SEPT 5 — The lazy hazy days of summer will come to an end soon and there is no surer sign than the start of the new academic year.

The last three months have been quiet here as many families took off on their annual summer holidays. Some days there would be only one or two toddlers waddling around like lost ducklings in search of their friends.

Recently though, a steady trickle of the usual suspects began to return to haunt the playground. They bring with them the latest toys and the accompanying tears as negotiations to swap precious goods (mini micro scooters being the current rage) break down.

The start of the new school term is a much welcome relief for harried parents and helpers who have been busy entertaining the little ones. Since one can only do so much of Ocean Park and Disneyland over the hot and humid summer months, school has become the saviour of weary adults.

In the beginning, I found it adorable to see these tiny two-year-olds wearing miniature versions of the uniforms that older kids wear. Some are barely out of diapers.

Yet it is also a sad time because the children we now see at the playground will slowly disappear as school, homework, music lessons and the like begin to eat into their play time. Already two regular playmates have been absent in the evenings as they have been too tired to come downstairs after returning from school.

Routines are changing as well. Far-sighted parents began training their little ones to adjust to the new schedule as early as three weeks. Ishan’s regular date in the mornings is now rushed home at 10.30am to take in a catnap and a quick lunch before school starts at 1pm.

Hygiene also becomes a priority once toddlers leave their safe home environment. Suddenly it is all about washing hands and using disinfectant gels. In a rare turn in competitive Hong Kong, a friend’s pediatrician advised against starting her son in school too early to avoid catching viruses that seem to feed on preschoolers.

In an effort to simulate a sterile environment, some schools are in the habit of instructing parents to place a a small plastic box containing a damp towel inside the child’s school bag for exclusive use in the classroom.

It is also common practice in local schools to own two pairs of shoes; one to be worn to and from school and another worn exclusively inside the premises.

After just a week in the classroom it seems as if these same children have done some quick growing up. Some are more subdued. Some more confident.

Still I find it all so rushed. There is pressure to push the child out there as early as possible, to get into the best school money can buy.

Only a handful of parents —more often than not from expatriate families — hold off school until their child is close to four years of age.

Ishan and his peers are just two years old. Most are attending three hours of pre-nursery (beginning with an hour in the first week, two hours in the second week and finally three hours from then on) five days a week. Some stay on for the full day, from 8.30am to 3.30pm.

Others attend two schools – one in the morning and another in the afternoon. Why? Answers I’ve received include “so she doesn’t sit at home and watch TV” and “so she can get into a good kindergarten.”

Meanwhile, I am holding off the school proper for another year. I console myself with the knowledge that Ishan is happy to go into his classroom just three times a week. I get a quick “Bye, Mummy!” before he’s off exploring the toys laid out for the afternoon. Then it’s more playtime at the playground when we get home. That seems to make for a happy boy and therefore a happy mummy.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.