Last school day

Today was my younger son's last day in formal school!! Unlike his brother whom we put through STPM, he will not be going back to a secondary 'school', with uniform and school discipline teachers. He actually has not been going to school for a couple of weeks, taking his own 'study leave' for the SPM exams which begin next week. The only reason for going today was to collect his exam slip and as he wryly said yesterday, "to say goodbye to my discipline teachers!" He has never been one to toe the line fully. Not that he is outrageously rebellious, but somehow, he finds that he needs more 'room' to be himself than is usually allowed in our schools. Well, his hair had grown a bit longer than permitted and today, he was called to the line for the 'school hair cut'. He managed to slip into another line - for 'school nail cutting' and then managed to slip out of that line as well. He knew that his hair has grown a bit longer than permitted, so this morning he combed it neatly and showed me his 'Peter Parker' (or Spidey) hair style - which actually gives him a 'nice, good boy look'. Well, the discipline teacher saw through that. But he will be going for a proper hair cut today, or he might not be allowed to sit for the exams!

I can still remember, a bit vaguely perhaps, Naren's first day in school, in standard one. Unlike many other children, he was not nervous nor did he need me to hang around the school. He made friends fast - but also tended to hang out with the more boisterous ones. And he did exasperate his teacher by speaking out about any unfairness he felt from the class monitor who often wrote down his name for talking.

Well, time flies. Now both my children are at that age where 'letting go' is a must. Actually I have been enjoying the past couple of months when Naren stayed home much of the time to study. I have tried to be around as well.....this is a time that will not be repeated...as he goes to college, the 'nest' will be 'empty'......

(We had to take this 'helping at home' picture, among others, to attach to a school 'moral studies' project. Actually it is not exactly indicative of his level of helpfulness at home! So that goes to show how 'moral studies' can end up being theoretical, rather than of much practical impact. But these days he does wash my car for extra pocker money)