What a fun day Ajab had during his school field trip to Pasir Ris Park on Friday. We were given a choice of either taking the bus from school or making our own way there. Naturally, I chose the latter. After dropping Ayeed and Maya off at the in-laws and Trin at the train station, Ajab and I headed for Pasir Ris Park. As always Tampines Expressway towards the airport was jammed packed with traffic. What would have been a 10 minute drive to Pasir Ris, took us double that time, but we still managed to reach the park at 8.
I just love the park this early in the morning. Believe me, this park and its beach is a hive of activity, especially on weekends - full of joggers and cyclists and countless domestic refugees (mostly Malays) camping out.
Ajab had a full hour before his classmates and the other kids from other classes came at 9.15. He really enjoyed himself, exploring the beach and playing near the water, shoes on, of course. I doubt Ajab would have such a great time if he had been barefoot, knowing his dislike with the feel of sand and grass on his feet, a sensory overload experienced by most autistic kids that would upset them to the point of tears.
The cost of wearing his shoes at the beach is, of course, sandy shoes and dirty socks.
And what fun he had with a couple of cats roaming the park, even using the tail of one to fondle his nose with, just like he does with his beloved pillowcase strings on his Smillow (see the video). Notice too how, when he lost his balance while squatting and sat down on the grass, Ajab was very careful not to touch the grass with his hands as he tried to get up again.
When the rest of the kids came, the teachers organised some structured activities for the kids - playing with sand, and sang songs while the kids stood around in a circle holding a parachute-like thing. The kids were also free to explore the playground equipment themselves, much to their delight. And we all know how excitable kids can be at the playground.
I left Ajab to do his own thing and just followed him around just in case he needed help with the playground equipment. Tried to make him sit on the swing, but he’s still not confident of his own abilities to stay on the swing and not fall off and kept crying out to me to let him down.
I believe we as parents shouldn’t be too worried about what our kids do at the playground and let them explore on their own while we keep an eye on them. One incident came to mind when Ajab’s classmate was climbing up to this slide which was rather high (about 3 metres up), but still safe enough for a toddler to negotiate. Ajab’s classmate’s mother didn’t think so and she was frantically squeezing her way past the other kids up the steps while shouting to her kid to “be careful!” or “it’s too high!!”. Comically, before she could reach her kid, he had already slid down happily by himself, much to her dismay. Me? I was like 20 metres away near a tree having a smoke, watching Ajab go down the same slide for the 1,464,137th time and enjoying the spectacle the woman had created.
Well, as fussy as she was with her kid, she did agree to bring him to the park and join the field trip, unlike one of Ajab’s other classmate, whose parents refused to let him go, claiming that he was “uncontrollable” outdoors, which is a shame, really. I mean, how are the kids going to learn to behave and socialize if they’re not allowed to participate in these activities? Judging from the sweat and the tired but happy look on Ajab as he munched on chips during their snack break, he really enjoyed the day.
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