Day 2202. This was the last day of their first week of school, and it feels like it's been a very long week, even though not all of their classes have started yet, plus I haven't had all of my students come back yet. But the early mornings are tough on all of us, including the kids who get very tired late afternoon.
This morning was harder for me as I was the one taking Tammy and Emmy to school because of their church service this morning. The alarm went off at 6:15 am so Randy could make their breakfast, then I had another alarm for myself at 6:45 am. Tammy was up and about and telling us to get up. Emmy was the only kid in our bed last night, and it was the first morning that he was not jumping up to eat and go to school. He stayed in bed with me, and I had to encourage him to get up and go eat.
The three of us left the house just after 7 am to take the 7:12 bus. Randy later took Sammy to his school; he only needs to be there at 8:30, and it's only 2 subway stops to go there. We took to two buses and got to their school surprisingly early. It wasn't even 7:40 am yet, and the school opens at 7:45 am. It was then that we were able to go in. We went to their locker room where they put their house shoes on, then we went upstairs to their classroom. All the parents had had to fill out a form and bring money for various things today, so I handed those to the teacher, then I left to go downstairs to their exercise hall. The teacher was gonna take her whole class downstairs when it was time.
I went into the exercise hall where they had set up three rows of chairs for the parents. I sat down in the first row and got talking to two other Moms sitting next to me. Then the students started arriving, class by class. There is only one class for each grade. All the kids had their pencil case with them. The fourth-graders sat on benches behind the other kids who all sat on the ground. That made it hard to see Tammy and Emmy.
Then the school director started the service with a prayer, followed by all the school kids getting up and singing a song with actions. One of the teachers - the only male - was playing the guitar. The kids did a good number of songs during the service, including one in English. The school director preached a simple message of God always being with them and also asked the kids some questions. I don't exactly remember what the question was, something like who knows everything. In any case, the answer was God, and Tammy raised her hands to answer and got chosen as there were few hands up. She said "Jesus", and the director acknowledged that she was right. Another time she asked the kids about their first day of school. Two of three had answered, then the director picked Tammy again who told everyone that she was nervous the first day of school. The director said, "And now?" She answered, "It's all good." As for Emmy, he never raised his hands to answer a question.
The director had told a nice story and given a nice message. In the end, she asked one of the board members to pray a prayer of blessing over all the students. Then the service was over.
The parents were leaving, and Tammy came over to me to hug me and say good-bye, then Emmy came as well to do the same. Then I left. I walked up the stairs and by the windows to the exercise hall. I looked down, and Emmy was waving up to me, so I waved back and took a picture. Then I left for good.
It was exactly 9 am. I looked at my phone to find out what the fastest way home was. I opted to take the tram and then the bus which got me home by 9:40 am. That gave me 20 minutes to get ready for my 10 am student. I taught until 11 am, then I warmed up yesterday's leftovers for Randy and myself. Randy then left just after noon to go pick up Tammy and Emmy who are done by 12:50 pm on Fridays. He picked them up and took them to their tennis class that starts at 2 pm and goes until 3 pm.
As for me, I left the house just after 12:30 pm to go pick up Sammy from school. He was just visiting his old kindergarten class when I got there. Most kids had already gone home. He said good-by to everyone, including the cleaning lady, then we left.
We got home after 1 pm and had about an hour there. I was so very tired but only had a few minutes to close my eyes. I made their dinner sandwiches and cut up apples for them to take with us. Just after 2 pm Sammy and I left the house and walked to the train station. We took the 2:20 pm train and stayed on it for a while, then we had to take a tram/train. Thankfully it came quickly. Once we got off, we still had quite a bit of walking to do. I followed the directions of my phone. We had to walk up a hill, then we got to the address that we were given. But where to now? Another parent arrived with her daughter, and they didn't know where to go either. We knew them as the girl had been in Sammy's kindergarten class. The wheelchair race track was brandnew, just built, so everybody had to figure out where it was. I got on my phone to ask where it was and got a call. Someone was coming to where we were to show us the way.
A few minutes later the man arrived and showed us the way. When we got to the wheelchair parcours, there were a lot of people already there, including the lady who's leading the handicapped sports association who we know. Sammy was happy to see her again. Unfortunately the girls from the wheelchair class he'd been looking forward to seeing hadn't come. Sammy wanted to do the parcours, so I started pushing him and went fast over the little hills and obstacles which made him giggle and laugh every time. In the end, he had done it 5 times with me pushing him, and I needed a break. I encouraged him to move his wheelchair himself, but he still has a hard time steering, making it go in the right direction.
As for Randy and the other two, they took the train after tennis and were on the way to join us. However, we were on the other end of town. Tammy was crying the whole time they were on the train. She was tired and really just wanted to go home. I knew Randy would need help to find the race track, especially given how hard it is for him to find any place he hasn't been to before, so I started walking in the direction of the subway stop where they were gonna get off. Some people said they'd watch Sammy for me. One lady pushed Sammy around the track one, then a big guy in a wheelchair took Sammy under his wings the rest of the time. In the end, I was gone for nearly an hour.
I was calling Randy and trying to help him find me. It was a 15-minute-walk from the subway, and I got closer and closer. Once they got off, Randy didn't know which way to go. He asked some person on the street and handed her the phone so I could tell her where he needed to go. I kept walking in the direction of the subway and finally saw the. Emmy started running in my direction, when he saw me, but they were still a long way off. Tammy was still crying and continued to cry for much of the time until reaching the race track. She didn't want to walk any more, but it was a long walk. I was glad when we finally arrived, and Sammy was very happy to see us all.
Randy had brought the kids' new scooters so they could run the race track with them, and suddenly Tammy was having fun again as they were trying out the track. They were going round it a few time, then tried the dirt track. They all had some food, then they were ready to go home. It was 5 pm, and the dark clouds were increasing in number, making us think the rain was gonna start sooner than expected. So we said our good-byes and started walking. Again, Tammy was crying the whole time as she didn't want to walk any more. We chose to take the route home that had us walk for 21 minutes, but then we'd only have one train to take us straight home. We had to walk uphill through the park, then walk on the sidewalks until we got to the train station. It was 5:30 pm, but our train was only at 5:49 pm. We stood in front of the display of departing trains until our train appeared so we knew what platform to go to.
It was great to finally sit down on the train, and I finally got to talk with Tammy and Emmy about their day. A young man sat by us listening to us, and then started talking, encouraging the kids to study hard and enjoy this season in their lives. Once we got off at our train station, we still had to walk home which made Tammy cry again. I myself did not feel well at all as I needed food bad. I was glad when we were finally back in our apartment and grabbed something to eat right away. Once I felt better, I cut up fruit for them and gave it to them. Then I had a few minutes before it was bathtub time. I decided to give them (and myself) a break from piano practice. They went into the bathtub one after another, then they still wanted a story, so I read one to them. I prayed for them all, and they went to bed. It was just before 8 pm, and at 8 pm I started teaching like I do every Friday night. Thank God I felt better after having eaten something so that I was up for it. Once I was done at 9 pm, I got some more to eat, then I started working on the pictures. Now it's just after midnight and time to take care of the dishes and then go to bed.
