3 years 3 months

Day 1187. It was a slow morning, even though the kids were up early as usual. I finally forced myself out of bed to feed Sammy. After breakfast I cleaned them up and dressed them, but then it was already 10 am. My 10 am student had canceled the lesson, but there was a webinar I needed to watch. Randy and the kids went downstairs, while I started the webinar, working at the same time. I really needed to get the French newsletter out. At 11:15 I had to stop working to go to the kitchen and start cooking. At noon we sat down to eat.

The kids ate pretty well, then had icecream. Randy left to run to the grocery store, while I cleaned them up and dressed them. Tammy and Emmy still had 20 minutes to watch Paw Patrol, while Sammy lay in his bed playing on his own. At 1 pm I put them to bed, as I had a 2 pm lesson. I don't usually teach at that time, but make exceptions if it's the only possibility. It was tough, though, as I was really tired. I was glad the kids fell asleep quickly, so that I could leave them quickly. However, I still needed to prepare for my 4 afternoon lessons, and so there was no time to close my eyes, tired or not.

Randy returned at 1:45, and I was surprised, when Emmy suddenly walked up, having slept less than 45 minutes. He said he didn't want to lie down with me, but I got him to lie down next to me, and he actually fell asleep. However, after 10 minutes, just 5 minutes before my lesson started, I had no choice but to get up. Of course that woke him up, and he then got up as well. And then Sammy also woke up. Randy took them both downstairs, while I sat down for my 2 pm lesson.

However, my student didn't show up and didn't respond to my messages. Just before 2:30 my Mom arrived. We hadn't seen her in over 6 weeks, and the kids were looking forward to seeing her again. They did say with a sad voice later that they see her rarely and that she only stays for such a short time (2 hours). I went downstairs with her, stayed a little bit, but then went upstairs for my 3 pm lesson. My next three lessons until 6 pm all took place. I went downstairs again during my 10 minute break before 4 pm, took a few pictures and exchanged a few words with my Mom. Then I returned upstairs for my next lesson. At 4:30 she left, and Randy stayed with the kids. He came upstairs with them a few minutes before I was done teaching, and Tammy and Emmy walked into the room to watch me teach the end of my lesson. Then they wanted to watch Superbook. I set it up for them and went to the kitchen to start making their dinner. Sammy was in their bedroom playing. At 6:30 we sat down at the table to eat. They ate some, then continued in the bathtub. I had an 8 pm lesson, so I was conscious of the time. I was pretty tired and wasn't that keen on teaching yet another lesson. They got out of the water pretty early, having eating earlier tonight, and so there was plenty of time for their bedtime story. I prayed for them, then they went to bed, and I sat down by them for a moment. Ten minutes to 8 pm I left them to go downstairs for my lesson, and Randy took my place in the chair by their beds. Then I waited for my student to show up, and waited, and waited. All the while I could hear Tammy and Sammy having a party. When my student did not respond to my messages, I went upstairs to bring order. I sat down in the chair by their beds, and the party ended. Soon the boys were asleep, and some time later Tammy as well. I never heard from my student. I then went downstairs to get my computer and ended up staying there for much longer than planned. Just before 10 pm I came upstairs and started making my salad, and so it was 11 pm or so before I was done eating. Therefore I started working on the pictures late. Now it's 1:30 am and time to go to bed. I have an early lesson tomorrow morning.