Little Boy cried this morning. Though I expected it and saw it coming, my heart still broke when I saw the tears. He cried because he has 2 projects due tomorrow and he is only half way through each project. He has CCA today and will be staying back till 5pm, after which he has an hour of Chinese tuition. That leaves him with only about an hour or so to complete the 2 projects before his bedtime at 9.30pm. This realisation hit him this morning. Why only this morning and not yesterday or the day before? Sigh!
Project no.1 is Photo journal. He is to use 5 photos to write about an environmental issue that he's concerned about and present it to his 'alien' friends (that's the audience determined by the teacher). He has the 5 photos and even the write-up but he has not committed the script for the oral presentation to memory. All presenters are required to memorise their scripts!
Project no.2 is Interviewing a family member. This project requires Little Boy to formulate his own interview questions, conduct the interview, arrange the interview notes in logical order and finally, to write an essay of 250-350 words based on the interview notes. He has done the questions and conducted the interview but has yet to arrange the notes and write the essay. To make matter worse, all these have to be type-written. Not only is Little Boy not a fast typist, he is also not a strong writer. Writing has never been his forte.
I do not know how Little Boy is going to complete his tasks tonight. I was tempted to ease his burden by typing out the interview notes for him and to draft out the essay outline so as to provide a framework for him to write on but, I know I can't give in to the temptations. Thankfully, I have this blog to distract me from going into his thumb-drive and type away...
Part of me wanted to go to Little Boy's rescue and pull him out of the deep waters but the other part wanted him to have a taste of drowning, in hope that he would learn how to swim from then on. In Jack Neo's recent movie 'Ah Boys to Men', the protagonist turned from an immature recruit in the army to a responsible soldier after going through an ordeal and causing his father to suffer from a stroke. I do not hope to be in the same situation as the protagonist's father just so that Little Boy can be more responsible. However, I do hope that today's baptism of fire will make my Little Boy more proactive in his school work and more vigilant in checking his schedule. It is my hope that this incident can turn my Ah Boy to man.
