3 years 5 months 19 days

Day 1267. Late last night I looked at my calendar and was reminded that we had to get up early this morning. It was a good thing I had looked. I set my alarm for 7:15 am, when I went to bed just before 2 am. When the alarm went off this morning, I nudged Randy to get up, but it took him a long time to get up. Tammy and Emmy were both in bed with us. Randy was going so slow that it soon became obvious that it would not be possible to have breakfast before leaving at 8:15. Instead I dressed them, so we could leave on time, which we did.

We only had Sammy in a stroller, with the other two walking or Emmy on the board. We took the subway and rode it to the end. The kids had some squeezies and snacks to fill their bellies. After the subway, we got on a tram that we had ride for a few stops. Then we walked the rest of the way. As we had just missed a subway at the  beginning of our trip, we arrived a few minutes late. Sammy and I had already been to that special kindergarten for kids with special needs a few weeks ago. Today we got to be a part of a group for one hour to check it out, and Randy got to see it as well.

We took the elevator up and walked in. After we had taken all their coats off, we walked inside the room where they were expecting us. It was the group with the most severe cases, many of them with cerebral palsy like Sammy. They gave us a bench to sit on, so that we could watch what they do at 9 am every morning. They try to teach the kids all the basics of life in such a way that they can understand. Tammy and Emmy were also included in the program. They were talking about carnival and let everyone try on some stuff to disguise themselves. They also got to blow out a garland. However, they were waiting for the go ahead so they could explore all the toys there. And then the moment had come, and they immediately started pulling toys off the shelves to play with them. I also put Sammy on the mat who was playing as well. One of the teachers came over to talk to us and ask us if we had any questions. Randy has been against the kindergarten, while I can see how much Sammy would benefit from all the input and therapies he'd get there. Now we'll visit one other one that is close to us, and the leader said she'd make room for Sammy in fall, even though the waiting lists are full. Please pray for the right decision to be made.

We hadn't been there for an hour yet, when we said good-bye. We put their coats back on and left to walk back to the tram stop. Then we walked to the subway; the kids now always want to take the escalator. Just before 11 am we were back home. Randy and the kids went downstairs, while I sat down at the computer, but time was very short for me to get actual work done. And so it was later than I would have liked, when I went to the kitchen just before 11:30 to get started on making lunch. Just before noon they came upstairs, but I didn't let them watch videos, as they had already done so on the subway.

At 12:15 pm we sat down at the table to eat. They all ate everything or nearly everything, then Tammy and Emmy wanted to finally watch videos. It was after 1:15 pm, when I put them to bed, while Randy left to go to the grocery store. I figured they'd fall asleep fast given the early morning, but for some reason Emmy wasn't feeling asleep, and he usually falls asleep easily. I had already sat there for a long time, and the other two were asleep, when I finally got up and left. Thankfully Emmy didn't complain and soon fell asleep. I set my timer for one hour and lay down just after 2 pm myself.

It was my timer that woke me up. However, Tammy was already up and right there, and Sammy was up as well. Only Emmy was still asleep, and thankfully the timer had not woken him up. I was thankful that my 3 pm lesson had been canceled which had allowed me to sleep that long. But it was time to get a move on as I had to make two dinner boxes for the kids to take with us. Randy and Sammy soon went downstairs, but Tammy stayed upstairs longer. Around 3:45 I gave her permission to wake up her brother, and they then both went downstairs just before I started teaching at 4 pm.

I finished at 5 pm today, just after Randy and the kids had come upstairs. We then dressed them to get ready to leave the house around 5:15 pm. Suddenly time seemed so short, and so we left the house later than I would have liked. It was time to go to the kids' new exercise class. The one they had done all last fall and until January was for 2 to 4-year-olds, and it was getting boring, doing the same, simple things every week. She was also doing songs and dances with them. And so I had been looking for a different class for older kids and found this class for 3 to 6 year-olds, making them part of the youngest kids instead of the oldest kids. And another big plus was that it was in a real gym in a High School. I was looking forward to it, while Randy thought that 6 pm was way too late.

We had to take the 5:30 train and walked really fast to make it. The kids do not like the old trains with steps to get in and out and were upset, when they saw it was one like that. As we'll be taking these more often now, I hope they'll soon get over it, and in fact, they already did better on the train home tonight.

After we got off the train, we bought some chestnuts and started walking in the direction of the school. It was pretty close to the train station, which was very convenient for us. When we got to the school, it was really dark and the doors were locked. Another parent then came and rang the doorbell and was let inside. We followed, parked the stroller as there were lots of stairs, and walked on to go find the gym. There were no other people, but there was a sign on the wall. It said that the gym was in the basement, so I looked there, but didn't see anything, so I went back upstairs. Then some people came from downstairs and told us that the gym was in fact in the basement, so we all went downstairs. Another class  must have just ended, as kids were coming out of the locker rooms. We took our coats off and hung them up, took our shoes off, and went inside. The gym was completely dark. Then the teacher - a man, which was unusual - arrived and told us we'd turn the light on shortly, and somebody did a moment later. Our kids started running around the room and laughing and then started climbing up the laddres.

There was a good number of kids and someone had brought their child that was younger than 3 as well. I had not registered Sammy, as he cannot do most of the stuff, but he got to enjoy what he could do. The teacher introduced himself and already knew most of the kids there. Then it was time for the first activity. The kids had hoops and were horses, with the parents "riding" them, and then we did a competition who could run to the other end of the gym and back and be first. I had Tammy and Randy Emmy, with Sammy on his arm. We did three rounds like that, and the kids loved it. Then the teacher had them lie on the floor, and now the parents had to pull them there and back. Sammy was able to hold on as well and also got pulled, much to his delight. The the teacher asked them to make the hoops roll, while he was setting up equipment.

Tammy and Emmy immediately started climbing up the equipment before the teacher had even told them what to do. I guess it was obvious. They crawled up the bench (later walked) and stepped all the way to the top. Then they were supposed to jump off onto the big mat. Emmy is scared of heights and never got over it, but he walked across the bench holding on to my end, and got into a standing position on top holding on to my hand and then jumped off without any help. Tammy knew no fear and went up and jumped off over and over. The teacher then added a trampoline, and all three enjoyed it.

Sammy had been asking for balls, and then the teacher got some out for them to play with. Randy sat down with Sammy and played with him for a while, while I played with Emmy a little bit. I overheard the teacher saying to someone else that the kids could try to hit their parents with the balls, so I passed that on to Emmy who thought it was pure delight to run after me and try to hit me with his ball, which he achieved to do. Tammy soon joined in the fun. And I threw a ball into the basketball hoop.

Then Tammy's eyes lit up, when she saw on the rings on ropes. Both she and Emmy first held on to them, hang down and swung that way, then another kid sat in them, so I showed Tammy how to do that, and she also swung. She loved it, but there were other kids as well. She got off but was soon back on, and Emmy got on as well. Sammy loves swings as well and was so very excited, when I put his legs through the rings. However, I swung him while holding on to him as I did not want him to slip out and fall, even with the mat on the ground. He had so much fun that he was crying hard, when I got him out as other kids were waiting for their turn. I put him in one more time, and again he was crying hard, when I got him out again.

It was time for the final activity, a race. The kids ran to the other end of the room and back several times. Emmy is about the slowest kid, together with another girl, while Tammy is just a little bit faster, but thankfully they didn't care. They'd had so much fun in this class, and so had I, watching them. Even Randy agreed that it hard worked out very well.

We put their coats and shoes back on and walked back upstairs, put Sammy into the stroller and left to walk back to the train station. Sammy already had his dinner box, as he was hungry. Once we reached the train platform, I gave the other two their box as well and let them watch Peppa Pig while eating. Thankfully we did not have to wait long, as there was a 7:23 pm train - an old one with stairs, which bothered the kids. They continued eating and watching on the train. Once we got off, both Tammy and Emmy wanted to be on my shoulders, and so I carried one the first half of the way, and the other the rest of the way home, where we arrived just after 7:30 pm.

We filled the bathtub and let them play, while finishing the food in their boxes. Then we got them ready for bed. I read a few Bible stories, prayed for them, and put them to bed. It was about 8:30 pm. I sat by them for a while, then Randy took my place, and I left to start cutting up my salad. Once again it was Emmy who just would not fall asleep. At 9:30 he was still awake and objecting, when I tried to close our bedroom door so that the light would not bother them, when I eat. After I was done, I started working on the pictures, and somehow it's nearly 2:30 now. High time to clean up the kitchen and go to bed.