The last time the girls went to in-person school was March 2020. When we were back in the States this past year, it started with online only, and then the in-person options were not worth the exposure risk, since my parents are such a big part of our lives when we live five minutes from them. When we got here to Malaysia, school was only online, and going back to in-person kept getting postponed by the government. It was supposed to be September 1st, then October 1st, so you can imagine that when November 1st rolled around there was a combination of elation and some disbelief that school was REALLY open.
The opening was gradual, only certain grades went back the first week, and then more came the next week. Elena got to go on November 1st, and she was beyond excited.
I was excited to not be constantly wrangling her and setting alarms for her to sign into Zoom classes. Vivian had mixed feelings about being home for that week, but she's pretty independent, so I celebrated Elena's first day at in person school by getting a pedicure at the mall next door.
Elena's teacher sent a copy of their new in-person schedule, so I made a "Goerss" version with pictures for specials like I've been doing since Viv was in Kindergarten. Elena has PE every other day, so she alternates between her PE uniform and her regular one. She also has library a couple times during the 8 day cycle. Having it up on the fridge with a magnet she can move along for each day helps us all keep on track.
Her regular uniform is super cute too. Each level has a distinctive polo. For elementary it's bright blue with white and yellow trim. She opted for the skort bottom, so she looks "fancy", but she can still run and play at recess.
Masks are required unless it's snack or lunch time. She hasn't complained about that at all, which is a relief. The trickiest part is adding it to the list of things to have before leaving the house, and we've had to run back more than once because we walked out the door without masks on.
The school is less than a 10 minute walk away, but the embassy pays for bus service, and the girls like to be on the bus with their friends. The bus pulls up at the main gate of the apartment complex, which is luckily pretty close to us. There's one bus for elementary and another for middle school and high school. Vivi's bus comes a few minutes before Elena's, so the following Monday, we all got up a few minutes earlier to give Viv our full support on her first day back at school. She was a bit nervous, but mostly excited to see all the friends she'd made online in person.
The middle school uniform is a lighter blue polo with navy blue lining. Students can wear any navy blue bottom they want, so long as it's dress code appropriate. I got Viv some cute navy blue skirts, but she's stubbornly sticking to shorts. The most important part is that she's happy. She takes her PE clothes to school to change into. Luckily, she and Elena are on the same PE rotation, so she's being doing well with remembering her clothes. Watching both of them get ready to go to school in the mornings brings me so much joy.
They're also both very happy to be back home in the afternoons. The bean bags we ordered for Viv finally showed up, and she kindly allowed Elena a little post-school day lounge in them.
To celebrate Viv's successful completion of her first week of school, I agreed to take her to the movies. She really wanted to see the new Marvel movie, Eternals.
She also wanted to try out the Beanie theater, which was described as giant bean bag seats for two. I had my doubts, but it turned out to be pretty comfortable. It was just a little tricky to get in and out of.
We had talked about going to a restaurant for dinner afterwards, but the mall was packed, and the restaurants all had a wait, so we went for our favorite default, Auntie Anne's. We found a place to sit outside, just as some of the lights came on.
The Christmas decorations were still a work in progress at the mall, but I got a fun shot of the tree with the towers.
We will definitely need to do a full tour of all the malls' decorations, because they go all out here, but I've already gotten the best holiday present of all. The girls are at school in person, and they're happy and thriving.
No comments:
Post a Comment