Getting ready for the mission

This is going to be a long journey. Getting DS and more importantly, myself, to be prepared is important to the success of this project.

Keeping myself from falling sick
Nowadays I try to get minimum 7 hrs of sleep and drink plenty of water so that I will not fall sick easily. DS needs SUPER CLOSE monitoring. How close is close? If I went to the kitchen to take a drink or went away for toilet break, you'll see him wandering around, playing/talking to the sisters, etc, all except doing what he was supposed to do.

A test of patience
When I first started out explaining words to him, he couldn't remember most of them, even after 5-10 mins. I used to get very worked up and scolded him for "not paying attention, dreaming...". Slowly I began to exercise more patience. I convince myself he didn't deliberately forget them, he just haven't found his own correct way to remember them. While explaining the phrases to him, I kept reminding myself that my aim is to get him to keep his interest in studying. It's not going to help if both of us ended up bitter. Nothing will go in his head then. So keeping the session pleasant is important. Sometimes I deliberately tell him silly things to give him a good laugh (he's one who laughs easily even at the smallest thing), especially when he's falling asleep.

DS is pretty immature. He can cry at the smallest thing as well. I remember one Sat I was asking him to take out his Chinese textbook to read aloud to me while I cook lunch. He started weeping. In the old days, I would definitely have scolded him. Words like "ask you to study so difficult is it?" would probably be thrown at him. Nowadays I have to remind myself to deal with such situation differently. I asked him very patiently why he cried. After convincing himself that I wasn't going to scold him, he told me he didn't want to do Chinese every time. I went on to explain why I wanted him to read and assured him I won't be doing Chinese solely forever. I am trying to first build up his foundation for the past lessons. I even use an analogy of building houses to explain to him why foundation is important. He seemed to accept my explanation rather well and went to perform his task. A win-win situation.

So mothers, if you're facing the same kind of situation as me, keep reminding yourself to cool down. Remember, what we want to achieve is a win-win situation. Bitterness will only make things worse. It's not easy, but definitely can be done with practice. :)

Recognising DS is just a kid
No matter how tall your child may look, he is still a child. He needs time off his books to relax his mind and body. This is something I need to constantly remind myself. I've got loads of plans in my head. It's very tempting to load him with something whenever I see him "idling". I'm still trying to close both eyes at times.

Time management
Since DS needs close supervision, time factor becomes crucial to me. I try to free myself from other activity when he returns from home and devote my time to sit next to him. That would mean I have to settle the housework and meal preparations as much as possible in the morning when the kids are out in the schools. When the girls are back, I try to coach them a little before their brother comes home. At night they usually sleep later than DS, so that gives me some time to do reading with them.

Gone are the days when I can fully indulge in baking or gardening. I still bake occasionally, but mostly in the morning as well.


The next task on hand is to plan timetables for DS. I usually take a while for this since planning is never my strong area. I'll probably need one for the girls too, to put all the plans in my head into action.

Repentance of a mother

When I first decided to quit my job 4 years ago, it was to coach DS when he stepped into formal schooling in P1. Perhaps it was the urge to connect to the outside world, I started venturing into my areas of interest, first was baking, then gardening. I didn't have to handle much housework then as I had a maid. Life was really "enjoyable".

I couldn't recall much in the aspect of coaching DS except for those last minute coaching sessions before the exams. Those were always the stressful periods for both DS and me. It was often discovered then that he had not understood the concepts well, but we ran out of time to clear all the doubts accumulated through the whole year. With these last minute cramming, he managed to scrap through the lower primaries. But as he progressed higher, these sessions were not as effective.

At the end of each exam period, I would "resolve" to spend more time coaching DS so that we would not repeat those last minute studies again. But history kept repeating itself for the past 3 years. It seemed like I was trapped in a Genjutsu (those who watch Naruto would know what I mean), unable to break free from it.

Two weeks before the March school holidays this year, I finally woke up. It was a magical and unexplainable experience. It felt like I had been totally changed after I woke up one morning. Suddenly I became very concerned about DS's results. Most of the times, my mind would be occupied with loads of plans on how to improve his results. Recently I also started preparing my 2 girls so that they would not end up like their brother when they enter primary school in 2-3 years time. Overnight, I turned from a "bo chap" mother to a "kia si" mother.

I am glad I finally wake up after these years. Hopefully it's still in time. Now the challenge is to keep the passion going for the next few years, till all the kids have finished their primary educations. It's a long journey ahead.

What is Project Mission Impossible?

I decided to start this blog to record the journey of what I'm doing to do for the next few years. What exactly is that? It's a mission to "rescue" DS's results from its current rock bottom state. I told my close cousin cum advisor, K, about my idea of starting this blog (besides my existing blog, Pure Enjoyment, which talks about my passion). She thought it's a good idea too. :)

Why did I name it Project Mission Impossible?
The story goes like this. One fine day, I was telling K that I'm aiming for DS to get into Victoria Secondary School. The PSLE admission cut-off for the school was 246 last year. Judging from DS's current results, it is really mission impossible!

Current state of DS's results
DS is in P4 now, taking both English and Chinese as his first languages. Because of this mummy's fault (I'll cover more of that in my next post), his results have been average and below for the past years. He was always in the range of 60-79 for the past 3 years, with occasional failures. This year, his results dropped further.

In the recent class test, this was how he fare (results in range).
- English 61-65
- Chinese 46-50
- Maths 51-55
- Science 66-70

What is my target
Eventually, if DS can get into Victoria (or similar), that will be a dream come true. Even if he does not, as long as he has put in consistent efforts and shows improvement, I'll be satisfied and happy with his achievements.


This will not be an easy journey. Hopefully I can persist on. I hope this blog will encourage mothers in similar situation. Do not give up. As many have told me, it is never too late to start.

This little place will also serve as a rest and recharge corner when I feel down or face uncertainty along the way. It is always encouraging to know that someone out there is listening. :)