Well done, Coco!

Coco has never been a fit child.

Being a first child can have its cons, and big-time cons at that. A good example is when the mother is an ignorant mother and didn't know about the benefits of feeding breastmilk.

Coco lost out on the breastmilk because I was not prepared to be a mother 10 years ago. I never imagined myself to be a mother, and had always thought it horrifying to give birth, whichever way it may be.

So when I discovered my pregnancy at 20 weeks, I had to see a shrink for my high anxiety level and unstable emotional state. I didn't plan for the things to do right after the baby's birth because I was sure I would die in the process of giving birth or Caesarean.

Naturally, I didn't read up on breastfeeding.

Although I tried, contrived as it was, to breastfeed her, it wasn't successful. She felt uncomfortable with the way I latched her on, and she couldn't get anything out when she suckled due to the lack of stimulation of breastmilk. I ended up succumbing to giving her formula milk all the time, what with the awful experiences of having your sisters and mother staring at your clumsy effort to latch your baby on your naked bosom.

Coco has always been a sickly child. She falls sick quite often, from when she was a baby.

So I didn't think much of her then-upcoming NAPFA test. I was even prepared to hear that she failed her the test, until she came home and told me that she failed the various items at a mocked NAPFA test and felt bad about it.

I was surprised that she wanted badly to pass.

When prompted for the reason, she said,"I want to get a Bronze for you."

To get a 'Bronze', Coco said that you need pass all the items, which averages out to be Es.

And it turns out that most, if not all, of her classmates are good at, or at least pass, all the NAPFA items.

I soon realised that it's the fear of being laughed at that she wants so badly to pass.

I always thought that the children at academically-driven schools would not bother about NAPFA test or any matter related to sports unless they are in school teams. Apparently, I am very wrong. These children have the drive to compete in just about anything, sports being one of the things on the list.

Coco came home last Thursday telling me that except for her, the whole class was going to wear sports shoes for the NAPFA test the next day. Apparently, the class took a vote on their own to see who are the ones wearing sports shoes. Goodness!

I immediately took her out to get a pair of Nike running shoes for her.
She was very pleased with the shoes.

The next day when she came home, she told me she felt that the shoes helped her pass all the items, except Inclined pull-up, at the NAPFA test.

She returned a week later to redo her NAPFA test. Apparently, you have to redo the whole test as long as you failed one item - that's how long I have not done a NAPFA test. I totally cannot remember how the system was like. The teacher will take the better of the two results ie. the results for the first versus the second NAPFA tests.

And she smsed me her result:

Sit-ups - 16 (an improvement from her original '11' which was just a 'Pass'), Inclined pull-up - 3 (which is a 'Pass'!)

She also redid her 1.6km run and managed a B for the second-time run!

Last Thursday when she did her sit-ups, she was accused by the teacher-in-charge that she cheated. The teacher even dismissed her partner for being unable to count! I was quite angry about it because knowing Coco, she would not cheat at NAPFA test just to get a passing grade. Coco teared over the incident several times because she felt maligned and misunderstood. I'm so glad she cleared herself of the non-existent offence by doing much better in the same item.

I'm so impressed by her determination to do well, even in something that she's inherently weak in. To me, it's another bonus for being in an academically-driven school. I hope that this determination to do well will spill over to all other areas of her life, sooner or later.