SE's graduation

Compared to JE's graduation, SE's was a grand, grand affair.  Grand ballroom, formal wear, Chinese course meal, no kids allowed other than those graduating.  Apparently the whole affair was to "honour the children" - oh come on, these are little kiddos.  I was planning to skip it as I didn't agree with the whole concept, we would have to leave JE at home, I didn't need to be having dinner with a whole bunch of parents I didn't know.  Plus hubby said stuff the dress code, he'd be wearing a T-shirt to it.  The kids would have a performance which I thought would just be the concert one where I couldn't even get a decent picture.

Haha so much for all that.  The parents queued for the tickets the day it was sold. The next day, I went to ask SE's teachers whether it'd be all right to skip.  Luckily they convinced me that it was important and I went to buy tickets.

Turned out the kids had a different performance and costume.

A photo before leaving JE behind

The little poser!

It was grand all right.

Table setting

Inside the scroll, a message from my girl which made me tear up

(Although the teacher must have made everyone write the same thing!)

There were multiple performances by the 91 kids graduating - SE went up to the stage 4 times, including going up to the stage and collecting the scroll.  

My fav photo of SE for the night

SE was a trooper, smiled and smiled non-stop the whole night.

'

Cheese! And peace.

Waiting to go into the ballroom

The kids were kept somewhere else and were marched in and out at various portions of the night.  They didn't even have the course meal, only fried rice.  At times it felt like the kids were merely there to entertain the guests and justify the occasion.

Grand, huh?

Mummy and Su Ern

While I still don't agree with having it on such a big scale, it was well-organised and I had a good time. Hubby managed to find a jacket so did not stick out like a sore thumb.

We didn't wait for the family photo session and left about 10pm plus.  Imagine how long it would have taken for each family to fuss around and take a photo.  Asked a teacher to extract SE from the other room and went home.  To poor JE who cried when we got home.  (This one is pretty sensitive!)

Glad my family is back!