Can't Help Being Proud!

Two weekends ago, I received an envelope from my eldest’s school. All sorts of things went through my mind as I struggled to open it: Was there a sudden increase in the tuition fee? Is there something we had to pay but overlooked? Or worse, did Caila do something wrong?

But as I unfolded the letter, I just couldn’t believe my eyes. My daughter was an awardee! And we (her parents) were invited to the school’s Annual Prize Day the following Thursday to see her on stage to receive the Endeavour Award for the past school year!

First Day of School Photos

By now, I’m pretty sure all of the schools in the UAE have started their new school year. How did your first day go, mommies?

For me, since my girls go to different schools (it’s a long story), I had two first days. Just like majority of the schools, my eldest’s first day was on the 28th of August. My youngest, on the other hand, started school on the 1st of September (although, in reality, her official first day was on the 4th of September).

Flowers in the Sandpit

Caila had another assignment to do this weekend that involved us having to go out: taking pictures of flowers in Dubai. Problem was there weren’t that many in our neighbourhood, and no way were we going to the Miracle Garden and walk around in this hot weather.

Fortunately, when we visited my sister yesterday, we saw several blossoms in the area where she lives, much to the delight of our eldest who kept running and pointing out the flowers she wanted me to take pictures of.

Lessons Learned on Enrollment Day

It was time for Caila’s enrollment over the weekend. We were given the notice of schedules and corresponding amounts before school closed for vacation last June, but of course, being the procrastinator that I am, I didn’t start preparing the cheques until Friday night.

Enrollment day was Saturday and I had to prepare 6 cheques: 3 for the tuition and other school fees, and another 3 for the school bus.

My first panic moment was when I couldn’t find the chequebook. I found an old one that wasn’t valid anymore, and another one whose cheques I had already used up. But I couldn’t find the one that I last used for the apartment PDCs which was way back in December last year. I searched everywhere I knew where it could possibly be, but nothing. I had to interrupt Hubby’s phone conversation because I was already panicking. And just when I was getting desperate because it seemed he couldn’t find it either, Hubby tossed the chequebook at me with a smirk on his face.

My relief was short-lived, though. Because I immediately realized that there were only 3 cheques left. Gaaaahhhh!

There was no other choice. I prepared the 3 cheques for the school and we decided to pay for the transportation in cash. No way did we have the money needed on hand, so off I went to the nearby ATM to withdraw cash. We were going to have to adjust our budget for a while because of this sudden chunky expense, but, well, what to do?

So Saturday morning arrived and Caila and I headed to her school while Hubby went to the KFC activity. Upon getting our token/number, the lady gave me a list of additional books and sets of uniforms we needed to purchase. When I took a seat to wait for our number to be called, I looked at the amount the lady wrote as the Grand Total and I was horrified to see that I needed to pay almost Dhs6,500. 

WHAAAAAATTTTT?!?!?!

I checked my wallet. Apart from the payment for the transportation, it had only a few hundred dirhams in it which was just enough for the additional payments. I was thinking if there was an ATM nearby and figured there wasn’t one. Then I told myself to check again.

In the notice and breakdown of payments, it included the list of required books. The list of books she attached had the same amount, plus 2 additional books. Okay. Good.

Then I added the amount for the uniforms. And voila! The Grand Total was the amount of everything included in the first payment. So the cheques and cash I had were sufficient. Wheeewwwww!

It was a good thing I didn’t attack the lady and demand an explanation for the outrageous amount when I first saw it. For sure I would have ended up shamed for my stupidity. Not that I would have done that, though. Although I might have if I was stressed and/or it was that time of the month. Kidding! =)

Lessons learned: (1) Order a new chequebook as soon as you notice that you’re down to your last 10 cheques, (2) For any big payment, make sure you have sufficient cheques and/or cash before the deadline, and finally (3) Don’t panic and don’t worry; clear your head, READ and UNDERSTAND.

In short...