35 months 16 days

Day 1080. The previous to last night was terrible. Normally Emmy is the only one having trouble sleeping, but that night it was Tammy and Sammy who kept crying until 4 am. That's when I got to finally fall asleep. And then the alarm went off at 7:15. Needless to say, I was very tired. But this lady from church who comes once a week for a few hours was arriving at 8 am, and Randy and Sammy had to leave at 8:15. So we had to get up. Tammy was fast asleep, and we let her sleep. She woke up while the rest of us was having breakfast.

The Christian girl and the kids went downstairs once I had cleaned them up and dressed them, and they were having fun together downstairs. Randy and Sammy left for Sammy's first meeting with the psychologist. She spent an hour with him, having him do all kinds of things. Then they came back home. Sammy got to spend a little time with the girl before she had to leave at 11 am.

This morning there was no alarm set, thank God. Emmy was the first one up, as usual, and for some reason he kept asking me to get up. I was really tired, and it wasn't quite 8 am yet. I finally got up around 8 am.

A few days ago Emmy impressed me, and I forgot to write about it that day. It was the very first time that he used the word "I" instead of "Emmy". Usually they say their names when I ask, "Who is gonna....?" But suddenly Emmy answered, "I am" instead of "Emmy is". That's a big step forward. Today I heard him say it again, which reminded me of that first time, and when Tammy saw my reaction, she copied her brother and said it too.

I think it was yesterday that the following happened. Emmy had done something he shouldn't have and knew it. I asked them who had done it, but both said it wasn't them. Finally Emmy admitted to it. I praised him for telling the truth, and suddenly Tammy said that she had done it. In this case I knew it had been Emmy.

After breakfast we went downstairs, read a Bible story, and then I got the new Paw Patrol sticker book out that they had been waiting to look at impatiently. With this book you have to first scratch the black off the stickers to see them, then you can stick them where you'd like. We did a few, then I left to go upstairs and work.

Not long before noon I went to the kitchen to make a quick meal, and then everybody was already coming upstairs. At noon we sat down to eat, and everyone ate everything on their plates which basically never happens. Then everyone had icecream. They wanted to go downstairs, and even though time was short, I agreed to.

And so we all went downstairs for less than half an hour. They wanted to continue doing the sticker book, and Tammy and Emmy also got to swing briefly, while Sammy was playing the piano. At 1 pm we went back upstairs.

They went to bed and surprised me, when they fell asleep really quickly. I then returned to my computer to work. At some point I finally closed my eyes to get some rest, but Emmy walked into the room having slept less than an hour. As Randy had gone downstairs, I had no choice but to get up and give him the milk he wanted. Then he went downstairs. I got to close my eyes again for a few minutes. Then Tammy and Sammy woke up, and I took them downstairs as well. I returned to my computer and closed my eyes a third time. However, after a few minutes it was time to get up and get ready for my 3 pm lesson. It was perfect that they were all already downstairs.

I had everything ready for the lesson and entered the Zoom meeting. Then I got a message from the (teenage boy) student, telling me that he was gonna be 10 minutes late. His next message asked whether we could do the lesson tomorrow instead of today. Just great. I continued working on my own the rest of the afternoon, and went downstairs a few times. Once I heard Sammy cry, another time I needed to print, and I went outside to take a few pictures of the kids running their vehicles, which they had a lot of fun doing. At 6 pm I went to the kitchen to make their dinner, and Randy and the kids were already coming upstairs. They were all crying. I then turned a video on for them, and they were all happy. At 6:30 we sat down to eat. After they were done at the table, they went into the bathtub, where they continued eating while having fun. I had also put a clock in the bathroom to keep track of time, as I had a 8 pm lesson. We got them all out and ready for bed, and by 7:45 they were all in bed. Perfect timing. I left Randy with them and went downstairs to get ready for my lesson. It was the student who'd been postponing our lesson from one day to another every day for the past 2.5 weeks, but there had not been a request for postponement, so I thought they had fixed their issues and we'd finally have that lesson. 15 minutes before the lesson I received the usual text message reminder of my upcoming lesson. When I wanted to enter the virtual classroom, there was no lesson in my schedule. I contacted support and found out that the mother had had the lesson canceled without telling me. Nor did the company tell me. And for that reason I did not even get the little money I get when a student doesn't show up. This was the 11th time a lesson had not taken place in 2.5 weeks, and I was furious that nobody had told me and that there was no compensation. It took me a while to calm down and get over it. I was very surprised to find that the kids were already asleep, much faster than they fall asleep, when I sit with them. And Randy was asleep as well, sitting in the chair by their beds. I got myself something to eat, ate, and then went back to work. Now it's midnight, and I hope to make it to bed soon.