6 years 2 months 28 days

Day 2280. This was week 11 of school for the kids, and Tammy and Emmy learned the German diphthong "ei", i.e. the way you pronounce that sound when those two letters are written together. They did a great job, reading it just as easily as the other letters they've learned.

Monday

On Monday I had to get up at 9:30 am to get ready for my 10 am student. I taught until 11 and, then again from 11:30 to 12:30 pm. Then I cooked a quick lunch as Randy had to leave just after 1 pm. At 1:30 pm I picked up Sammy from school. At 2 pm Grandma arrived for one of her rare visits. I had half an hour with her as I had to teach at 2:30 pm. That is also when Randy arrived with Tammy and Emmy. The kids had fun with Grandma while I was teaching. Then I made their sandwiches for the evening, and just after 3:45 pm I had to leave with Tammy and Emmy to take them to their programming class. Grandma left as well. 

We did reading practice on the subway, then we walked to where their programming class takes place. I left them there and walked to the nearby train station where I sat down at the bakery to teach at 4:45. After I was done, I packed up and walked back to pick up Tammy and Emmy. I went in before their class ended to see what they had done. They had programmed a game again. Then we left to walk to the subway to take it home. They ate their sandwiches on the way home where we arrived around 6:30 pm. After they had eaten their fruit, we did piano practice, then it was bathtub time. At 8 pm they went to bed, while I sat down to teach until 9 pm.

Tuesday 

On Tuesday I finally had a morning with no commitments, meaning I could sleep as long as I wanted to - after getting them ready for school. But it was no typical Tuesday. For the first time in a long time it was my turn to pick up Tammy and Emmy from school. And I had to be there at 1:30 pm already as it was teacher-parent-conference. I had two 15 minute slots scheduled for both kids, from 1:30 to 2 pm. It was the first time for me to talk with their teacher since school started on September 1st. 

When I walked into the school, Tammy saw me right away as all the kids had just put their coats on to go outside to play. I was told to go upstairs to the kids' classroom. There their teacher welcomed me, and we sat down to talk. We talked for 20 minutes - that's all the time we needed. She said that both kids were doing great. She said they were very well-behaved, polite, obedient, always helping others. And they were also doing great academically. Emmy was better at reading and writing correctly, while Tammy was faster. However, it's as if everything is a speed competition to Tammy, as she's always trying to get everything done as fast as possible. She needs to learn to slow down. I've also heard that from other classes she takes, like swimming, and at home, she always tries to do things faster than her brother as well.

After our conversation ended, I went back downstairs to get Tammy and Emmy, and we left to go home where we arrived around 2:30 pm. At 3 pm Randy left with Emmy to take him to soccer class. I was glad not to have a student. I made their sandwiches, and at 4 pm the three of us also left the house. 

We took the 3:05 bus that would take us directly where we were going. You have to push the button if you want to get off at the next stop as the bus doesn't stop otherwise if there are no people waiting to get on. We pushed the button as always, but the bus simply continued on going. I couldn't believe it! I shouted to the driver why he hadn't stopped, but he didn't respond. Unbelievable! We had to get off at the next stop and walk the whole bus stop back and then on to the school where Emmy had his soccer class, so we walked more than two bus stops in total. And we got there later than usual. However, Emmy hadn't come up yet which was good. I had brought the exercise class mascot with me that Emmy had for the week, and I had to take a picture of Emmy with it. I went downstairs to the gym and gave Emmy the mascot to take his picture with the other boys playing soccer in the background. Then we left.

We walked to the bus stop where we separated again. Randy and Tammy went one way to take Tammy to her ballet class, while I went the opposite way with the boys. By 5:15 pm we were back home. I made their dinner right away and gave it to them, then I sat down at the computer to get ready for my 6 pm student. I taught from 6 to 7 pm while the boys were by themselves. I told Emmy to help his brother if necessary (which had worked great last week) but Sammy was constantly crying for me which made it hard to teach. 

After I was done teaching, Randy and Tammy returned home, and a few minutes later we went downstairs for piano practice. After the bathtub, I prayed for them, and they went to bed at 8 pm while I sat down at the computer to teach. 

Wednesday

On Wednesday it was barely worth going back to sleep as I started teaching at 9:30 am. And I taught for three hours, until 12:30. And it was not a typical Wednesday either, but the first of our new Wednesdays from now on. I left the house at 1 pm to go pick up Tammy and Emmy - for the second day in a row after never having picked them up since school started. Randy picked up Sammy at 1:15 pm and then took him straight to horse therapy that started at 2 pm. He's going there again every Wednesday. They only did about half an hour and then came back home.

I picked up Tammy and Emmy at 1:50, then we went home where we arrived at 2:30 pm. My 2:30 pm student had canceled which was convenient. Then my 3:30 pm student canceled, so I moved my 8 pm student to that time. I taught until 4:30 pm, then left with Tammy and Emmy to take them to their swim class. We were to take the 4:50 pm train, then the tram and walked to the swimming pool We signed in, got a key and went to the locker room to get changed. Then we walked to the pool where the previous class was still in session. We were early again, having made the previous train, so we had plenty of time to watch and wait for their 5:30 pm class. When it was time, the kids got into the water for the greeting song, then they had to swim. Once to the other end and back, with swim noodles, then on their backs with the noodles. I had shown the kids at home how to do the movements right, and so they were doing much better. This time Emmy kept going longer but again he quit before the end of the half-hour class. He said he couldn't go on any longer. He was always among the last kids to make it to the other end. At the end of the class, they were allowed to jump into the water a few times again, which Emmy did, of course.

After the class had ended, we went back to the locker room, changed, and left the pool. They were eating their sandwiches while we were walking to the tram stop. After two stops on the train, we got off and got on the 6:31 pm train home, where we arrived about 15 minutes later. I cut up their fruit that they ate, then we went downstairs for piano practice, followed by the bathtub. After we had read some Bible stories, they went to bed.

Thursday

On Thursday I set my alarm for 9 am after having gone back to bed at 8:15 am. It was also the first day of school of the week for Sammy. He'd been a little sick so he stayed home on Monday and Tuesday, and on Wednesday the school asked for all the kids to stay home so they could train their new people. He said he didn't want to go to school on Thursday either but then he had fun there. 

At 9:15 am I left the house and rode the subway downtown, then walked to the dentist's office. I had a 9:45 am appointment and sat down in the waiting room. There were quite a lot of people there. After a few minutes I was called into one of the rooms where my young lady doctor was waiting for me. It was time to do one of the fillings that need to be done, and it took a very long time. I thought she'd never stop drilling! After an hour I was done and I had to pay quite a high 3-digit price for it. Then I left and made my way home.

By 11:15 am I was home and I only had 15 minutes to get ready for my 11:30 am student. I then taught until 12:30, then made lunch. Just before 1:30 pm I left to go pick up Sammy. Back home, I got ready for my 2:20 pm student. Sammy was able to keep himself busy for the ten minutes I was teaching before Randy and the other kids got home. My next student was at 3:15 pm, and I finished at 4:05 pm. Then I immediately left the house with Tammy and Emmy to make the 4:20 pm train.

After the train, we got on the tram, then walked to the school where their exercise class is taking place. Emmy had the mascot with him that he'd had for the past week. I had written in the diary the night before and glued two pictures of Emmy and the mascot into it. The kids put their shorts on and went inside the gym. I then sat down in the locker room to wait for their class to be over. I read the paper and was on my phone and also closed my eyes for a little bit as I was pretty tired. At 5:45 pm their class was over - it was the third of five sessions of gymnastics. We got dressed and walked to the tram, then took the 6:18 pm train home where we arrived about 15 minutes later.

Sammy usually goes to wheelchair class on Thursday, but not that day. He had an appointment with the orthopedic doctor at his therapy center that Randy took him to. He's gonna get new night braces and shoes, and a corsett so that he sits up straight - at least while in school.

I cut up the kids' fruit, they ate, then we went downstairs for piano practice, followed by the bathtub. At 8 pm they went to bed, while I sat down at the computer to teach.

Friday

After Randy had left with Sammy to take him to school, I lay back down and got a little more sleep. At 9:30 am I got up to get ready for my 10 am student. I taught until 11, then started again at 11:30, going until 12:30, then I left to go pick up Sammy. Back home, I got to eat lunch first, then I had to get everything ready to leave the house as we had a much shorter time than usual. I still had to finish wrapping the two birthday gifts. At 1:45 we already left the house together.  We took the subway, then had to wait a bit for the 2:20 pm train. The train we needed runs only every hour, and I was a little worried that it was going to be an old train as those are often old trains with high steps. However, there are always kind people who offer to help. The only problem is that Sammy's old wheelchair already has issues, like the handles slipping off which would be dangerous in a situation like this. I was very relieved when it was a new train that arrived.

After we got off, we still had quite a bit of walking - a whole bus stop.  We happened to walk right by the bus stop where there was a young lady waiting. It turned out that the next bus was only 3 minutes away so we decided to wait as it was definitely faster. The bus stopped right in front of the sports center which was perfect. We crossed the road and walked in and right into Daddy. It was 2:45 pm. Their tennis class goes from 2 to 3 pm.

I waved Emmy to come out early but he had to first pick up all the bus. Then he came, got his coat on and left together with Randy and Sammy. They had to take two buses to get to "Cyberjump" where his classmate was celebrating his birthday, and he had invited Emmanuel to come. I let him skip breakdance, but he was going to be late because of tennis. There had been a lot of drama because Tammy was upset that she wasn't invited as well.
I watched her play tennis for the last few minutes, then she came out and got dressed and we left together. We walked back to the train station. The train normally leaves at 3:23 pm. We got there early and did reading practice while waiting. Then they announced that the train was canceled due to technical issues. Just great! We're usually a few minutes late to breakdance already taking the regular train, and now the next train was 15 minutes later. We then decided to go home rather than only do half the breakdance class. I had some scanning to do for my 6 pm student anyway. We finally made it home, and a few minutes later Randy and Sammy arrived. They had dropped off Emmy at the birthday party and then continued on home. I made their dinner and gave it to them, then I prepared for my student. I taught from 6 to 7 pm. While I was teaching, Emmy came home. The birthday kid's parents had been so nice to drop him off at home. We were glad as the bus going to Cyberjump runs only every half hour.

After they had eaten, we did piano practice, and Emmy still had to do reading practice. We also did a story, as my 8 pm student had moved her lesson to Saturday. It was later than 8 pm before they made it to bed.

Saturday

The way my Saturdays start have changed. From now  on I have to get up an hour earlier because I had no choice but to move one of my students to 9 am on Saturday. I got up at 8:30, and at 9 am I started teaching. Once I finished at 9:50 am, I left the house immediately with Tammy and Emmy. We walked to the subway and rode it downtown, then walked to their music school where we still arrived 10 minutes early. I asked the kids to watch my purse while I went to the bathroom, and when I returned, they had surrounded it with the foam blocks and a chair that Emmy sat on to protect it. It was pretty funny.

Before the class even started, a lady came up to me and told me that she was the substitute teacher today. We had met her once before, about six weeks ago, when she sat in our class watching to learn the way classes are taught at that school.

She started by asking everyone's name, then she did the greeting song. Next she did a finger warmup but it was not like what we normally do. It was rather confusing for the kids. Then she opened the previous to last page the kids have done. It was a song that Emmy had wanted to play for the teacher today as he can now play it by himself. Tammy is still a little unsure and can only play it if I help her at certain points. The teacher went rather slowly, also because the other two students could hardly play the song, and definitely not with both hands. It was really boring for Tammy and Emmy, and even for me. She then went on to the last page and had them play it, then the two versions of "Jingle Bells". Then it was story time, followed by stamp and sticker time, and the class was over. I couldn't wait to get out of there. It made me appreciate their regular teacher even more. 

We got dressed and walked back to the subway that we rode home. Back home I quickly put two pizzas into the oven that we then ate. At 1 pm Randy left with Emmy and Sammy to go to Sammy's music class back at the music school. Emmy was crying because he didn't want to go but wanted to go with Tammy and me, but that was not possible. I reminded him that he'd had a birthday party without Tammy yesterday, now it was Tammy's turn. And Tammy had not cried like he was doing. Randy left with the boys, while I sat down to teach.

I started teaching at 1 pm and went without break until 2:40 pm. Then Tammy and I immediately left the house and walked to the subway. She was very excited about our girls-only trip and didn't even know where we were going. I had kept it a secret, a surprise. We took the subway, then got off and didn't have far to walk. I had never been to that theater/concert hall before. It was easy to see, and the entrance easy to find. We got there at 3 pm which is when the doors were opening for the 3:30 pm event. We walked in and were directed to where you had to deposit your jackets. Then we found our way to the very top where we were sitting. I had bought tickets to the cheapest zone, and in that zone you could sit whereever you wanted to. A good system. A lot of seats were already taken but we still got really good seats in the first row, close to the center, a little to the left. And we still had nearly half an hour to wait before the show was to start. Sammy was calling so we talked with him and Emmy who was STILL trying to find out where we were and what we were going to see. Only five minutes before the show started did I tell Tammy that it was Cinderella that we were going to see. I didn't tell her it was ballet.

Just after 3:30 pm it finally started. The show lasted one hour. The dancers all had lights on their dresses which made it extra special. Tammy said she enjoyed the show. I thought it was good but I was struggling with keeping my eyes open as I was extremely tired. After it had ended, we got our coats and walked out. Tammy said she was hungry so we stopped at the McDonald's right there and got some food to go that we ate on the way home. We also got some for the boys to eat at home.

The boys, especially Emmy, were happy to see us. I found out how their music class had gone; the two of them had been the only ones in the class. Then I made some hot noodle soup for them to eat, followed by cutting up their fruit. Then the kids were doing some homework for the maths club tomorrow. After the bathtub, we still had some time for a story. After I had prayed for all of them, they went to bed while I sat down by the computer to teach from 8 to 9 pm. I don't usually teach on Saturday night but my student had moved the lesson from Friday to Saturday.