Passing Piano Exams

The gals' piano results were out today. RA got a pass (110) while RL got a pass with Merit (122). RA was feeling a bit disappointed and cried a bit. I had to reassure her that I am happy with a pass because Grade 3 exam is harder than Grade 1 and she had lesser time to prepare for it compared to Mei Mei.

Mei Mei had an extra 3 months to prepare for her exams due to the retest but RA with her CCA and Hw commitment did not have as much time to practise. Even RL was not very happy with her Merit though. She was hoping to pass with Distinction. But since she made some careless mistakes, a Merit was a pleasant surprise for me.

To reward both of them as I promised before, we brought them shopping. RA chose a Smiggle pencil case. Something she asked since Term 1 but I didn't buy it for her as there were other pencil cases at home. She also got a pen and a ruler. RL chose the Shopkins Gumball machine which she had been eyeing for months.

Glad the exams are over. For now, I got the tcr to teach them fun songs like Kiss the Rain by Yiruma. We will take a short break before starting the exam songs. Hopefully they can skip grade to Grade 3 and Grade 5 respectively. I also told them if they are not happy with their results, they got to work harder and practise more next time. :)

Bunk beds at last

We bought the modular Princess Emily beds for the gals 4 years ago. We have been planning to let the gals sleep in the bunk beds but procrastinated for a few years cos they were too young then. We let the gals sleep in separate rooms in their own beds previously.

Now that RA is in Pri 2 and RL in Pri 1, we decided to finally do it. The gals have been asking for double decker beds for some time while RL has always preferred someone to sleep with her. Since our condo will TOP in 2 yrs time. It will be a waste if we were to move without even giving the gals a chance to sleep on their bunk beds.

Since RA gets to sleep on the upper bunk, I decided to get curtains so that RL won't feel left out. This way, RL has her own cosy corner too. Tonight is their first night sleeping on bunk beds. So I paid $50 for the bunk bed installation, $85 for an additional guard rail and $80 for a set of chiffon curtains.

Not sure if they will fall asleep easily in their excitment. At least the air con is on. Hope that will help. :)

The Gals' Piano exams

Today, Raelynn finally went for her repeat Grade 1 piano exam. It took her another 5 months but I am glad history did not repeat itself. She was cheery and happy. She even made jokes to make RaeAnne laugh as RA was going for her Grade 3 Piano exam before RL and feeling butterflies in her stomach. RL also gave Cheh Cheh big crushing hugs. RA complained a bit and I think their squabbling did help ease the tension and stress a bit.

What made it work the second round?
Think the major factor was that RL got to do the exams together with RA. She had someone to 壮胆。
We booked 2 practice slots at Award Music studio so they were quite familiar with the place.
Raelynn has matured and grown more confident after 2 terms of Pri school.
Brought along little bribes and let them open the pressies once they come out of the exam room.

RA's heart was thumping fast before and after the exam. And RL made it through without any tears. In fact, RL she came out. She said she wanted to do the exam again. And asked if she can have the same examiner for her Grade 3 exam. She said the examiner was smiley even when she made mistakes. Long way to go, Honey. But I hope you can get your wish. Not sure how the gals will do as both admitted that they made mistakes for nearly all the pieces but I am happy with just a pass. Anything extra will be a bonus. Jia you gals!!!

Raelynn's Grade 1 piano exam

Today is Raelynn's Grade 1 piano exam. She has been learning the songs for more than 1 year now. Teacher said she was ready and registered her for exam last Sept. The exam was at East gate at Katong. Not a familiar place to us. So I booked her 1-hr practice session 3 weeks ago so that she will be familiar with the room set up.

Last night, she started to cry that she doesn't want to do the exam. She wants me in the room with her. This coming from my usual fearless daredevil gal who has at least 3 times more bumps and cuts than RaeAnne because of the gravity defying acts. The same girl who jumped up on stage to answer questions whenever there is a mall show because she wants a prize or a sweet. My garang gal suddenly becoming shy and scared.

I tried to reassure her by promising a toy once she comes out of the exam hall. Even her teacher, who was busy, turned up to give moral support. Even gave her a cute soft toy pillow to hug. But she started whining and crying before her turn. The exam admin asst was nice enough to let us postpone and let other candidates go first. But she kept crying and crying and refuse to calm down. 1 sweet from the receptionist, 1 pep talk later, she finally went in holding my hands. But even when the examiner made extra concession for me to stay in the room for 1 min so that she can play a scale which he will not grade. She still refused to touch the keyboard. So exasperating and embarrassing.

The examiner said he has no choice but to mark her absent. I understood as they have done all they could to help. I apologised and brought her home. Never knew that after her lessons, nagging her to practise, all the sightreading homework she had to do, prepping her on the exam venue, her biggest hurdle end up to be getting her to walk into the room and well, just play the piano.

$277 poorer and a lesson learnt. While the teacher and I were focusing on ensuring that she will not fail the exam, we failed to prep her and convince to take the exam. So ya, you can choose what you want your child to learn, guide that learning, book the exam, pay for the exam fees and ferry her there. But if 牛不要喝水，nobody can force her. Hiaz...

But I will not give up. So far, she seems guilty and repentant. I will show her youtube videos of how the exam takes place. And I will time her next exam with RaeAnne in July/Aug so that both of them can go for the exam on the same day. Hope that will lessen her anxiety.

RaeAnne is 8!!!

We had a celebration for RaeAnne with a few of her classmates last Sunday. Our house is too small to have a big party so we only invited kids and mummies from our 2C closed WhatsApp group. It was a cosy get together for the mummies as well as we have been chatting for more than 1 year since we attended the P1 Orientation together.

RaeAnne had fun with Valerie (her no. 1 BFF), Jiaxin, Wanyee and Gerrard. THe house was so noisy with just 6 kids that I half expected the neighbours to come knocking on our door to complain. Lol.

Today is her actual birthday. They are not allowed to bring goodie bags to distribute to classmates anymore but I did tell her to distribute some of the Aji no san waffle snacks to her classmates during recess. I woke up at 5 am with a terrible tummyache, bad stomach spasms so I went to the doctor and got MC. Rested at home until 3+pm as I promised to bring her to Toys r us to buy a toy.

We were supposed to have Swensons but RA changed her mind. She said she doesn't want Swensons anymore since Mummy cannot eat ice cream. We ended up at Din Tai Fung. Just a simple meal of mushroom noodles before she went for her usual Art class. I went home to rest as simply could not take it anymore.

At bedtime, we sang a birthday song for her again. Daddy sang in Mandarin, I sang in English while RL sang in Korean. It was a funny sight and RA laughed. I told her my wishes for her is to be kind, wise and healthy. I forgot my most important wish. And that is she will be happy. Love you darling!!! Whether you are a smiley baby with cute dimples or an eight year old fast maturing primary school kid. :)

Raelynn's first day of Primary School

Mei Mei has finally started Primary school. It was good that we had a 3.5 days long weekend over New Year to relax before both kids start school. Yesterday, both she and I can't sleep. For me, because of the cappucino in the afternoon. She had many mosquito bites suddenly so it was itchy for her. She's probably excited about school too. Anyway, all of us woke up today sleepily. Got to school exactly at 730am. Good thing of staying near the school.

I was worried about Raelynn cos her best friend from cc didn't get into Poi Ching School. They would have been in the same class because they were both Dec babies. But her parents didn't dare to ballot so she went to Temasek Pri instead. Turns out there were 4 other cc classmates in her class. At least she will have many familiar faces. Haha.

This year, parents are allowed into the school for 2 days. But day 1, we can only observe the kids from the sides at the canteen. Everything went quite smoothly except poor gal was feeling the effects of the all the mosquito bites (even a big one on her face) and can't stop scratching. During recess, a gal from her class went to sit at the wrong table and took RL's waterbottle, slinged it around her neck and started drinking. RL didn't even realise her water bottle was missing. I had to tell the little girl gently that she took the wrong water bottle and washed it for RL before giving it back to her. Haha.

Tomorrow we will be allowed to meet their form teachers and go into their classrooms so hope it will be more exciting day for me. Hb and I almost fell asleep today after hearing so many talks from 730am to 1215pm. Haha.