Harry Potter

I missed my dad more than usual today. He loved Harry Potter, devouring a couple of the books before his mind got too muddled. He would have loved hanging out with me today.

I've decided I'm done researching a move. There are to be no more schools to see, apartments to hunt, jobs to contemplate. Nope. I'm back to being a tourist. I've been hankering to see the Harry Potter exhibit here, but thought it might be too scary for Maisie. Good move on my part! 

The exhibit is at the Art Science Center, a very cool building that looks like a Bloomin' Onion from Outback (also one of my dad's favorites!) A very astute four-year-old I know told me it looks like an upside down octopus. Either way, it's a special building, right next to the Marina Bay Sands.

The exhibit starts with the Sorting Hat choosing the right house for two different visitors. Then the doors open and voila - you enter a world of sets and costumes from all the Harry Potter movies. I went back and got the audio tour because I was so curious about everything I was seeing. Unfortunately, no photos allowed!

I loved it even though I haven't read the books yet. I'm waiting to read them with my kids. I've only seen one of the movies, too. Let's face it: movies spoil books.

It's just that for a while there, I wanted to be a set designer. I was an architecture student and my professor thought I was too creative to be bound by the confines of buildings. It sounded great at the time, but looking back  he was probably just trying to tell me I was hopeless as an architect. He strongly encouraged me to go to set design school. He even told my parents on visiting day that I needed to transfer to USC. My dad practically blew a gasket. "You can't make a living designing sets! I won't pay for school if you are going to waste your education on something like that!" Needless to say, I never transferred to USC.

Of course, seeing all that cool stuff today made me salivate. It really would be fun to come up with all that stuff. It's an amazingly well done exhibit.

I also saw the Andy Warhol exhibit there which was pretty interesting. He really did have his own style, eh? Meanwhile, I kept looking for the museum's permanent exhibit, but I don't think they have one. Weird!

I missed my brother today, too. His girlfriend Virginia is feeling pretty sick, lots of abdominal pain. They've run some tests and more are scheduled for Tuesday, but we're all worried about her. Prayers needed. Uncle Jim is doing pretty good, but he's having some Afib which is tough, but he's handling it like a champ. It'll be nice to be home to see everybody, especially Jim and Virginia.

Meanwhile, I asked one of the teachers to tell me how to count to 10 in Mandarin today so I can practice with the kids. Holy cow. Not only is there a pronunciation to learn, but each word either also has tones, either going up or down or down then up or stays the same. Holy cow. I do get a chuckle out of Hudson turning the pages in his Mandarin book saying something that sounds a bit Chinese-y.

I went to pick Hudson up at school today and he never came to find me. Every other kid at school had left and he was still inside. Maisie and I were waiting and waiting. Turns out, he was too busy playing to realize it was time to leave. Of course, Maisie pretended to cry when it was time to leave. She used to REALLY cry because school was so much fun. Pretending is far better than true tears so we're getting somewhere.

This afternoon, Hudson woke up from his nap absolutely hysterical and she was a little cranky, too. She then said, "Mommy, I need some time for myself," and went and sat on the floor on the other side of the room. That is absolutely huge for her. I'm so proud! Of course, five minutes later she started crying over nothing important, but she's getting it! She's learning how to deal with her own emotions. Structure is key for all of us, but particularly sensory kids. She is doing so much better now that she's in school. Speaking of school, her worksheets are pretty impressive. She's writing words other than her name - (she's been doing that for a long time now!) - and learning to recognize words in sentences. 

I'm actually looking forward to the routine, too - the routine of home. I'm craving things being a little more normal, whatever that means for us. I'm hankering to eat salads and Lean Cuisines and go to the gym while the kids learn how to write and count to ten. 

Pay No Attention to the Man behind the curtain

I never really think of myself as a journalist. I mean, I did goofy feature stories for the most part. I'm not sure a piece about a guy who decorates toilet seats qualifies as journalism. It sure didn't get me nominated for an Edward R. Murrow award.

However, I also did some pretty serious stories about anorexia, missing children, shaken baby syndrome and the like. I covered hurricanes. I've been in the middle of a riot. Most importantly, I was trained as a journalist. I got a degree in journalism. I've sat through I don't know how many refreshers at various jobs on news standards. I'm a stickler for facts and precision in reporting. I have never, ever let a source read my story prior to airing nor dictate what I say.

All to say, working as a reporter here would be a bit of a culture shock. The government here reads everything before it's printed. A new law says that won't be true any longer, but I'll believe it when I see it. Stories about things like homosexuality are not allowed (which might partially explain the high suicide rate of homosexuals here). Censorship is king here.

Magazines are generally driven by ad dollars. The ad people sell a story and then editorial generates a POSITIVE story on the advertiser, a story the advertiser can often approve or change. That would NEVER happen in the U.S. - not even at a gossip magazine or rag paper. Editorial and advertising sales are totally separate. Yes, there are times when the ad people come to you and say they have an opportunity for a story, but the editorial folks need to make sure it fits and the advertiser doesn't approve the final copy.

The irony is that I think I could get more work here than back home. There aren't that many folks with "real" journalism backgrounds. As a freelancer, editors want freelancers and stories are assigned. In the U.S., most freelancers pitch story after story until they finally get a publication to bite. Here, editors assign based on ad sales and don't really make changes. No, the stories that get all the attention from above are the advertorials written for the advertisers. In the States, there are reporters with a long list of credits who can't get an assignment to save their lives. Here, work is easier to come by as I understand it.

All this was explained to me over breakfast at a nice spot called Wild Honey. One of the editors of ExPat Living swapped stories with me this morning. She wanted to know more about New York journalism and I wanted to learn what I might expect here. 

I admit, I'm excited at the thought of working here. Writing is a great job for a mom and the types of stories here - dictated or not - might be quite interesting. Working on a newspaper would be more frustrating than a magazine because a newspaper APPEARS to be straight, uncensored news. I think feature magazines are more transparent for what they are. Television news would be tough. They don't like Westerners on TV here. I could possibly produce, but as I well know, producing news is a hard life and not the best choice for a mom. I could possibly do documentary work here - or something entirely unrelated to my past experience. I have several money-making ideas already, none of them journalism related. The problem, I know they'll all make money, but none would be something I really like doing.

Stilll, the big take away for me is that I can probably work more easily here than in the States. So that's my life.

Tom is still trying to figure out his working life here and I'm still working on what's best for the kids.

I saw another school today, Integrated International School. It was started two years ago because children with issues had nowhere to go here. Incredible! All the teachers are special ed trained and there are therapists who work as part of the curriculum. In the end, the place is too specialized for Maisie, but it's good to know it exists. I find I want to write a story about all this for parents like me who can't figure out the schools. One woman who had drinks with us last night has a kid with cerebral palsy. Her story of finding services for her son was heart-breaking.

Ironically, the specialist we saw a couple of weeks ago called me today to say she talked to THE MD who works with the schools and with challenged children. I've been trying to reach her and the pediatrician reached out to her for me - without me even asking!

The consensus is that Singapore American School would be best for Maisie, but that she won't be able to get in right away because of the wait list. They think she should go to a local preschool for now, but that we should immediately apply to SAS and perhaps two others. Hopefully, by the time she clears the wait list, she'll test out of all services. That's good news because that was exactly my plan.

The doctor raved and raved about the school I saw yesterday. Even so, I find I'm leaning towards Odyssey. Again, this is all IF we come back. Two of the people we had drinks with last night sent their kids to the other Odyssey campus and they loved it. Of course, where they are now is also a pretty great place. They have been amazing with our kids. I'm just not sure it's the right school for an extended period.

Maisie has had several wonderful days in a row. School is really good for her. She definitely needs a schedule to thrive and so do I. She has a shadow intern there, but has had only a few transitional issues at school. See - all this worry for naught. She will definitely test out of everything sooner than later! Wahoo!

Speaking of school, Hudson didn't get to go today. Since his tummy was upset last night, I kept him home and Cheryl stayed with him while I was out. Naturally, he didn't have another poop all day! So maybe he just guzzled too much juice at the party yesterday. After all, he ran around downing EVERY deserted juice box he saw. In a way, it worked out well. He isn't sick after all and Cheryl did some super helpful stuff around the house like cleaning and laundry. I'm not so lucky. I still don't feel so hot, but I'm eating anyway. It's my last week!

A full day!

Ever since we got here, I've wanted to stroll around the super trees at night. Well, tonight I got my chance - not just to look at them, but to go INSIDE one! Glenn scored us an invite the opening of Indochine, a restaurant at the very top of the tallest tree! 

 

Well, opening is a little generous. The restaurant just opened, but we were pretty much the only ones there. Glen is friends with the man who owns all the indochines in Asia. We went to one near the Asian Civilizations Museum when we first got here. Yum! Anyway, Glenn and his wife Kat invited three of their friends and us to hang out at the restaurant. We sat outside on the "deck" looking out at the fabulous view of the Singapore Flyer (ferris wheel), Marina Bay Sands and other super trees. 

Walking around the Garden by the Bay at night really was magical. The trees look all the more spectacular at night, each lit with a different color. I'm so glad we went. We got to say goodbye to Glenn and Kat and see the trees. Although it was on my bucket list here, I'm not sure we would have made the effort before leaving.

We ate a little food there, but we were still starving when we got home well after midnight so we hit the local hawker stand. No idea what we ordered, but the noodles were pretty good! Two meals for SG$6! Hard to beat!

Speaking of food, I went into Isetan today, a Japanese department store with a grocery store in the basement. It reminded me of the old Macy's in New York - except that it was nothing like it at all.

Vendor after vendor was lined up offering free tastes, Tom's idea of heaven. He LOVES Costco because the store gives away samples. The only thing is, the food was downright weird. You know the stuff - slimy seaweed concoctions and seafood you've never seen before. Japanese food is my least favorite Asian food. Why couldn't they be handing out Thai food or Vietnamese food? Oh well - it was still cool. I love unexpected finds. 

And this wasn't the only find of the day. After trying to book a taxi by phone for 75 minutes (taxis disappear in the rain!), we finally got one to take the kids to school - an hour late! Afterwards, I made my way over to a school called Little Hands, a place that has come highly recommended by therapists and doctors here.

I have to admit, at first glance, I was more than a little skeptical. The school is on the first floor or the headmistress' house. It's a very nice house in a very nice neighborhood, but it's still a house. The good news is that the 18-year-old school is moving by the end of the year into an old Colonial with one acre. I didn't take any pictures because it didn't seem to make sense to do so.

What makes the school so special is that the whole kit and kaboodle is sensory-based teaching. The entire curriculum is based on developing skills by using sensory tools. For example, today's two-year-olds worked on counting to three by scooping beans and pouring them into three cans. In the process, they focused on motor skills, counting, processes and sounds. 

The headmistress used all the buzz words that nobody here seems to know: sensory diet, self-regulation, visual cues, transitional issues and the like. She works in tandem with the families to make sure everybody knows what to do. My favorite thing she said? She is very concerned about each child's dignity. 

At most schools, when a sensory kid has a meltdown, all the other kids stare and eventually begin to treat the kid like a freak. At this school, it's par for the course. Nobody is taken out of class to receive therapy. Everything they do is therapy. 

I told her I was worried that the international schools would look at a kid coming from there and say, "Uh no." She says it's just the opposite. After 18 years, she's built up a very good relationship with places like the American School so when she says, "This kid is ready for you," the school listens.

The school also has a lot of gifted students because of the way they teach so it'd probably be right for Hudson, too. In truth, I see Maisie as very gifted - just in ways most don't appreciate. Her memory is like nothing you can imagine. She hears sounds others can't register. She is musical and is already memorizing books I read to her. She makes up scenes with her ponies and even gives them different accents. My favorite is Applejack with a Texas drawl!

So there is another option. Now I just have to decide which is best - a school like Little Hands or a school like Odyssey. Both are great options for our kids. I'm guessing the sensory-based school is more than Maisie needs - though it's not a special needs school by any means. Thank God we have really good options now! The school situation was really getting me down.

Also today, Connie and Joe had us all over to celebrate Michael's Bob-the-Builder-themed, third birthday. Clever Connie found this cool kit and we built a robot with all this cardboard stuff we each brought. Brilliant! We all had a ball. That's her second party in one week. Wow.

We said goodbye today to some of our other best friends here tonight. We probably won't be seeing Glenn & Kat, Joy & Zee, Connie & Joe nor Heather & Mitch again before we leave.

Heather, Mitch and Mason are heading back to Utah to be with Heather's older kids on Friday. She's been our ambassador and I will really miss how she makes me laugh. It's very likely they'll be repatriating in March. Connie has also included me in so many of her plans. She and Joe are definitely returning to Houston in March. I'm going to miss hanging out with these gals.

Hopefully, we'll be back (IF we come back) before they all leave. Even then, we won't get to spend much time together before everybody heads back to the States. That's the nature of friendship here, I guess. It's easy to make friends, but many of those friendships are short-lived. Bummer.

Hudson left a "crappy" last impression, bowing out of the party with a bout of diarrhea. My stomach is still not right. What I thought was food poisoning may actually be a bug. Lucky us. 

Eureka!

I scrubbed a toilet today. Two actually. The washer and drier are both busy, loaded by none other than yours truly. I've done all my food shopping and cooking for the past few days. Sigh. Typhaine is back. Cheryl is no longer ours every other day. It's back to reality and reality sucks.

It's not like I haven't done any of this stuff before, but I'm the first to admit that I've gotten a bit spoiled these past coupel of months - and I've been SHARING Cheryl. I can't imagine what it's like to have a helper all my own! Funny, but somehow I feel like a better mother these past few days. I'm more on my game and somehow more patient. It helps that the kids have also been absolutely fabulous. Yippee!

Well - mostly fabulous. Poor Hudson absolutely did not want to go golfing today. He LOVES to play golf and talks about golf all the time. Today? Not so much. Maisie hugged the sobbing toddler and said, "It's okay, Hudson. I'll show you what to do." She then proceeded to golf his entire lesson, loving every minute of it and doing pretty well. Talk about doing a 180! She HATED even walking into the room when we've taken him to class before and there she was today, putting with the best of them. Hudson cheered up the second we left the room though screamed his head off at the grocery store once again. Weird kid.

The best news? I think I found the perfect school for the kids!!! It's called Odyssey. I wasn't allowed to take photos, but you can get a pretty good idea of what it looks like by clicking on the link above and checking out the Fourth Avenue campus.

The two--year-old campus is about 15 minutes by cab from Orchard. The grounds hae an actual orchard with a ridiculous amount of food being grown - with the help of the kids. The kitchen cooks hot meals every day and the kids also do some of the cooking during the week. Last year, they had a Little Chefs project where all the kids made food and the parents came to the fair and bought it. It was like the ultimate lemonade stand! That's kind of how everything is there: a brilliant way of teaching little kids - if you ask me.

Outside of doing things like math, phonics, writing and such, they do a project every semester that incorporates all those skills. So this semester for example, they're doing a play. The class negotiated the theme, characters, prices - everything. They practice writing numbers and letters by making tickets to the play. They use art by creating sets. They practice reading by learning lines. The lessons go on and on, all incorporated into the project. At the end, they put on a play for the parents.

Parents are a big part of the learning process. If you want, you can bring your kids early and have breakfast with other families or you can bus them to the school - whatever is best. The school is open 7A-7P, but class is 9-12:30 for Hudson, 9-1:30 for Maisie.

The students are from 21 different countries, climbing all over the fabulous playground and doing art in a very cool art room. The room I was most psyched to see? The therapy room! The school embraces kids with issues like Maisie and they have a spot for each kid in January. By the way, their school year goes from January to December. 

My friend Glenn told me about Odyssey before I ever even got here and yet I just got around looking at it today. I could have saved myself so much worry! I have a few more schools to look at before I leave here, but I feel like both kids could excel here and do well until it's time for them to go to the international schools. 

That's a good thing.

Sorry - no new pix today though I did add a few to the Legoland blog! 

Life isn't fair

Today was a gorgeous day. For Singapore, it was cool. That means - oh I dunno - a real feel temperature of 95 instead of 105? Ha! It wasn't as humid as usual. WAHOO!

Better still, the kids were in a great mood. When my children are happy, they are the absolute most adorable and wonderful people on the planet. I have such fun with them!

Yup, today was pretty stellar - except I was sick. Big sigh.

At first, I thought it was something I ate. I had to leave the party early last night because I was feeling so crummy. Today wasn't much better and now I'm thinking maybe I have a mild case of the flu. Bummer. With only two weeks to go here and discipline learned from my reporting days, I put on a happy face and soldiered through a bunch of errands.

First, I ran down to Chinatown to exchange Maisie's Halloween costume shoes. Then on a whim, I took the MRT to Little India. I'd heard that the market there is a cool place to see. They're right. The Tekka Market is cool. It's a fresh market. When they say fresh, they mean fresh. Every single thing there is fresh out of the water or off the land. The only way you'd get fresher eggs is to steal them from the hen house. I walked in, smelled all the fish, saw them whacking off the heads and turned right around and left. Turns out, the market wasn't the best thing to do on a queasy stomach. I'll try to go back for a good look around and this time bring my camera. 

I picked up the kids and we just hung out. Thank God they were so pleasant today. Maisie played nurse all afternoon - very cute! Poor things, they really, really wanted to go swimming, but I just wasn't up for it. Hudson brought me all his bathing suits and swim diapers one at a time. "Swim pool. Swim pool." They were so disappointed. I was, too. We only have two weeks of swimming left!

Silly, but I'm suddenly feeling all the better. Physically, not so much, but emotionally I'm pumped because the EMMYs are on tonight! I was a little blue that I couldn't watch them. I worked on so many awards shows in my early career that I watch them totally different than most folks. Outside of gaping at all the gorgeous dresses, I get high from looking at all the technical stuff. I'm such a TV nerd!

Anyway, I'm going to settle down with my banana and toast and watch the show - even though I already know who won. Sigh.

OH NO!!! They only showed the preshow. The EMMYs aren't on at all!! Worse yet, I only saw the last 10 minutes which means only a couple of dresses. Psyche! Oh now I'm back to being blue. Oh man... that's just not fair.

Danielle says Digby is fitting in really well and that they were thinking about changing their name and running away with her. I'm glad she's so well-loved and having such a good time. I hope she still loves us when we come home!!