6 years 4 months 19 days

Day 2332. Yesterday the first alarm went off at 6:15 am as usual, and Randy got up to make breakfast. Sammy is always up first, and when Tammy is in her own bed, she then gets up right away as well. She gets dressed quickly and puts her shoes and coat on 15 minutes or more before it's even time to leave the house. She usually doesn't want to eat any breakfast. Emmy sleeps next to me every night, and he has a harder time getting up. He does get up before my second alarm goes off at 6:45 am which is when I have to get up. I then get their snack boxes ready that they take to school and make sure they have everything they need to take to school. After having done Tammy's hair, I lie back down in bed for an hour. At 8:05 am my third alarm goes off, and I have to get up to dress Sammy and put him into his wheelchair, ready to leave the house. That way he's ready to go when Randy returns home from taking the others to school which is between 8:10 and 8:20, usually. Sometimes, I'm too tired to get up again, and then Randy is the one to dress Sammy before taking him to school. Once Randy and Sammy are gone, I lie back down and then it depends on when I have my first student when I get up.

Yesterday I had my fourth alarm set for 8:50 am as we were expecting a new cleaning lady at 9 am. Our last one doesn't come anymore, and it's been really hard finding a new one. This was my fourth or so try to have someone new come. Because of our past experience, Randy didn't get all the cleaning supplies out, and I didn't get up when the alarm went off. And we were right. She never showed. Later I emailed her, and she wrote back that she was sick. We're trying again with her next week.  

With her not coming, I was able to get some more sleep until my alarm went off at 10:15 am. I had to get up and get ready for my 10:45 am student. I taught until 12 pm, then I warmed up some leftovers to eat. At 1 pm Randy left to pick up Tammy and Emmy, and just before 1:30 pm I left to pick up Sammy. We were back home before 2 pm, and I had to prepare for my 2:30 pm student. Randy and the kids got home just as I was starting to teach.

I taught until 3:20 pm, then I made the kids' sandwiches. At 3:45 pm I left the house with Tammy and Emmy. We took two subways, doing reading practice, then walked to the premises of their programming club. We got there early, and I left them there and walked to the McDonald's at the nearby train station. This time I was lucky to get a good seat in the quieter section of the place. I ordered, turned my computer on, and at 4:45 pm I started teaching. I taught utnil 5:40 pm, then packed up and walked back to the programming club. I then went inside to see what they had done. They had put an electric circuit together again, and this time it was something like a loudspeaker. Great job!

They packed up, and we walked back to the subway. It was cold and snowing very hard. We took two subways, finishing reading practice, and got home around 7 pm. 

I cut up their fruit right away, then sat down to prepare for my 8 pm student while they were eating. A few minutes later we went downstairs for piano practice. They both practiced well, but it had taken some time. They still went into the bathtub, but then there was no more time for anything. I quickly prayed for them, then sat down to teach until 9 pm while they were getting ready for bed.

Today I was able to go back to bed once everyone had left the house and had some valuable sleep until 11 am. Then I got up, worked, had some food, and at 11:45 Randy and I left the house to go to Sammy's school and pick him. They eat lunch at 12:30 pm, so he hadn't eaten yet. The young man there for a year to serve went to the kitchen to get Sammy's lunch in a to-go box, and we took it with us.

We continued on downtown on the subway, then took the tram for a long time. That's where Sammy could eat his food. However, we were very surprised when it was just chocolate pudding instead of a nutritious meal. The young man had only given him dessert.

After we got off the tram, we took a bus for two stops and got off at the big hospital there. It was finally time for Sammy's appointment there to find out all the details about injecting a muscle relaxer into his legs to give him more freedom of movement. We were given this appointment months ago. It was a huge hospital so I asked at the guy at the entrance where we needed to go. He had never heard of the department we needed and couldn't help us. Wow! He then suggested we go to the building for children, so we started heading that way but had to ask again to actually find it in this huge place. Once inside the building, we went to the first counter to ask where we needed to go. She didn't know. When she saw Sammy, she told us to go to the back and ask there. When we got to the back, there was no one there. We waited and waited while I tried to find a phone number and call them to find out where they were located. I couldn't even find the right phone number! Finally someone came to the counter, and she said we were in the right place and took our papers to register Sammy. Then she told us what waiting room to go to, and we went there.

It was already a bit after 1 pm when we sat down in the empty waiting room. I was getting a little nervous as I had a 3 pm student and I knew it would take an hour to get home. Sammy was nervous because he didn't know what to expect even though I told him we'd just talk and they'd look at him. Some time after 1:20 pm they finally called us in. It was a nice, young lady doctor who received us and talked to us. She first asked questions to find out more about Sammy, then told us what they do and answered any questions we had. She told us how important it was for him to get his muscles relaxed so he'd be able to walk better and not have to be operated in the future. She then looked at Sammy's legs and arms, together with another doctor, and gave us her assessment. He really needs this done. We got two more appointments - one to talk and answer any more questions, and one two weeks later for the actual procedure. I'm hoping Randy will give the green light, for Sammy's sake. 

Sammy had warmed up to the nice doctor and had started becoming quite talkative, talking to her and asking questions. Then we said our good-byes and left. It was already 2:15 pm. It took a while just to get off the hospital grounds, then we took a bus for two stops, then got a tram, then got on the subway. It was 3:22 pm before we got home, and I had told my student that we could start at 3:25 pm, so I sat down to teach right away.

What about the siblings, you asked? Well, they had a special treat as Grandma picked them up from school by car - that was a first! She then took them to our house where they had a good time together. Sammy was happy to see her too but unfortunately she had to leave pretty soon after we got home. I interrupted my lesson to say hello and good-bye.

At 3:45 pm Randy left with Tammy and Emmy to take them to Tammy's dance school. Emmy had missed his last soccer class but they both had two try-out sessions at the dance school - ballroom dancing at 4:30 pm and hip hop at 5:30 pm. As I was teaching until 4:10 pm, Randy had to take them there. Sammy was on his tablet while I was teaching, and once I was done, I quickly made sandwiches for the kids, then Sammy and I left the house together to also go to the dance school. I wanted to see what they were doing in those classes.

We took the subway and then the bus and got to the dance school at 5 pm, half an hour after the class had started. Randy came downstairs to take Sammy home, while I went upstairs to watch. However, Emmy was not participating in the class. He had just lost one of his top front teeth and was bleeding and was not happy but hurting. He said he didn't want to do the class. So we sat in the back of the classroom where they had two comfy chairs and watched Tammy dance. It wasn't easy for her but she was concentrated and did a great job. The class is from 6 years old up so she was the youngest.

At 5:20 pm the class ended, and at 5:30 pm the next class started - in the same classroom. Emmy was better but still didn't want to dance. I was surprised at the number of children showing up for the hip hop class. It looked like 40 kids or so, and again Tammy was one of the youngest, if not the youngest. She was up front so she could see the teacher well. Again, it was hard as she's not used to these kind of movements but she was concentrated and did her best. 

After Emmy had watched them for a while, I finally got him to go up and join the other kids. He was in the very back, trying to do the movements and did a decent job. I knew he'd like the style of music.  After a few minutes he was done again and sat down with me to watch.

At 6:20 pm the class was over. Tammy's ballet class is at the same time so I asked her what she preferred - ballet or hip hop, and the clear answer was ballet. So starting next week, she'll be doing ballroom dancing and then ballet every Tuesday. As for Emmy, it's not for him and he'll stick with breakdance.

We got dressed and left to go home; they were eating their sandwiches as we walked to the bus stop. We then got on the bus where we did reading practice, then got on the subway. It was 7 pm by the time we were home. Usually Randy takes Tammy to her dance class so that her fruit can be ready for her to eat when she gets home. Today I had to go to the kitchen to start cutting up their fruit, then I gave it to them and sat down at the computer to prepare my 8 pm student. After a few minutes, we went downstairs for piano practice. Back upstairs, it was nearly 8 pm so I prayed for them and sat down at the computer to teach, while they were getting ready for bed. After I was done teaching at 9 pm, I got myself something to eat and later I went back to work, going to bed at my usual 1:30 am time.