Kakak Is Going To School - Money Matters

Kakak, striking a pose with free cotton-candy and elina (a character from Mermaidia)

Oh yes, I got myself a lemon squeezer and an egg slicer

Now I know, when preparing for 'balik ke sekolah' thingy, why some parents, to the extend, make loans solely for that. We've spent almost 1/2 a grand already so far for Kakak. That excludes the lists of fees and things to be settled during her orientation on 2nd January 2008. And that also exlcudes things and fees for sekolah agama. Unlike my belly, our wallets are thinning and we're flipping our accounts but my spirits and hopes are not. After all, this is not like buying stuffs that you don't need. And I've waited almost 7 years for this.

Of course I'm still worried. Like I mentioned in previous entry - the what if's and would she's but after lots of prayers, I guess that heavy feeling has lighten up a bit. Like Kaklong Syikin advised me, doa whenever we have the chance, not just while we're on prayer mats. I've made sure of the arrangement with Atfal pertaining to sending and fetching her to-fro primary school and the arrangement with bus operator for her sekolah agama in the noon. Kakak herself made progress in reading Bahasa Melayu and English. I'm trying to sharpen her Math now. I got her a new pair of telekung to nurture the spiritual side of her. I may probably be sending her to sekolah agama as well for fadhu ain, unless we can find an ustaz/ustazah who can come to our house for that purpose. I am worried about her asthma, among all. If she pushes herself too hard, she'd turn pale and you can see her obvious tireness written all over her face. I have also arrange the one thing I hate doing, basuh kasut sekolah, to be under Tebby's portfolio. With my expanding stomach, it is so not possible to squat down and do the thing. Tebby did suggested the sink but with my persistence, it would, still, be under his care hu hu. We are also thinking about the washing machine tho! Anyone does this? Jangan sampai disebabkan sepasang kasut sekolah budak darjah 1, rosak mesin basuhku. Mind you, we have a 13kg load washing machine! I hope by darjah 2, she can do that herself.

We have to brace ourselves with a later nightly retirement/early morning start to ensure she gets good breakfast as well as a good lunch-box. Especially in the first few months where she still doesn't know the value of money and how to do 'transactions' in the canteen. I've warned her not to buy (when she knows how to) all those junks and soda and I hope she'd stick to that. Those, could, trigger her asthma. Ah, don't let me start with school homework. I hope we'd all be energetic enough to deal with those, plus the new baby coming. And no more dilly-dallying pertaining to laundry. Kang ada yang tak cukup stok baju sekolah!

Anyway, just for sharing purpose, here's the list of what we've bought so far.. For those who has 6yo, this maybe a 'framework' for you to ponder upon for the next 12 months (and start piggy-banking!).

1) Baju kurung putih Canggih 2@ 17.90 each

2) Baju kurung putih Professor 2@ 25.90 each

3) Kain biru Canggih 2@ 25.90 each

4) Kain biru Professor 1@ 32.90 each

:: Professor offerings are considerably more expensive than Canggih but we bought some anyway, for comparison of quality

:: I have to shorten her kain a bit. She has pot-belly so kena beli kain yang besar sikit he he. Hence the extra length

5. Camisole 4@ 5.90 each

6. Socks, pack of 3, 2@ 9.90 each

:: They say, buy the ones with sole in black. So I did.

7. School bag 1@ 42.90 each

:: She chosed the one with Powerpuff prints. Tebby tried to sway her to no-cartoon, saying grown-ups don't use cartoon-ed bag anymore. She told us, as a-matter-of-factly that, those transit sisters and brothers at Atfal Sayang still use Barbie, Princesses's and Power Rangers thingy. What more there was to argue, huh?

8. Tudung putih 4@ 4.41 each

:: As advised, we bought tudungs of elastic material to make sure they stay on her head easily. I have to adjust the opening tho, kena buka sikit jahitan.

9. Serkup 5@ 1.50 each

10. Telekung 1@ 22.00 each

11. Kasut sekolah 2@ 27.99 each

:: To top-up her existing only pair that she'd worn for the past 2 years to Atfal Excel

12. Kapur kasut, pack of 3, @5.99 each

13. Stationeries + botol air Rubbermaid, all@ 66.74

:: I bought spares as advised. Extra rubbers, rulers, sharpeners, pencil colors, pencil bags. The spares alone, occupy a shoe box almost to the brim.

We still have an item or two to be bought. Raincoat, lunch box and kain hijau among all.

I pray to Allah everything will go on smoothly, for Kakak and for us too.