Day 1001. Last night I headed to bed at 12:30 am. Emmy soon came and left again after a few minutes of me holding him. In the early morning hours Tammy came, and then Emmy, but they didn't sleep. And they often end up fighting at one point. Emmy got up and Tammy took his place, moving from my left side to my right side, which is HIS spot, and so he was very upset. At some point the noise woke up Sammy who eventually joined us in bed. The others then soon left for good, and just before 8 am I got up as well.
The kids wanted to eat "Mama's oatmeal" again, which is with cold milk instead of hot water, like Daddy is doing. They also had some fruit, and Sammy was not eating much this morning. They then went potty, and I cleaned them up and dressed them. Emmy had not been behaving well and even scratched me at one point. I told him that he was not going shopping with me with that behavior, that I was gonna take only Tammy with me. He started crying, saying he'd be good, and he kept crying. We went downstairs, with him still crying. Randy did a Covid test that I then took with me to drop it off. I went back upstairs, and the kids followed me. Emmy was still crying. I sat him on the counter and asked if I could ask him some questions. I quietly asked him whether he had behaved well. He said yes. I asked him if he had behaved badly, and he said no. I asked his sister who said the same. I asked them to say the truth, and Tammy then did, and Emmy repeated it. Then I explained the concept of grace to him, which means receiving what you don't deserve. I told him he didn't deserve coming with me, but because of grace he'd get to come. I told him how God has grace on us giving us what we don't deserve. He was happy. I put their shoes on, put them into the stroller, and off we went. It was 9:20.
We got on the subway, rode three stops, got off and went to Bipa, where I printed out the last kid pictures from Mali. Then we went to the post office, where I mailed the last envelopes with the Malian kid pictures. The kids each received a little bag with gummy bears. Then we went to the grocery store and were disappointed that there were no cantaloupes, which was on the top of the list. We kept walking getting other things we needed that I handed to them or put them under the stroller. We got to the checkout, put everything on the conveyor belt, and then I realized that we had forgotten the eggs, which was also on top of the list. There was a young man in the line behind us who immediately offered to go get the eggs. How kind! We had put everything back into the stroller, and quickly, which was a little challenging. Emmy didn't want to hold anything, but they didn't have any choice. He did want to have the loaf of bread and soon bit into it, and then Tammy wanted to do so as well, and got hold of the other end of the bread. We went to the subway, and had just arrived upstairs, when I realized we had forgotten to drop off Randy's test. So we stayed on the elevator and went back down and went back to Bipa. Just before we reached the store, there was a bump on the ground and the eggs fell out of the stroller. Great! So did some other stuff, that I stuffed back into the compartment under the stroller. Then we continued on. I dropped the test off, and we went back to the subway. They were pretty crowded in the stroller. It was an old subway that came, and we got on. The old subways don't have automatic doors, but you have to pull a handle to open the doors. When we got to our stop, I pulled the handles but nothing was happening, so I pulled stronger, but the doors were not opening. I thought we were gonna stay on the train and continue on. Then the driver said over the loudspeakers to have a little patience, then he released the doors, and I was able to open them. I said to them that that was funny, and it's always so hilarious, when Emmy says that something was funny ("lustig"). It's as hilarious, when he says "sag einmal", as it always comes out of the blue in a funny context.
Just after 10:15 we walked back into our apartment. Randy had to open the door for us, and he had Sammy in his arms. Some packages had arrived for us, and the kids wanted to open them right away. Both packages were for Emmy, stuff that Tammy had already received, but she was crying because there was nothing for her. At least she doesn't usually cry as hard as her brother for a reason like that. We all went downstairs, where they stayed with Randy, while I finally sat down at my computer to work.
Just after 11:30 I went to the kitchen to make lunch. While at the grocery store, the kids had seen pizza, and I had bought two plain ones that I still put stuff on and put them into the oven. Just before noon they came upstairs to eat and were eager to have pizza - for their second time ever. The first time we had had one delivered, so it didn't quite live up to this first one. Emmy ate little, Tammy a little more, and Sammy the most. Then they had icecream and dessert. They went potty, then I cleaned them up and dressed them, and they all went downstairs with Randy. I cleaned up and sat down at the computer. At 1:20 they came back upstairs, and a few minutes later they were in bed. But they were all wide awake and active. They didn't make it easy, but finally they quieted down, and by 1:40 I was able to walk away and return to my computer to work.
Around 3:10 I started getting ready to leave, five minutes later Emmy stood next to me, and then the others woke up too. I put their shoes on, put them into the stroller, and at 3:30 we left the house. We got on the subway, rode it to the end, and then walked to the school, where we arrived earlier than ever before. The previous class was still in session. I took their shoes off, and we waited for it to be over, then we went inside. The teacher greeted everyone with a cat hand-puppet, then we did the starting song, running in a circle and stopping ever so often to do actions. They were participating somewhat. The kids saw the balls that were out everywhere, and went to the mirror to hang and swing off the bar. The teacher came with a box of ropes, and the parents put them around their kids' chests who then were the horses running around, then we put them around them sitting on the floor, and then they were lying on their bellies on the floor. The teacher helped out doing those things with either Tammy or Emmy. Then the kids wanted to jump on the balls, which they did, then they had to push the balls and hit on them before doing the "airplane" on the ball. I had Tammy who had a lot of fun, while the teacher did it with Emmy.
Then she got the cones out that she stacked in the middle of the room, with the kids' help, then they had to roll the balls against the cones to make them fall. She already knows Emmy, our mischievous one, who made them fall too early or by hitting them.
The thick mattress was leaning against the wall, and the kids wanted to climb up. And so I took their hands and let their backs lean against my body, and that way they were able to walk up to the top. Tammy was up there first, and I helped her down. Then Emmy went up, but he was really scared on the top, and while I was trying to get him to come back down, I realized he was slipping behind the mattress. I quickly grabbed him and got him back down. He then climbed behind it, between the mattress and the wall. Then the teacher lay it down on an incline and had them roll balls from the top into the box on the bottom. However, suddenly Tammy and Emmy were sitting in the box on the bottom.
Then the teacher set up chairs and put a big parachute over it, and they crawled through a few times. Tammy also pulled herself across the benches with a ball between her legs. And she got to see-saw with another little girl. She also got into the box with that same girl whose Mom was then pushing them around the room. Then another little boy got into the box, and it was Tammy, Emmy and another boy who pushed the box, and they mostly made it spin. The teacher had also put the benches up on the bar so that they could use it as a slide, and they went up and down a few times.
Then the end had come, and she came with the box of drums and rattles. A Dad was really fast and immediately go the biggest drum out, Tammy got the next biggest drum, and then there was only a smaller one left for Emmy, our drummer. And then another boy even tried to take it away from him. They were drumming really well during the closing song, then put it all back into the box, and we left. I put their shoes back on, and we left the building.
Emmy had been asking to go to the playground, and in the end I gave in and said that it only be for a few minutes. They went up the net to go down the slide a few times, and then I already grabbed Emmy and put him into the stroller, telling him it was time to go home. I kept reminding them that Sammy was home alone and waiting for them. Tammy was also very upset, when I put her into the stroller, but off we went to the subway. While we were waiting for the train, they were watching Peppa Pig, and they continued on the train. Just after 5:30 we were back home.
The kids went downstairs, while I started making their dinner. Tammy did not want to go downstairs and wanted to keep watching Peppa, but I said no, and so she was crying for quite some time. At 6 pm I was done, and they came upstairs to eat. We sat down at the table, and they ate some, then they got up to go into the bathtub. And then more packages arrived. However, I had been so aggravated by their behavior that I told them they were not getting the packages. Of course that caused more crying. They finally all ended up in the bathtub, where there was more crying, as they did not want to have their hair washed tonight. There was no role-playing tonight, but mostly tears, and so it wasn't long before they started coming out. We got them ready for bed, and by 7 pm they were all in bed.
I sat down by them with severe toothache. I had started getting really bad toothache earlier in the day, bringing me close to tears at time, and it was bad again while sitting there. The kids were rather awake for quite some time and being somewhat aggravating. Just before 8 pm I was finally able to walk away. I was wondering what ato eat, with hot food causing severe pain, as I'm reminded every time I take a sip of my tea. I ate and then went back to work. I've held frozen food against my cheek quite a few times today to find relief from the pain. Randy thinks I should just go to my dentist tomorrow, without an appointment.
I was working tonight, when Emmy knocked on the bedroom door. When I opened it, he was standing there and saying he had just peed. The floor was wet, and his diaper seemed to be on correctly, so I don't know how that happened, but I had to put a new pj on him. I was surprised that he let me walk away after I put him to bed, as he never does.
