Getting Ready for New Experiences

A lot has been happening with me and I guess that's why I haven't been updating as often as I used to.

After coming back from UK I felt I really had been travelling too much and hadn't spent much time with my family. So we went for 3 days to KL, checked into Eastin Hotel and did nothing but chill and just hang around. It was terribly anti-social of me but I didn't even pop by to my sister's much as I just wanted to take things easy, not do anything at all. And I am glad I did because I felt really more relaxed and refreshed after that short trip.

It was during this trip too that a momentous decision was made in the family, and that was to send Rubhi to Melbourne to do Foundation Studies rather than carry on with her 'A' levels. I am glad we had the chance to talk about this and I am glad she is gungho enough to try an alternative route. So since we got back I have been talking to a lot of people - people who have sent their children there, people in professional circles who hire workers, office colleagues, young people who have been there and back - and I haven't heard a single dissenting voice. I think the only dissenting voice has been from Rubhi's cell friends! In fact the only worry people have expressed is that Rubhi would be homesick and that I would miss her. The first thing Jen asked was "Is she ready to go? And are you ready for her to go?" :)

Am I ready for her to go? 2 weeks ago I would have said yes. Since receiving the acceptance letter, I am not so sure :) I suppose a lot of it is psychological. I was ready that she would go in 2009. In fact I told her a few months ago that I would want to send her to an overseas university after her 'A' levels however well she does. It is my personal opinion that our schools teach too much. We set such high expecatations in terms of content knowledge right from primary school and then we up the stakes in secondary school and pre-univeristy that by the time they go to university there is little choice but to teach at an ever higher level. The result of this is young people who spend a lot of time studying and accummulating content knowledge but with little time to develop life skills that they really need. Sad. So, I may not be ready as a mother but I am ready as an educator.

As a mother? Yes, I am anxious. I know there will be homesickness. I know I will miss her like I miss Jennani. But I also know that she will make friends and that she will learn new things and have new experiences that will shape and mould her. I worry that she will be lonely or that she will be sick. But I also know that I have good friends and relatives in Melbourne whom I can count on. So it is matter of telling my heart to believe what my mind knows :)

It looks like 2008 is going to be a year of new experiences for me. It will be a year when both my children will not be at home for the first time. I have a new boss at work. Maya and Rohan would have gone back. Suddenly the year seems to stretch ahead of me.