During a recent call, Hubby mentioned that he can register for preschool soon this coming July, for entry into their September session. China follows the American school system schedule where school starts in fall/autumn.
I notice that many Mummy bloggers have also started sending their tots either to playschool or preschool already. And I know the boy is more than ready for some socializing considering that we’re always home alone in China.
If I guess right, his preschool will be a bilingual one I recall seeing. I recall it being a huge establishment with a nice green field and playground. Overall, it’s a clean and neat looking environment.
I’ve been thinking about this lately and wonder if I SHOULD send him. Below is my list of PROs and CONs. Can help me to decide?
PROs
1. He can have a group of pals to mix with other than me. Lately, he has been too sticky for words – it’s been like “Mimi this…” and “Mimi that…”. Even Grandma gets rejected. I read that the second year is Mummy’s year but this is too much…Mummy needs to go to the loo too!
2. He’ll have some structured activities. These are more productive than what his lazy / uncreative Mum can come up with for him. I’d been buying some Montessori-based toys for him but to come up with a comprehensive collection is going to cost me a lot to buy & bring back!
3. He’ll watch less TV. I know that my blogging is sometimes the cause of that. To remedy this, I’d simply shut down the PC and then spend the afternoon reading, drawing and do other stuff together. When we (or I) get tired, we’ll just play dead and go to sleep!
4. I could earn some money and teach English again. I’ll be with him for half a day and may just be roped in to teach English. Nice if I can do that and keep an eye on him as well.
CONs
1. Who is going to cook for us? I could do some SuperMum planning and set the rice, steamed dish and slow cooker dish going on in the morning. By noon, everything will be ready when we return. But to actually do it EVERY DAY is another thing, right? 
2. Exposure to germs. This is my main concern because the Chinese kids I’ve seen hanging around our block somehow seem to have runny noses ALL the time.
Since I have no family around, I’d be at my wits’ end in the case IF he gets sick horrifying things like the the hand-foot-mouth disease reported in Guangdong or the bird flu.
Ever since I heard from a Malaysian mom whose relative had a medical emergency, went through the local Chinese hospital and had to be flown home (and died), I’ve been really scared about falling sick here.
Can you imagine that some guys even get IV drips after food poisoning? Seriously, the hygiene there still leaves much to be desired and putting him in the preschool will definitely put a lot of things out of my control.
I know I can check out the preschool first…sigh, let’s take things one day at a time first before I start hyperventilating again. I don’t know, after what’s happened recently, health concerns have gone up 5 notches on my priority list.
I don’t know what I’ll do if anything happened to my boy.
