Secret Mummy Behavior #1

Still my favorite school uniform picture

It’s annual school photo-taking day, and look what Kings had me do – go down and get Rockstar a new school shirt. (I have mummy friends putting their kids in lesser-worn items for that day (also asking about hair product) but unfortunately I was happily using the school kit outside school – especially the warm clothes during travel outside HK – loved them as spares I could scrunch into my backpack. Ergo I have almost nothing that isn’t faded – except maybe the raincoat. I might put Rockstar in a raincoat tomorrow. No, not really. As if he’s very easy to dress, “Mum. Don’t buy that. If you buy it, I won’t wear it.”

Rockstar on field trip in school gear - when his hat had seen happier days

Well also, we came home to find our (still rather on holiday) helper had somehow mangled Rockstar’s school sunhat big-time and I had to replace that anyways.

But yeah, I’m not sure I’d admit we traipsed down to Jordan just to get a fresh shirt – if not for also wanting a hat. And Kings wanting another “school-run-ish” experience. He wanted to see what it was like to get school uniforms. Tourist-Daddy.

Crossing Jordan for a hat and a shirt (hey that should be a song)

Somewhere in that old cult chick tv series Sex & The City is something called Secret Single Behavior. (For Miranda, I vaguely remember it was going to sleep with ugly cotton gloves to deep-moisturize her hands.)

Somewhere during Mummy Talk with my friends we allow ourselves similar. “Ooh THAT primary school has SUCH a cute uniform.” <swoon> Oh were we supposed to care how many of those nicely-uniformed kids make it to Harvard (fine, Caltech)? Let’s call it Secret Mummy Behavior.

“Oh crap the little kids have to wear a bow-tie to school? I don’t even like Bow-tie!!” (Tsang, the Hong Kong politician. Like I’m smart enough to make that up.) Marketing companies take note. What? If you thought “packaging” matters not a wit against performance then how come:

1) A certain Mr Jobs (may he rest in peace, he has our grateful thanks for all the gadgets that kept Rockstar busy and us sane) once staged an Apple comeback by way of sexy Mac and fancy-wancy fonts?

2) There wouldn’t be mummies who, upon their kids not gaining entry into The rabidly coveted Chinese International School via a Certain Other Little “Feeder” Chinese School Which Shall Remain Hereto Anonymous (but I bet if you even glanced in the general direction of CIS you know exactly what I’m talking about), suddenly no longer wish for their kids to remain in Other Little Chinese “Feeder” School?

As the weather gets cooler I find some boh liao pleasure in observing how some of the kids come to school with erm, “personalized” uniforms. I bought Rockstar thick white Adidas knee socks (how dare they claim they’re free sized, they keep slipping down Rockstar’s shins)… Last year I was layering his collared school shirts with another white collared shirt underneath instead of a crewneck (well, they are in Kindy, not the Singapore army – chill? Picked up the double-collar thing from Jacadi catalogues….. Sometimes I browsed high-end kiddie clothing catalogues at lunch hour when I worked, for ideas on how to dress Rockstar)…. Oh, and I also remember some of Rockstar’s schoolmates wearing cream turtlenecks under their collared school shirts…..

And more Rockstar accessorising.. (Geeky-cool or just geeky?)