The twins achieved a major milestone today — they didn’t cry at all when I sent them to playschool this morning, on my way to the airport. Normally, they’d cry and scream and cling at whatever part of my (or DH’s) clothing they can hold on to, something that they don’t do when other people send them, so I ended up just asking the driver and the maid to send them in the mornings.
Today, as we went through our normal routine whenever we’re in the car — with me pointing out objects and the twins naming them — I slowly started my ‘pep talk’ about how Mama has to go to work while they go to school.
Mama pergi work, Abang dan Adik pergi school. (Mama will go to work, Big Brother and Little Brother will go to school.)
Nak nak! (Tak nak! - I don’t want to!)
Nanti Mama balik, boys pun balik. (Later, Mama will go home, you boys will also go home.)
Silence.
I dropped the subject and turned their attention to a big lorry (big yoyi), a Nescafé billboard (kopi Abah), a red car (wed kah). Their vocabulary is just amazing, as is the way they associate certain things with certain people, such coffee with their father, cameras with me ;)
We finally reached their playschool. Incidentally, the other children were all running around the front yard.
Twin 2: “Lawi!” (Lari - Run)
Twin 1: “Tunggu!” (Wait)
And with that, they wriggled out of my arms and ran off to join their friends. They did not even look back at me.
I felt a lump in my throat and tears forming at the corners of my eyes. My babies are no longer babies. I’m happy they’ve finally adjusted to playschool, but at the same time, heart-broken that they walked away from me with nary a second thought.
Now I know what they mean when they say having kids is like “having your heart go walking around outside your body.”
Tags: Children, kids, kids growing up, Parenting
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