Day 2113. On Friday Randy left with the kids to take them to kindergarten, while I got to sleep some more. At 9:30 am my alarm went off, and I got up to get ready for my 10 am student. I taught until 11 am, then from 11:15 to 12:30 pm. Randy left just before that to go pick up Tammy and Emmy and take them to their tennis class from 2 to 3 pm.
I wrapped up my class and left to go pick up Sammy from kindergarten. He had made a Father's Day gift, just like the other two had done at their kindergarten. We said our good-byes and took the subway back home.
It was not a Friday like any other. We had an additional hour at home before we left around 3:45 pm. I had made sandwiches and took them with me, when we left. We walked to the bus stop and took two buses to go to Tammy's and Emmy's kindergarten, where we arrived just after 4:30 pm.
After their tennis class was over at 3 pm, they went back to the kindergarten the same way they had gone there. But first they spent some time at the playground there. After getting off near the kindergarten, they ran into another kid from their kindergarten, and together they also went to the playground near the kindergarten. By 4:30 pm they had to be back at the kindergarten.
When I walked in with Sammy, Randy was right there together with a good number of other parents who were waiting. The show was scheduled to start at 5 pm. All the kids were in the back getting ready. We had brought jeans shorts for them, and the kindergarten had given them all white T-shirts for their musical. Just before the show was to start, their main teacher came to get us and lead us to their classroom where they were going to do the show. The kids were lined up along the wall, and we passed them on the way in. We sat right in the first row, near the door, where there was room for the wheelchair.
Before the show started, the founder and director of the kindergarten spoke a few words. Then there was music playing as the kids walked into the room and stood in their designated spots in the room. They then did a song with action. A lot of the songs they did were Christian praise songs, and they did them in English, French and German. There was also a story line. A creator had made them all, and they had stars and dots on their T-shirts. They were getting stars for good stuff they had done and dots for bad stuff. I couldn't completely understand everything they were saying as some kids didn't speak loud enough. There were two kids with no stars or dots, which was unusual. And they had different settings - a classroom, a flower field, the creator's workshop, etc. When they were in the classroom, Tammy was actually playing the teacher, and she did an amazing job. She was the only kid who spoke loud enough to be heard well. And she had more text than anyone else. I was very impressed with her acting skills.
Emmy also played a teacher, but he had less text, and he spoke softly and was clearly nervous. He also greeted all the parents at one point.
One time the kids were showing what they could do and getting stars (or dots), and Emmy jumped through a hoop, while Tammy balanced on a shaky pillow. Sammy kept asking me when his favorite song was coming - "Praise The Lord Oh My Soul" - and it was the last song. He was so very happy when it finally came! The kids were then leaving two by two, bowing first, and one of the two teachers telling everyone their names. Emmy left early on, Tammy was in the last group, which was 3 kids instead of two.
Then the director gave the kids flowers to take to the teachers, and they took them one by one. One teacher got real flowers, and the other one hand-made ones as she was about to go on holiday. The African teacher was so touched that she actually had tears in her eyes.
Then it was over. They had some snacks and drinks in the hallway for all the kids and adults. Then everyone went outside into the courtyard where they have a playground and started playing. I had asked them whether they wanted to go home, but they wanted to play. Tammy wanted me to watch her climb up the climbing construct - no problem for her. Then she wanted me to see what all she could do climbing up the ropes and hanging off them. Sammy enjoyed the turning wheel, as Daddy made him turn, and Emmy was running around all over the play. Their main teacher talked with me briefly. She was happy that someone had understood the words of the French song. Then we were some of the first ones to leave, as it was getting late.
It was 6 pm, when we left. We took two buses and were home by 6:40 pm. I cut up some fruit for them to eat, then they went into the bathtub. After having come out, we went downstairs for piano practice. Then I prayed for them, and they went to bed, while I sat down at the computer to teach from 8:10 to 9 pm. After I was done, I got something to eat, then I went back to work.
On Saturday there was no piano class as it was Pentecost weekend. I enjoyed the opportunity to sleep in. but I already got up at 10:30 am and went to the kitchen to make lunch. Since one swim class had been canceled once, there was swim class at 1:45 to make up for it, which meant we had to leave the house at 12:15. And so we ate early and then got ready to leave the house.
We took two subways and got to the swimming pool just after 1 pm. We paid and walked around the building to the wheelchair entrance, just like we have been doing most Saturdays since September. A new guy opened the door for us. The kids wanted to give him our armbands that we got, when we paid, as usual, but he was asking for the receipt to show that we had paid. I told him we wouldn't have the wristbands if we hadn't paid. We went back and forth, but he never agreed with us and insisted on a receipt. They never give us a receipt, when we pay there. In the end he just said to have one next time. Thankfully we only have one more swim class there.
We got changed and walked inside and straight to the warm-water kids' pool. We still had half an hour until their class was to start. And so we were having fun in the water. I was playing with Sammy and Tammy, and we were role-playing again. Randy stayed out of the water as he had injured his finger the night before, but he went in to be with Sammy when I left with Tammy and Emmy to go to the big pool for their class.
And this time the teacher took the noodle away from Tammy. The pool has a length of 33 meters, and Tammy swam the whole length four times without anything helping her, and she did great. I'm very proud of her. As for Emmy, by the end of the class he was the only one who still had a noodle. I asked the teacher, and she told me that he wasn't doing his feet right. She explained to me what was wrong and that she didn't want him to keep doing it wrong. Then she joined Emmy to correct his feet. What they enjoyed most was to jump off the board into the water again.
After the class was over, we went back into the warm-water kids pool where we had fun together again. After we had played some more, we eventually decided it was time to go. We got changed again and were ready to go home. When we left the building, it was raining. We decided to all take the first entrance to the subway because of that, so we didn't have to stay in the rain, even though there was no elevator there. Randy rolled Sammy's wheelchair down the stairs to the platform. We then took two subways and were back home by 3:40 pm.
Without the piano class, I wasn't as tired as usual. We soon went downstairs to do piano practice, then I went back upstairs to work. Eventually I went to the kitchen to make their sandwiches and cut fruit for dinner. Then I started cutting up vegetables for my salad which takes time. After the bathtub, we had time to do stories as I had no students to do.
This morning I had set my alarm for 8:30 am which is very early for me. Our church had a joint service at a park at 10 am that we wanted to go to as it was our last time to be able to see everyone before traveling to the US in two weeks. However, when we got up, it was dark and raining hard, and it actually was raining all day long. There was no point goint to a service in a park in this weather. I was happy to go back to sleep, while Randy and the kids went downstairs. At 11 am I got up and went to the kitchen to make lunch. We ate, then I went back to work. As we're traveling soon, I have a lot of scanning of school books to get done so I can teach while I'm in America, and so I sat at my desk scanning all afternoon. The kids spent some time downstairs, including doing piano practice, as well as upstairs. Once they were getting hungry, I went to the kitchen to warm up leftovers, make sandwiches and cut up fruit for them. After the bathtub, all three joined me in bed for storytime, then they went to bed after I had prayed for them. And I went to the kitchen to get myself something to eat. After I was done eating, I went back to work on the computer.
