Day 2217. Week 3 of school is over, and I haven't written all week. The main reason is that I have to go to bed earlier as the alarm goes off at 6:15 am. Still, I've had a headache from being so very tired these past two days. I now aim to go to bed at 11 pm, but it takes me a while to fall asleep, and sometimes it's later than 11 pm.
The kids still love school. Tammy and Emmy learn one letter per week, every Wednesday, and after the "i" and "o" they learned the "l" this week. They also learn complete words at the same time, like "ich" (I in German). In maths, they are now comfortable calculating up to 5. All the kids in first grade learn to play the recorder, and they started this week with "la" and trying to play a clear tone which is still hard for them.
Sammy also loves school. He has great teachers, three plus a one-year civil servant (young man) and a physiotherapist who's there two days per week. When it comes to school, they're working with him to be able to say what's more and less, what's the same, what is round and what has corners, and things like that. He's also working on life skills like eating and going to the bathroom and has time to do what he enjoys, playdoh and Tiptoi, for example.
Last Sunday Tammy and Emmy had their second maths club session at 1 pm. Randy took them there, while I picked them up 90 minutes later. They enjoyed it and said they were doing well. They didn't do anything all week but last night we got the books out to do the homework for today. Emmy is the one who loves maths while Tammy couldn't care so far. Last night it was the opposite once Tammy had figured it out. Suddenly she loved doing it and didn't want to stop, while Emmy had a concentration problem and didn't do the voluntary exercises. Tammy really impressed me last night. This method will give them a big advantage in maths in school.
As we had gone to church on Saturday, we stayed home the rest of the day after we got home at 3 pm. I really needed that.
On Monday I went to the gym after dropping Sammy off at school. My 2:30 pm lesson was canceled, as was my 4:45 pm lesson. I dropped Tammy and Emmy off at their programming class at 4:30, then walked to the nearby McDonald's where I got my computer out to do some work. After over an hour, I packed back up and walked back to pick up the kids. Ten minutes before the class ends at 6 pm, parents are allowed to go in and see what they've done. They'd done some programming again, and they presented their finished work to me.
On Tuesday I went home to sleep after dropping Sammy off as I really needed it. In the afternoon I started teaching at 2:30 pm, which is also the time Randy gets home with Tammy and Emmy. After I was done, I did piano practice with them. They practiced every day this week. At 4:45 pm Randy left with Tammy to take her to ballet class, while the boys stayed home with me. They were playing, while I was scanning school books.
I wanted to go to the gym on Wednesday but forgot to bring my gym card. Instead I got some more sleep. I picked up Sammy at 1:30 m, like I do every day, and Randy got home with the other two at 2:30 pm. At 3 pm I started teaching, and I taught until just before 6 pm. Randy took the kids to the playground as it's been sunny and hot. In the evening, I had a new student from 8 to 9 pm.
On Thursday I wanted to go to the gym, but I was simply too tired and got more sleep instead. After getting up, I went to the kitchen to cook. While I was able to get Randy's food ready, I did not have time to eat myself as I had to be at Sammy's school at 12:45 pm to meet with the teachers and discuss goals for this year and the like. It was very interesting when they told me what they've been working on and what he can and can't do. They also told me what Sammy should practice at home. The physiotherapist also came by later. At 1:30 pm we were done, and I was able to take Sammy home.
At 3 pm I started teaching. After I was done, I got myself and the kids ready to leave the house. I then left with Tammy and Emmy to catch the 4:20 pm train across the Danube. Randy and Sammy left a few minutes later to go to Sammy's wheelchair class that started at 5:15 pm. Tammy's and Emmy's class started at 4:50 pm. We took the tram after getting off the train and rode it for 5 stops. Then we had only a few more steps to the school where their class was taking place. It was our first time at that location so we still had to figure out where the gym was but we eventually found it, and the class had not started yet. The locker room was much smaller than at last year's school so it was a little cramped.
Then the door opened, and the kids and parents of the previous class came out. Parents are allowed to watch the very first class. Tammy and Emmy were among the first kids inside the gym. There were benches along the wall, and I sat down on them to watch. Their main teacher was a man this time, and he had a female assistant who the kids already knew from last year. They gave the kids basketballs, and they all started playing with them right away. Especially Emmy was excited; he had predicted they were doing basketball in the first class. They do 6 different sports over the course of the year, and in their sticker book I saw that they spend 5 weeks on each sport, basketball being first. They had to dribble pretty much the whole class, doing different games while doing so. Emmy was able to dribble pretty well, Tammy not quite as well yet, but they all did great. Their male teacher seemed pretty nice. In the end, they did their "warrior cry" that is "sports is fun", then they got their sticker books for the year and their first sticker. We returned to the locker room, then walked to the tram stop and took the tram to the train. We were lucky to make the train just after 6 pm so that we were home by 6:15 pm.
Back home, we did piano practice, then they ate their fruit. When Sammy arrived around 7 pm, they went into the bathtub. After a story and a prayer, they went to bed while I sat down to teach from 8 to 9 pm.
On Friday I had a student from 9 to 10 am and then from 11 to 12 pm. Randy left at noon to pick up Tammy and Emmy and take them to their tennis class. I picked up Sammy just after 12:30 am and took him home. I was so tired that I lay down, as much as I could with Sammy needing me frequently. At 3 pm we left the house to take the 3:20 pm train across the Danube, then we took the subway for a few stops and waited after getting off. Randy was supposed to meet us there with Tammy and Emmy, but time went by without them arriving. I called them and found out that the train had had some sort of trouble that had delayed it. Eventually they did arrive, and we all got on the subway back the way Sammy and I had come.
I got off with Tammy and Emmy first, while Randy continued with Sammy to take him home. We walked through the shopping mall to the studio that we already know from the breakdance party before summer. It was finally time for their breakdance class to start again. When we got to the studio, we were not only late but the door was locked. I called their teacher who said he was sending someone to the door to open it for us, but he didn't. Eventually someone else from the inside opened the door, and we were able to get in. We walked up the stairs and found the studio the breakdance class was taking place in. Tammy and Emmy immediately joined in, while I found an empty chair along the wall where the parents were watching. The group was quite large, and Tammy and Emmy were among the youngest, as this class is ages 6 through 9. But it was still a beginner's class. They did their best to keep up but weren't always able to do what the teacher was doing which was okay, as they were not the only ones. They had fun which is the most important.
At 5 pm it was over, and we took the subway and train back home. I had enough time to do piano practice with them and give them their fruit to eat, then I had a student from 6 to 7 pm. Then it was bathtub time, tiem for story, prayer and bedtime, then I taught from 8 to 9 pm.
This morning I was glad that no alarm woke me up at 6:15 am. However, it wasn't much later that the kids got up. My alarm rang at 9:30 am, and I got up and got ready to leave the house, which we did just before 10 am. Tammy, Emmy and I rode the subway downtown, then we walked to their music school for the second class of the semester. This time the girl from Thursday night was not there, just the regulars from last year. After the greeting song, the teacher asked everyone what time they had gotten up this morning, then it was time to work, starting with finger warmups. Next came the sheets from last week that they had practiced all week. Then she gave them little whiteboards and magnets with music lines on them, and they had to put down the notes that she had played on the piano. We have not reviewed writing the notes all summer, so they're little out of practice, but still did well.
Then they went up front to do the song they've been practicing this week. It was time to add the actions to the song, which they did. Then the class was already over; no story time for the second time in a row. She told the kids that they had to earn it but had not done so today. Then she told the parents that this semester it is actually going to be the kids that do the story time. That's going to be interesting.
They got their stickers and stamps for having practiced, and the class was over. When we left the building, there were Randy and Sammy waiting for us. Together we walked to the tram stop and took the tram for two stops, then walked to McDonald's where we had lunch. From there, we continued on the tram for one more stop and got to where famous "Kasperl" - a Viennese puppet - celebrated its 75th birthday. I already went there when I was a kid. Every Austrian child loves Kasperl, including our own. We went inside the building where they were handing out "Schwedenbomben" at the entrance, another Austrian speciality, with chocolate and cream. There were lots of people everywhere. There was a long line where someone was making animals out of balloons. We continued on and spun a wheel of luck as there was a very short line there. Emmy and Sammy won candy, while Tammy won nothing. She was upset to be the only one not to have won anything, but her brothers shared their candy with her.
There was a man in a bee costume that Tammy and Emmy interacted with, while Sammy was still scared of it. Later Emmy spun the wheel one more time and hit the jackpot, winning a small bee that looked just like that big one.
We took the elevators upstairs to where all the action was. There were lots of classrooms, and in many of them they had set up little puppet theaters for performances. There was also face painting (the line was too long) and tables for drawing. They had actually made special coloring books for the occasion that Tammy was excited about and took home where she colored it.
There were performances pretty much every half hour so we headed into one room that was already pretty full for one of them. There were some practical lessons included in that performance, plus a man was part of it, so it was a little difference. Two thirds into the show I suggested to the kids we go downstairs to the big theater for the big 2 pm show we had been told about. It was not on the program but was added because there were so many more people than they had expected. Emmy wanted to finish the show where we were at first, so I left with the other two kids while Randy stayed with Emmy to join us later.
We took the elevator to the basement where we were told there was a hallway leading to the big theater. However, there were steps. Some people were so kind to help me get the wheelchair up the steps. At the end of the hallway there were steps down, which was a whole lot easier, then somebody from their staff helped me. We had reached the theater and were told the wheelchair had to stay outside. I parked it and got Sammy out and carried him to seats in the middle of the theater. We also reserved seats for Randy and Emmy. And they arrived in time for the performance.
This was classical "Kasperl", and the story had to do with the celebration so it was a little different and not as exciting but it was alright. After it was over, we went back to the third floor. I wanted to leave them there and go home as I had a 3 pm student, but Randy did not want to stay there by himself with all the kids. He was also tired and wanted to go home. However, Emmy still wanted to see another performance. I didn't want to take that away from him. In the end, Randy agreed to stay there with the boys for one more performance before going home, while I took Tammy home with me. And so Tammy and I took the tram and then the subway and got home a good bit before I had to teach at 3 pm. The only problem was that I was extremely tired and could barely keep my eyes open. I was really glad when my 5 pm student canceled, so that I only had two hours to teach, both with the same student. It was hard keeping my eyes open while teaching today. And I was so very glad when I was done! However, it was time to go to the kitchen and make dinner for the kids. I then ended up cutting my salad after their food was done, so I never got any rest. They went into the bathtub a little earlier than usual, which then gave us the time for them to do their homework for the maths club. Tammy was having lots of fun doing it. Once they were in bed, I got myself something to eat and a short break.
