A Lion Goes To School On CNY Dress Up Day

**Update: One of the comments wasn’t showing as intended in the comments field, so the commentator requested I delete it… However she had included a link to her blog with a picture of a unicorn (because I wasn’t sure if Rockstar had a unicorn or a lion) and so that’s here. 

It’s Chinese New Year Dress-up Day at Rockstar’s kindergarten… The kids have been making decorations for awhile (the fruits of which we’ve been seeing all over the classrooms though just before the holidays I think they will take some down and send them home so we can use the decorations at home over the festive period)… Rockstar was in a standard brocade jacket (like quite a few little boys) last year, and then I realized some people really go to town on dress-up days particularly the CNY one here, and well it’s kind of Rockstar’s and our first CNY in HK (unless you count the one where he was barely a month old). Well, Halloween was something, too. You’d get say, a child coming to school in a cow suit and his mum driving him wearing a big matching furry cow mask and hat. Some parents really take the opportunity to communicate to their child how serious/ involved they are with their schooling…

Brocade everywhere, a Mongolian-style jacket or two, it gets really festive – the school would remind us that even if it’s a celebration we don’t participate in, try not to send our kids to school in uniform on dress-up days as it can be quite upsetting for them when all the other little kids are dressed up – one thing I never admitted before was how every time I saw an email reminder from the school or note in the diary about remember not to put your child in uniform, I’d feel a chill.

Because had I been at my old job, I wouldn’t put it past myself to miss a dress-up day (on some celebration we don’t really celebrate), and then Rockstar might end up in a school uniform on that day <shudder>. Or at the very least I might grumble about having to rustle something up, instead of thoroughly enjoy it. My child might think I don’t care. Or just thought his “super fun” school activities were a nuisance. It doesn’t bear thinking.

Kings is the one who heroically rustled up the Rockstar-sized lion from somewhere in Sheung Wan after work one day, for HKD 99. I hadn’t even noticed it was Rockstar-sized (though it fits perfectly), until we got to school and people asked, “Where did you get one in his size?” My mum, who’s visiting this year, remarked, “Oh, what a nice unicorn!” Crap. is that a unicorn? Is that why it has a horn? I already told Rockstar it was a lion. And some rubbish or other about why the lion has a horn. I forgot they had unicorns.

It’s boiling in Penang, Malaysia this time of year (hence you can’t wear that many layers – Rockstar also requested he wear something red, which he is, a thick long-sleeved rugby shirt, under the silk jacket that btw is also HKD 99 bought in Sai Kung, reversible, and a dead ringer for way pricier Shanghai Tang-style jackets that last I checked were about HKD 600 at least) – but other than that Penang where my parents live is one of the more “chinese” and lion-dance-y places in Malaysia if I recall correctly. They have unicorns, dragons and the hokkien lions with the hairy legs and… Rockstar still thinks that’s a lion. But the actual lion has a broader flatter head and bigger ears doesn’t it?

Eagle-eyed readers might notice I velcro-ed the “body” of the lion (It’s. A. LION. I already told my son it’s a lion. Shutup.) to keep it from trailing on the floor when he didn’t have another person being the hind legs, but didn’t chop the extra off in case his friends wanted to play – which is why from the back it looks like it has a tail growing out of the base of its skull like a sperm cell. Fine. Family blog. Tadpole. Like a tadpole.

The little girl in front of him btw, is not actually in school uniform, though it looks like she’s in the ESF Kindy’s standard navy winter wear. It’s actually a smart double-breasted wool coat, under which she’s wearing a red-and-gold brocade cheongsam.

In fact, there are gorgeous little girls in brocade dresses everywhere, some with little fur collars or sleeves, some paired with mongolian jackets, some with additional fur-lined vests, all color-coordinated with tights and shoes/boots. Their mums must’ve had lots of fun this morning. Some girls have Chun-Li style buns, some have braids, a girl with cascading strawberry-blonde hair is in a soft pink cheongsam that matches her locks perfectly. Another blonde-and-blue-eyed little girl is sporting turquoise blue brocade that matches her eyes.

Yet another girl passes while I’m storing Rockstar’s extra snacks in the snack basket (feel so proud reminding Rockstar his vegetarian Indian friends can share because it’s pineapple tarts and custard buns) – she has chopsticks in her bun-ed hair, from which are swinging huge ornate Swarovski crystals that I’m sure weren’t from a kiddie hair accessories shop. Obviously even those who don’t celebrate are not gonna pass up an opportunity to dress up in CNY finery. Or raid their mum’s closets.

Before leaving, I remind Rockstar (a.k.a. Mr Anal) the lion is paper-mache and it’s meant to be played with. That means, don’t get upset if some of the white hair or sequins come off, or it gets squished, we can fix or replace it easily (and frankly Mr Anal Sr will probably want to bin it after CNY anyway). And with that, here are a few blurry pics of the lion gravely climbing the stairs to school. Passing mums try to snap pics along the way, he initially obliges but soon declares he is late and can’t stop. It’s really hard not to giggle when my pint-sized lionhead son tells people he is going to be late for school and marches purposefully up the stairs. Like, very seriously, I’m Going To Be Late For School. Yes, I Am Speaking Out Of A Lionhead Attached To My Shoulders. I’m Going To Be Late For School.

Sometimes it’s fun after all, being the littlest kid in class, walking gravely by with a giant lion-head on. Is there irony?