Monday, July 21, 2014

Our Little Schoolboy

Johan will turn four in October this year and as early as last year, I already thought it is about time to send him to school. I initially planned to enroll him in a summer class first to see if he's ready but the school didn't open slots for nursery this year. So, by April we both went to the school to have him assessed.


That was taken during Johan's assessment. His behavior surprised me that day as he is usually very clingy to me but he went with the teacher inside the room and didn't cry when the door was closed. I can hear him answering the teacher's questions and when they were done, the teacher told me that Johan was indeed ready for school and even got 95% on his entrance exam!

I waited for a month to pass before I went back to the school to enroll him and paid for his books. A few weeks later, I picked up his books and completed his school supplies.

Come first day of school, everybody is excited! Even my parents and my sister came to Johan's school to show their support for the little boy. They even bought him a cake!

Happy 1st Day in School, Johan!

One glitch that almost made me into a monster mom that day - the school failed to inform me and a few other moms of preschoolers that classes for preschool won't begin until two days later. I asked them four times -  twice in person and twice over the phone giving me the same answer that school would start that day. But, when I confronted them about this, they denied that they gave me that answer. Grr!

Anyway, two days later we're back to first-day-of-school mode. The boy was excited, I prepped him really well for school telling him he'll meet a lot of friends, there will be a lot of kids he can play with, they will color and write and paint stuff, etc. etc.

When we arrived in school, the preschoolers are already lining up to go to the classroom. Johan immediately lined up while looking around at the many kids his age.




He was well-behaved and I was really proud of him especially when we arrived at his classroom. He immediately went inside and chose a seat. He was all smiles and I was even able to take a few photos.




By this time, his teacher is starting to tell the parents that it is time to leave the kids inside and let the teacher and the aide take over. Also, this is the time when the other kids started crying. Johan was still doing a great job, he kissed me, said I love you and see you later. He even waved at me and his Daddy when I was out the door and even gave us the two-thumbs up sign! I was thinking, "Wow, that was pretty easy!"

Or so I thought. Once the classroom door was closed, the kids started wailing! I was standing by the window listening and a few minutes later, I heard Johan crying as well! He was calling out to me and screaming at the top of his lungs! It was heartbreaking, I really wanted to go inside the room to comfort him but then I stopped myself from doing so, knowing that it will just make things worse. But then, when another kid opened the door, I saw Johan being held by the teacher and almost got his fingers crushed when the door was suddenly closed. That's when I told my husband, I am getting him out. So I did and we stayed outside the room until his classes were finished. I know that I should have stood my ground and let the teacher take over but my fear of Johan getting hurt got the best of me. He is only three years old after all.

The next day that Johan went to school, I stayed home. I decided it is best for him to learn that Mommy will be waiting for him at home while he goes to school. It will make adjusting easier as he is more clingy to me than to his Daddy. He still cried and it went on for about a week. But more than a month after his first day, I am very proud to say that my son now goes to school without shedding any tear! He tells me stories everyday when he arrives home, shows me his stamps, we do his homework together and he tells me he likes his Teacher Liza but he likes his Teacher Melai better. Teacher Liza is the actual teacher while Teacher Melai is the teacher's aide, she is the one who carried Johan during the first few days that he's been crying in school.

Proudly showing his stamps!

Finished doing his homework

So far, he's had two quizzes and he got perfect scores on both. He likes school now and even asks me everyday if it's time to prepare for school. There's light at the end of the tunnel after all. Hurray!

Friday, July 18, 2014

Celebrating Five-Thirteen in Canyon Cove Beach Club

First off, five-thirteen means five years of married life and thirteen years of being together. We celebrated the day by going to the beach and we were all very excited as it was also Johan's first beach trip.

I bought a Metrodeal voucher priced at PhP 2,999 back in January and booked a room for our anniversary. I corresponded with the resort only through email and everything went smoothly from the day of the booking until the day that we arrived at the resort.


Upon arriving, I was glad that we were allowed to go up to our room even if we arrived an hour earlier from check-in time. My room requirements: a king-sized bed, an unobstructed view of the sea and a bathtub. All were available except for the bathtub which is really okay. The room is huge! It can fit more than four people!


I love almost everything about the room: the huge bed, the daybed, the private balcony, the clean bathroom. What only needs improvement is the air-conditioning which is only set to 20 degrees and it's not really installed in a good spot making the bed area not properly ventilated.Overall, the room is pretty nice.



Johan immediately declared the daybed as his own space, set up camp and stayed there the whole time. We rested a bit, waited for the sun not to be at its harshest and then we went down to explore the place.


Add caption

Looking out into the horizon

Johan announced that he was making sand angels!

Johan had so much fun at the beach! He even liked it better than the pool and won't leave until it got dark. When we finally coaxed him to move to the pool, we only stayed a while in the warm pool water until he saw the playground and pulled me out of the water.






When it was beginning to get dark, we carried the boy back to our room to bathe and rest for a bit while we wait for dinner time. Our voucher did not include any meals and our original plan was to get out of the resort for dinner and just eat in one of the fastfood chains located in a nearby town. But, given that the resort only allow guests access to the pool until nine in the evening, we decided to just stay and have dinner at the resort.

Wrong move. The price of the food at the resort is UNBELIEVABLE! The food concessionaires were Max's Restaurant and this BBQ place. We don't want to eat at Max's anymore so we chose to have barbecues for dinner. Imagine paying more than 500 pesos for the following: three tiny sticks of BBQ, 2 sticks of regular sized hotdogs, two cups of rice and two sodas in can. It is expensive!!

Nevertheless, I didn't let that dampen our spirits as we still have a night and half a day to stay at the resort. We finished our dinner, swam a little in the pool then Johan and I went up to the lobby to go online and post a few photos. Wi-fi is only available at the lobby which is both good and bad, good for those who wanted to have quality time with the family inside their rooms and at the beach or pool and bad for those social media addicts who cannot last a day without going online. I guess I am both in one way or another. Hehe! We left the husband at the pool as he wanted to do a few lapses without Johan constantly calling him while I and the kid went up to our room earlier so I could put him to bed.

Bagsak agad sa sobrang pagod

The next day, we got up early so we could make use of what little time we have at the resort. The boy was still so eager to go to the beach so as soon as we brushed our teeth, off we go!


Johan looking out the window to see if it's morning already

Ready to go to the beach!

Photo ops first while we still have the pool all to ourselves

The beach was very calm that morning

The only photo we have of the three of us in the pool

We only stayed for two hours in the water as the sun became too hot by 9AM. We went up to our room, ate the sandwiches and noodles that I was able to sneak into the resort, lounged on the bed and waited for check out.



Canyon Cove really is a nice resort. I only wish that they make the pool hours longer than just until nine in the evening and it wouldn't hurt to have more food concessionaires to choose from or at least make the cost of food cheaper so guests wouldn't have to sneak in food or go out of the resort to dine somewhere else.

We will definitely go back!

Far East Road, Piloto Wawa
Nasugbu, Batangas
Philippines
Phone Number: +632.908.1111

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