3 years 5 months 28 days

Day 1276. I did not set an alarm, as Emmy is a reliable alarm clock, always being the first one up and first waking his brother up, and then later his sister who doesn't wake up as easily. They then constantly come to me wanting something, whether it's my phone to watch something or for me to open a squeezie for them or something else. Somewhere around 8 am Randy got up to make his oatmeal and change their diapers. At one point he put Sammy next to me, and we had some precious mother-son moments together.

I could hear Randy not being able to get Sammy to eat his oatmeal and got up and started feeding him. He was eating just fine with me. Once he was done, I started dressing the other two kids, and then the doorbell rang already. It was 9 am and the Mobile Support lady had arrived.

We talked a little, then she went downstairs with the kids, while I turned my computer on to work. It was nearly an hour earlier than usual, and I appreciated having that extra time to get things done. The lady left at 10:30, and at 11:30 I put yesterday's soup on the stove to warm it up. Soon Randy and the kids came upstairs, and they started watching or playing. Just before noon we sat down to eat. They all ate well, and Sammy had some dessert, while the others wanted to go back to watching/playing. It was still really early. Randy got ready to go to the hardware store and soon left. At 1:15 I started putting them to bed, which took a good few minutes. I sat down by them and was glad, when they went to sleep rather quickly.

I was pretty tired and wanted to close my eyes for a few minutes, but first I sat down by my computer to work some more. Just after 2 pm I then set a timer for 10 minutes and closed my eyes. When it went off 10 minutes later I must have just fallen asleep. I turned the alarm off as quickly as possible, but it had already woken up Sammy after less than an hour of sleep. And so I had to get him out of bed and put him on the floor, then I got ready for my 2:30 class. Randy was still not back, even though he'd known I had a student at 2:30. Just as I was about to go downstairs, he returned, thank God. I then soon heard Emmy up and a few minutes later also Tammy.

I taught until 3:20, then came back upstairs. We needed to get ready to leave right away, and did so a few minutes later. I was surprised at how warm it was today. I even took their hats and scarves off and opened my jacket. We took the subway and then had quite a walk ahead of us. The sun was out too and blinding us at times. We reached the French Institute one minute before the class was to start at 4 pm and went straight up the stairs and to our room, where I took their coats and shoes off, and we sat down for the class. Today there were only two other kids, and one had to leave early. It sure helped to not have as many kids, as I feel like the teacher actually accomplished stuff today.

She started with the greeting song, where she asks each child their name (in  French), and then if they're doing well. Sammy even said oui. Emmy answered correctly, while Tammy waited for her to ask  whether her name was Tammy, and then she nodded. After the song, she had a child get the box with the kids' pictures out, and they got to put their pictures on the board. Next she did the song/dance we had done last week and added another verse. It was about teaching them the body parts and moving those body parts. They were standing for it, and they actually participated.

Then she decided to continue with teaching the colors and got the papers and cards out. She gave them an object and card of a specific color, and they had to put it on the paper with that color. Emmy was actively participating, but Tammy also put a card there, and so did Sammy. Tammy was already asking to do some drawing, and she then handed out cut out facemasks they could draw on. She had watercolors and gave them Q-tips to draw with. I've never seen that before, but it worked. All three did a great job.

After we were done with that activity, she got a book out to read to them, and everyone listened. Then the class was over. The kids put away all the animals, stacked the pillows they had been sitting on and took their pictures off the board to put them back into the box. Then we put their shoes and coats back on and left.

However, Tammy ran all the way down the stairs and to the exit of the building while we were still upstairs, so I was not happy. Both had not behaved that well at times, so I told them there'd be no videos. They were crying as we walked to the subway right there, rode it for one stop and then got on our subway. By 5:30 pm we were back home, and Randy went downstairs with the kids where they played nearly until 6:30. Just after 6 pm  I started making their dinner, so that they could eat pretty much right away once they came upstairs. They then continued eating in the bathtub, and after we got them out we got them ready for bed. We then sat down and I read a New and an Old Testament story to them, followed by praying for them and putting them to bed. It was about 8 pm.

I sat down by them for a while, then Randy took my place, while I went to the kitchen to make my food. After having eaten, I started working on today's pictures as well as a few other things. It was after midnight, when I got distracted while writing my report, searching for materials to teach small children French, as I believe I can do a better job teaching them than that teacher at the Institute. Our new whiteboard has just been delivered that I'll use to teach the kids, so maybe I'll start teaching them soon.

Now it's nearly 2 am and time to clean up the kitchen and go to bed.