5 years 9 months 16 days

Day 2115. Yesterday was not a typical Monday because it was a holiday. However, the cleaning lady was finally coming, which I was very thankful for. Usually the kids are in kindergarten when she comes, but this time they were home. They were downstairs, while she started upstairs at 9 am, then they came upstairs, when she went downstairs to clean. I was sleeping in and got up late and went to the kitchen to make lunch.

The cleaning lady was done early and left, and soon thereafter we all sat down at the table to eat.

After lunch, I sat down at the computer to work. We're leaving in two weeks, and I have to scan all the school books I'm going to need while in the US. Randy and the kids went downstairs, and they also went outside where Emmy was practicing riding his bike. Sammy also sat on his new bicycle but Daddy has to put some more work into it before it's ready. I also did piano practice with them, and Tammy wanted to play me the song she had written - just lines on a piece of paper. She improvised the playing and the singing.

At 4 pm I started teaching and by 6 pm I was done. I was glad I had been able to move my evening student to the afternoon. That way I had plenty of time for stories before the kids went to bed. 

This morning my alarm woke me up at 9:30 am as I had a 10 am student. I then had a half-hour break, allowing me to get something to eat, then I taught from 11:30 to 12:30 pm. A few minutes later Randy and Sammy got home. Randy left again to go pick up Tammy and Emmy from kindergarten. Sammy was watching videos on the projector, then playing with the door. I was very tired but still working instead of closing my eyes for a few minutes. Then I went to the kitchen to make their sandwiches, and that's when they already returned. It was about 2:20 pm. And it was time to get everything ready for us to leave.

First I picked out clothes for the kids to wear, together with them, as the teacher had told us what they should put on. At 2:50 pm I left the house with Tammy and Emmy, and we had our scooters with us. We took the subway and then the tram, then rode the scooters to the dance studio where we arrived a few minutes early. We had to wait for the teacher who arrived just as the class was supposed to start.

There weren't as many kids as usual today. They played games, did somersaults foreward and backward, and a headstand with legs spread apart. Emmy really impressed me as he was able to get his legs up and stay up for a few seconds before coming back down. Tammy had a harder time.

Just before 4:15 pm we left the dance studio and rode our scooters to the nearby subway. We rode the subway downtown, then took another subway. After getting off, we rode our scooters to the dance studio that I was able to find easily thanks to good directions. It was right near where we go to church on Saturdays. And we were pretty early. There was a playground there, spread out, with lots of stuff, and as we still had some time, I let the kids play. Tammy was balancing on a beam, while Emmy went to the boy playing basketball. He asked him whether he could also throw a ball, and he let him try a few times. But the ball was too heavy and the hoop too high. 

A few minutes before the class was to start, we walked to the dance studio and went inside. There were already two other kids there, as well as the teacher. I gave her the kids' names and got ready to settle in to watch. Then the teacher told me that parents could only watch the last 15 minutes of the 75 minute-class. I tried to convince her to let me stay, as it was a try-out class and their first time there, but she wouldn't budge. All 8 kids were there for the first time to try out "aerial silk" and see whether they liked it. So I had no choice but to leave.

As I'd only had some eggs at 11 am all day, I decided to go to the nearby McDonald's where I sat down to eat some food, read the paper and be on my phone. After I was done, I returned to the dance studio. As it was not 6 pm yet, I stayed outside, right by the open window where I could look in. And Tammy and Emmy happened to be right on the other side of the window which was perfect. There were only four aerial silks for the 8 kids so two kids always shared one, and Tammy and Emmy shared one. Another mother stood next to me, so I asked her whether he kid was in there as well, and that was the case. So we talked a little until it was time to go inside and watch from close-up.

I made a lot of videos while inside. The kids alternated, showing me what they had learned, and they were doing a great job. In the end, the teacher had them all swing to the middle from their corners and try to take each other's hands, but they were not able to do it. Then they did a "rocket" - a battle cry that ended with "good-bye". The kids then put their shoes back on, which took some time. They both told me they would like to take this class - something Daddy is not going to want to hear as they're already doing enough classes. 

We rode our scooters back to the subway and took it to the train station. They were hungry and ate what I had brought for them. We then took the 6:51 pm train and got home just after 7 pm. Sammy was already impatient to see us all, given how late it already was, and he was happy to see  us. We went downstairs right away for an abbreviated piano practice, then back upstairs where I cut up some fruit for them. At 7:30 pm they went into the bathtub, where they ate some more. I was watching the time as I had a 8:10 pm student. And so they got out, I prayed for them, and then Randy took care of them, while I sat down at my computer to teach. However, my student wasn't there. I wrote her and waited. The kids then came to me and I started reading stories to them - until my student finally did show up. She had forgotten about the lesson as we usually do it on a different day of the week. I taught until 9 pm, then I had another student until 10 pm which is unusual. I was really glad to be done then, though I still had to wrap everything up. Then I went to the kitchen to get myself something to eat and watch a nice show to relax while eating. After it was over, I went back to work. Now it's 2 am and time to do the dishes before going to bed.