Cola does not want to go to pre-school

"Mami, I cried at school today." Cola confessed when I picked him up in the afternoon.

"Huh? Why did you cry?"

"Because... Because I want to be with Mami."

This is the 4th week (4th time) that Cola goes to pre-school. He's always eager to go to school, carry his over-sized school bag just like his big brother. At night before bedtime, he'd confirm, "Tomorrow am I going to school?" And in the morning he's always eager to finish his breakfast quickly so that he could get to school on time.

Each week, the teachers reported that he's a joyful, independent little fella. Even they are puzzled at his behaviour today, and wondered if he was sick or something. Cola cried pitifully when I left him in the morning, and cried again during mealtimes, and they couldn't coax any answer out of him.

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Aha! Mummy knows best. The reason for him not wanting to go to school today is... *drum roll* because I've been spending 6 hours last night building another marble run tower.

When the kids woke up in the morning, they were thrilled to see the gigantic structure erected as promised. While driving on the way to school in the morning, I casually mentioned, "Today Mami will be at home to finish fine-tuning the marble run. Then when you guys come home, it will be really to roll."

When Cola heard this, immediately he protested, "Mami, I don't want to go to school today. I want to stay at home."

Despite his protests, I waved him goodbye and drove home, hoping that he'd forget about the marble run as soon as he begins playing with the other kids. But how I have miscalculated.

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About 20 years ago, the same episode happened. My parents bought a second hand electric organ, hoping that we could cultivate some kind of musical talent. When the shiny, impressive organ was delivered to my home, I was very eager to learn how to play it. So mum arranged for lessons with a local teacher at a music school.

It was the first day of my organ class. I was dressed, mentally prepped, and all roaring to go. But, just 2 hours before the lesson time, my cousin paid us a visit and brought me a novel thing: a fancy Japanese fold-out paper house, complete with cute little people in it. Oooo... I've never seen this before. So desperate to stay at home to play with this new toy, I declared, "Mum, I don't want to go to the organ school anymore. I want to stay at home."

My mum was furious, "What? It's lesson time, I've already paid the fees, and you don't want to go?!"

Such was the magnitude of her anger and my stubbornness that I didn't get another chance to learn the organ until 2 years later on.

(Moral of the story: If you ever intend to kidnap a child, you'll be most successful by luring the victim with a toy bait about 30 minutes prior to school time.)