is not a big deal to him. He's been at "school" for four years prior to primary 1. He attended two years of nursery classes and two years of kindergarten, mostly because I wanted him to spend his time productively while the husband and I are at work.

Perhaps, also because Farah, my 10-yr old (actually she is the husband's niece but she became part of our family after her mother's early demise when she was 5) is attending the same primary school, and will be with him.

When we got to the school, the other parents and I were allowed only to send off our kids at the foot of the staircase leading to the school hall.

Just before I had to let him go, I kissed him on the cheek, and gave the obligatory motherly advice - study hard, darling. I said bye and he turned around, waved goodbye and walked on, with Farah by his side.