Registering for School

Updated to add: Hubby has already told me that Levi looks like a girl in that shirt...guess I'll be buying some smaller ones next week. :-)

I took the boys to register for school today. Here's the list of things we had to take with us:

registration forms (4 or 5, I can't remember)
immunization records for each child
copy of passport for each child
copy of birth certificate for each child
copy of dependent pass for each child
copy of my dependent pass
copy of my passport
copy of Justin's dependent pass
copy of Justin's passport

I think that's it. I guess they are serious about verifying that my kids are who we say they are!

Since I don't have the car during the day, we've been trying to figure out the best way to get to school. It's probably 1.5-2 miles from our place. The bus is the cheapest way (not the fastest or the easiest), so the boys and I headed out to the bus. I went ahead and took them in the stroller because I knew Caleb would complain about the walk to the bus stop.

In order to get to the bus stop that has a bus going in the direction of the school, we had to walk 12 minutes...yes, I timed it. (This was me pushing both boys mostly downhill in the stroller.) When we reached the bus stop, I got both kids out of the stroller and folded it up. We didn't have to wait long for the bus, but getting on the bus with two toddlers and a humongous stroller was quite a sight. It took a long time. Then had to go 5 stops. Levi tried to get off the seat while we were going, but then when it was time to get off, he wouldn't budge. I was already headed toward the back of the bus dragging the humongous stroller and trying to coerce my children to follow me. Levi still wouldn't budge. A sweet, older Singaporean woman got up and lifted Levi off of his seat. "Thank you," I said, still dragging the stroller. Ugh. This isn't easy.

We alighted (Singaporean/British for "got off the bus") at the Singapore Bible College, and then walked across the street, past the Adam Food Centre, down the street and around the corner to their school. It took us 25 minutes from our place.

It took me 10 minutes to stop wiping sweat from my face after we arrived. One of the classes was outside playing with the ride-on toys, so the teacher there watched my two so I could go inside and get the registration taken care of. This school doesn't have uniforms like a lot of schools here, but they have a school t-shirt that the kids wear everyday. I picked up a few of those, paid the fees, and then it was time to go. Neither of the boys wanted to leave, which is a good sign for later on.

Here are the kids wearing their t-shirts, and my oldest not cooperating at all. :-)

Are you thinking that Levi's shirt is really big? It is. The boys were outside, and I have no idea what size shirt they wear in the sizes here. I figured it would be easier to get them both the same size and not have to worry about separating them or getting the wrong shirt on the wrong boy. See...smart! I got them both a size 28...I have no idea what size that equates to in the US. He'll have lots of room to grow!

By the time we left the school, it was really hot, both boys were sweaty from playing outside, and I was just ready to get home. I hailed the first taxi I found!

They have a holiday programme next week, so the teacher said I could bring them in so they can get used to the school. Starting August 25, Caleb will attend school on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (he goes to BSF with me on Mondays), and Levi will go on Wednesday and Thursday (he goes to MOPS with me on Tuesdays). We'll be pretty busy, but the boys are going to love it! The school is small, and the teachers are so sweet. I love the environment there. Of all the schools that I contemplated sending them, it was the only one without a waitlist of a year or more. We're thankful to get spots in this one!

The teacher that was helping me with registration commented on how hard it is with two kids to get anything done, get them to school, etc. YES! It is!! She said I needed to drop them off, go for a coffee, and explore a little.

I think I'll be taking that advice. :-)