2 bedraggled rats caught in the rain. 🤣🤣 They took these pictures with the GPS watch.

Today marks the first day that 8 yo 小小宝贝 is taking the mrt on his own, under the supervision of his sister. The lucky boy has his sister to show him the ropes until she goes to secondary school next year. This is to prepare him to take mrt home alone in Term 4 when (or if!!) his CCA starts. He’s luckier than his sister who was thrown into the deep end of the pool when she was in P2. He’s much older than her at that time as he’s born in Jan and she was born in Sep.

4 years ago, I gave 宝贝 the choice of forgoing CCA or going for CCA but coming home on her own on the mrt. She chose the latter.

I took time off (I was still working at that time) to bring her home on mrt twice, with her leading the way. The night before she was to go home alone, she cried, begging me to pick her up from school after CCA. I refused. #evilmomalert

The next day, I hid myself behind the bushes at the mrt station entrance. She called me with her GPS watch at the school exit and asked me if I were picking her up. I told her nope and I would be waiting for her at home and she needed to be brave and watch out for bad people and traffic when she crossed the road.

Resigned to her fate, she made her way to the mrt. I saw her approaching the mrt from behind the bushes. The little thing was looking all around her all the time. Probably checking for bad people 😅 I had to stop myself from revealing my hiding place to hug her as she looked so vulnerable.

She went down the escalator and I saw her scrutinising the map to confirm her stops. She boarded the train and a kind soul gave up her seat to her because she looked so little with her humongous bag.

I managed to trail her to interchange and then I lost her when she alighted with a big crowd of commuters. She was too short.

I panicked a little and started searching the station for her. I checked her GPS location and found it moving away from the station, so I boarded the train to the final station. Meanwhile I was frantically calling her on the phone. The sigina didn’t pick up the call.

I searched the final station platform again. This time I was really at my wit’s end. I called home and my Mom said she wasn’t home yet. I didn’t dare to tell her that I had lose my young daughter. I was imagining that some evil guy had kidnapped her.

I ran all the way home like an Olympic runner, and there she was. Safe and sound. My Mom told me that she appeared at the door after she hung up the phone.

That took 5 years off my life… And thus marked the beginning of her maiden solo mrt journey home from school at 8 years 1 month old and my close heart attack.