Our weekends have settled into a sort of routine. It’s either we head out to find some fun somewhere or we’re back to our parents. A bit uninteresting I would say. But boring isn’t always a bad thing.

Anyway, his dad decided that we should visit the fire station this weekend and so we did that yesterday. This is the second time we visited one. The first was to the Central Fire Station about two years back.  I think boys are always intrigued by these huge red vehicles and mine thoroughly enjoyed himself climbing up the seats and spraying water with the hose and mist gun. 

The trip was really meant to divert his interest in volcanoes which is getting a little obsessive and it’s working alright.  Right now as I’m typing this, he’s on YouTube watching videos about fire engines.  And I think this new interest is going to last a couple of weeks until something new catches his attention.  Which may well mean that we’ll be going around fire stations every Saturday for the next couple of weeks!

Yesterday, we completed the first part of his assessment which focused on his IQ.  I was initially worried that he would get angry because it happened the last time at Shichida where he just scribbled on the test papers and refused to cooperate.

But my worries were unfounded as it went well and we were happy that his IQ was rated above average.  His communication skills came out average but surprising, the scores for his problem solving abilities came out rather high and some of his answers even surprised us. 

The psychologist who did the assessment was very professional and after going through the whole 3-hour exercise, I now understand why their charges are so high.  The next step is to decide if we should proceed to have him assessed for the spectrum.

According to the psychologist, he appears normal but it could be masked because of his IQ level.  There were some subtle signs like his rocking, hands flapping, slight tip toeing and obsessing with volcanoes that raised some red flags.  So she’s going to do up a rough score and let us know if we should proceed any further.  In any case, she feels that even if the assessment were to be positive, he will likely be a borderline case. 

While I am mentally prepared, I still feel a tinge of sadness that my son could be different.  I think his dad feels the same.  Afterall, he looks so normal all the time and even his teacher has commented his improvement in social skills.  As a matter of fact, I noticed that some of the children are quite fond of him.  So if it wasn’t because we want to delay his primary one admission next year, we probably would never want to send him for this assessment.  It’s hard to explain but part of it has to do with our denial.

Yet, like it or not, we just have to go through this for the sake of his future.  We definitely want to defer his schooling for another year.  In fact, the psychologist mentioned that children like him who scored average in their communication abilities may have to struggle harder.  So the one year difference can hopefully give him a bit more headstart later.  And hopefully, he will learn to become more participative during lessons in future.

As if one weighing scale under the bed is not enough, the man now has another one added under his desk.  A sign of weight obsession?

On the other hand, I’ve not taken my weight since 11 July 2006!  Why I can be so precise is because I did a post about the old weighing scale when my weight was 52kg.

And I’m so surprised that my weight has dropped so much even though I’m seated all day chomping on chocolates and snacks.  This is even lower than my pre-pregnancy days!

Gosh.  Do I have some parasites in my tummy or what?

With so much attention focused on their education since they were young, with so much time spent on enrichment classes, and with so much new stimulants to develop their brains, I’m not surprised at all that their quality has been improving over the years.

But their attention span certainly hasn’t.  As a matter of fact, it has gotten worst with each batch that I work with.  And it’s not a surprise to me, considering how the new media has shaped the way they digest their information.  Everything must be colorful, snazzy and speedy where their unlimited broadband wavelength is concerned.

So we need to be savvy not only in terms of feeding their left brains, but we need to be entertaining to their right brains as well.  Three slides of facts and they’re screaming information overload!  I’ve to constantly find new props, think up activities and add stories just to keep their active mind alert.  Oh, and better still if I can make them laugh.

Seriously, I swear on some days I feel like I’m a stand-up comedian.

I rarely do any craft work with the boy. Somehow it’s not something I enjoy. At the most, it’s coloring projects, or creative writing pieces. Maybe you can say I’m lazy but because of the time constraint, I tend to focus on improving his academic capabilities.

His dad on the other hand, rarely spends time teaching his son although he was tasked to improve the boy’s Math. Instead, they’re always playing together.

I don’t know if this latest project falls under crafts or play, but I was glad the man took time to create the mould and do up the volcano to indulge in his son’s latest obsession.

In a way, perhaps it’s a nice balance that the two of us are doing different things with the boy. Provided of course, our efforts are being sustained in the longer term.