The Farm

28 July 2008

Peanuts was so excited about the trip. From the moment he arrived at school this morning, his standard greeting to every teacher was, "I'm going to the farm." And every other 3 minutes or so, he would ask, "Where's the bus, mama?" Am I glad that I didn't tell him about the trip until the night before, just when he was going to bed.

On the bus, I learned from his Teacher Vivien (a student attachee from the polytechnic) that he had made repeated requests for her to play "Old McDonald's" on her guitar and happily sang along, choosing each farm animal at the appropriate pauses.

It was only when we arrived at our destination that I realised we were visiting a koi farm! I should have known better. What farms can I expect in urban Singapore, except for vegetables and chickens?? Luckily there was a special programme for school kids - (a) a show and touch of white mice, gerbils, hamsters and rabbits and (b) a feeding session where the kids are allowed to hand feed rabbits, chickens, goose and of course, koi. Phew! Though that didn't stop Peanuts from asking a couple of times (which was totally reasonable and manageable), "Where is the cow? Where is the pig?". Lesson learned - never forget to manage a young child's expectations.