Qaid is Going to School

So Qaid is going to the real school come 2014...how fast time flies. The memories of his labour is still fresh in mind, and now he's just counting days to school. and the school preparation is no joke..Here are what we had to prepare for his schooling:

1. School bag - he wants it big and with roller. I blame it partly to the teacher as well. Cos he mentioned that his old bag couldn't fit all his books...in terms of size...some books do have XL sizes, so in the book, the book can get folded or such. Hubs insisted on the roller ones, and Qaid bought the idea as well, and insisted on both categories to be fulfilled in the end. Problem with it is that, they come in big sizes (and to fulfil Qaid's criteria) and damn expensive. we are talking about a first time schooler for sake.
2. School uniform - planned for only 4 pairs, but had to upgrade it to 5...1 for each day. i think i only had 3 pairs during my time. I would reuse it to the next day....even then, I didn't have new ones every other year... how blessed kids nowadays are.
3. Sekolah agama uniform - planned for only 2 pairs, now changed to 3. haven't found the last pair though. We haven't even finalised which sekolah agama yet, but there will definitely be one. Some optimisation will be required, hence still hasn't made the final decision yet.
4. Sekolah agama bag
5. shoes - for now we bought 2 pairs for him. am contemplating whether we should get another pair
6. school socks- quite a lot. am thinking 
7. stationeries - ruler, sharpener, pencils, eraser, glue, colour pencils, pencil box, drawing block, plastic wrappers. and i may need to find another set for the sek agama bag
8. singlet
9. PE uniform
10. watch
11. name stamp (some people ordered stickers, but we didn't)
12. room change, and its associated stuff
13. bento set
14. lunch box/carrier

While preparing for Qaid's I cannot forget Qays's as well.

1. School bag
2. pencil case
3. stationeries (exact things like Qaid's but of diff color or such)
4. watch as well

The hubs suggested the Shah Alam Sect 18 area for some of the shopping. Aren't we glad we did. We got Qay's bag at damn cheap price and looks so nice (RM 16). the designs are limited though, we couldn't find one that matches Qaid's requirement. Finally we found one that simply fits everything, at only RM 60. with RM50 voucer, we only topped up RM10. the main school preparation is finally done with

This is the time, where blogs, discussion with other people play big role. I am blessed that I have Ida, and Adam Qaisar's mom (whose name is Ida as well) to discuss school matters with. From sewing badges, to number of uniforms required, transportation, which sekolah agama, and at a later part, bekal menu.

The hubs is surprisingly, very involved in the process. he seldom has much passion in family matters, but suddenly on this one. He came out with the idea of moving the kids' room, and suggested to buy new stuff along with it. we had 2 ikea visits, back to back. of course i put my heart n soul on the room arrangement, but he was very much well consulted. He paid a visit (along with the kids) to the school, to see what can be settled and inquiries on stuff before the actual orientation day. i can even sense his anxiousness about Qaid's going to school.

Throughout the school break, I can say that we always have something to do with the schooling each week. Never knew that school preparation can be this daunting. Here's to my own reference when Qays's time is up. on top of the above list, here are few more:

1. Bottles
2. Containers
3. Pencil colours (lots of colors and the thick or deep colored ones)
4.