This week, my son came home from his kindergarten excitedly, brandishing his shopping bag. I say “his” because his name was lovingly written on the nondescript bag, thus showcasing a tinge of personalisation.

He apparently had an eventful day. His senpais - those in K1 and K2 - made paper bills and coins for him to splurge at their in-house carnival. It must have been a multipurpose event because he managed to buy a colouring book, a Pokemon ball, and sushi, among others. Most commendably, everything was handmade.

Not to downplay Singapore’s preschool education or what, but my pet peeve is that nursery kids routinely bring back projects for their parents to do together. Maybe the aim is to promote parent-child bonding, maybe the aim is to conduct flipped learning, but for someone who just expects the preschool to keep his children alive and kicking, I view these projects as an imposition of my limited freedom. Surely, as a parent, I should have a choice on how I want to spend my weekends. (Read: carving time out to labour over my son’s projects is not it.)

My context elevated the pleasure I derived from his shopping conquest. It’s nice to sit back and chill and be bombarded by news that your child enjoyed himself in school today.