Day 1136. When we got up at 8 am this morning, Tammy was still sleeping, which is unusual. After breakfast I cleaned them up and dressed them and took them downstairs, where we read a Bible story, as we still had a few minutes until 9 am. Then I went upstairs. I had a message from the Mobile Support lady that she was sick and not coming at 9 am, as she usually does. And the cleaning lady who was also supposed to come at 9 am, was also sick. Randy had sorted through some bag of clothes, and I had to make the switch from summer to winter clothes, and so I started sorting and moving clothes. I ended up working for nearly 2 hours, since my 10 am student had also canceled her lesson. Still, I had hoped to do some office work, but I ended up having only 15 minutes on the computer before it was 11:15 and time to go to the kitchen to cook.
Just after noon we sat down to eat, and everyone emptied their plates and had ice-cream. Then I cleaned them up and dressed them with the clothes to wear for their exercise class. They still had less than 15 minutes until 1 pm, and so I let them watch a 12-minute episode of the smurfs. Then I put them to bed, as there was less than an hour left until I'd have to wake them up at 2 pm. Originally I had signed them up for an exercise class on Friday morning, but they did not have enough participants, and this 2:30 pm class was the only one that still had 3 spots. Normally I'd never sign them up for a 2:30 class, as it's way too difficult with their nap. The boys were soon asleep, but Tammy would not sleep. As for me, I was so very tired I could have gone to sleep right away. At one point I had Randy sit in the chair instead of me, and I lay down in bed. I kept hearing Tammy and am not sure I ever fell all the way asleep, though I came close. Just before 2 pm my alarm went off, and I got up to get ready, and to get the kids up. Just after 2 pm we all left the house together.
We took the subway to the end - now that it's running again after not doing so for 2 months. It was sure nice to go straight there again. We walked to the school and got there just on time, being even the first ones there. The Friday class would have had the teacher they had before the summer break. Now they have the same teacher they had during the summer, and I liked her as well.
We were in the smaller room again, where there are none of the big balls they like so much, or the big mat. That's a shame. More children arrived, and in the end it was quite a good crowd of children. What I like about this class that it is not for 1.5 to 3-year-olds like the last ones, but for 2 to 4-year-olds, and so they are not the oldest, but the class is just right for them. There was nothing set up, like she'd done in the summer. Instead she did a "real" warm-up with the kids, having them move their legs certain ways. Emmy tried it and did pretty well, while Tammy didn't care to do any of it. It was really cute how Emmy was walking behind the teacher at one point, trying to imitate what she was doing.
After the warm-up she set up different stuff around the room for them to do. There were certain things they were supposed to do at some stations, but I could not get Tammy to do what she was supposed to. At least Emmy did - at times. They found the small balls and started playing with them, and Sammy also enjoyed playing with the balls. Emmy can throw and catch a ball pretty well already. As for Sammy, before the balls, all he wanted to do was go on the trampolin, where I made him jump. One time Randy took him away, because other kids were waiting to get on, and he started crying because of it.
After a while she put everything up again and had us sit on mats in a circle. She then started doing a few action songs. Again, Tammy would not participate, while Emmy did somewhat. Then they sat down on the mats, and we pulled them around the room. Emmy was pulled by the teacher. She then did a few songs walking around. I asked Tammy to participate - once again - but she wouldn't. I told her she would not get to watch any more videos today if she continued doing her own thing, but my repeated warning made no difference.
Then the teacher got a parachute out, and the kids all made it go up and down. Then they went under it, and then they sat on top, and the adults made it turn, walking in a circle. After she had put it up, she emptied out the box of small and big balls, and the kids had to pick them up and throw them back into the box. Sammy got a few ones as well, with Daddy's help. She then did the "baby shark" and caroussel song, and then the good-bye song, and the class was over.
We put their shoes back on, put them into the stroller, and left. They were right away asking to go to the playground right there. It was 3:30, and I had a student at 5 pm, so there was plenty of time, so we went there. They went straight to the slide, and Emmy went into this little hut first and put his head through the window. They enjoyed going up and down the slide over and over again. I then took Sammy and took him to the swing that he really enjoyed. After a while I put him back into the stroller. It was time to go home.
It was warmer today than it has been, but it was also pretty windy. We walked back to the subway station and waited for the subway. Tammy was asking to watch a video, but I reminded her that she did not get to watch any videos the rest of the day. We sat down on seats in the subway, and they continued asking to watch something. I finally let Emmy sit on my lap and watch Peppa Pig, while Tammy was sitting opposite us, crying and trying to also see what was on the screen. She cried pretty much the whole way home, which was only a few stops.
Just after 4 pm we were back home. They all went downstairs, while I was getting ready for my 5 pm lesson. I was done just before 6 pm, and then they already came upstairs. Again they were asking to watch a video, and I reminded Tammy she was not allowed to watch any the rest of the day. But then I told her that if they watched Superbook, I would let her watch that. And so they watched the story of Jonah, while I was making their dinner. Just before 6:30 we sat down at the table to eat. They then continued eating in the bathtub. At around 7:45 they were all in bed, and I sat down by them. I was surprised that they were not falling asleep quickly. As Randy finished eating early, he took my place before it wa 8:30, with them all still being awake. I went to the kitchen to make my dinner, even though Tammy was not happy about that. But it didn't take very long for them to get quiet. I sat down to eat, and then went back to work. Somehow everything took longer tonight, as it's already 1 am, and I still have to clean up the kitchen.
