6 years 5 months 18 days

Day 2362. Yesterday I lay back down after all the kids were off to school and got back up at 9:30 to get ready for my 10 am student. I taught until 11 am, then got ready for my next student at 11:30 that I taught until 12:30 pm. Then we had some leftovers. At 1 pm Randy left to pick up Sammy and take him to his weekly horse riding therapy at 2 pm, while I did not leave at 1 pm to go pick up Tammy and Emmy. Why? Because I had a message from their teacher the day before, asking whether they could stay an additional hour on Wednesdays from now on, for an extra hour with their teacher. It was about the only day of the week that was possible, so I said yes.

And so I left the house at 2 pm and probably set a new record in how fast I got to their school. Both buses had come right away. I even had time to make a quick stop at the grocery store there. At 2:40 pm their teacher took them to the school building's exit where I was waiting for them. They told me that they had only been 4 students in that last class with their teacher, and Tammy had won a competition whose hand-writing was the best, Emmy being last. They had really enjoyed that hour with their teacher that they really love.

We got on the first bus and when we got off, our second bus was sitting there, as usual. We walked to it to get on, when the bus suddenly drove off. We couldn't believe it! It's a bus that doesn't come very often. We waved and waved but it continued and turned right into the next street. But then it stopped there, so we ran to it, and he let us get on. Thank God! I was relieved as I had to get home quickly to teach. 

The kids did reading practice on the bus, then we walked home after getting off. I had enough time to turn my computer on and prepare for my 3:30 pm student. Randy and Sammy had also just returned from horse riding. 

After I was done teaching at 4:20 pm, I made the kids' sandwiches and quickly did piano practice with them. By the time we were done, it was time for them to get ready to leave the house as they had to catch the 5:04 pm train. Sammy and I stayed home. Randy took them to their half-hour swim class, and again the train was really late so they had to wait for a long time to get home, with Emmy throwing quite a fit because of it. They got home just after 7 pm. Thankfully my 6:30 pm student had canceled so it was okay.

When they got home, their food was on the table for them to eat. Sammy had already eaten and was in the bathtub where he finished his food. Back out, it was time to get ready for bed. Tammy and Emmy made sure that they had done all their chores, then I prayed for them all and sat down at the computer to teach, while they went to bed. After I was done at 9 pm, I got myself something to eat and took a break, then I went back to work. It was 1:30 am when I went to bed, but it took me over an hour to fall asleep during which time Tammy and Emmy came to lie down next to me in my bed.

I've been very tired these past few days, not having a morning where I could just sleep in. This morning I lay back down at 7 am as usual, which is when Randy leaves with Tammy and Emmy to take them to school, and got back up just after 8 am to get ready to leave the house. I had just started dressing Sammy, when Randy returned and finished dressing him. Just before 8:30 am the three of us left the house together. 

We walked to the subway and rode it for two stops, then walked to Sammy's school together. Randy had Sammy's old wheelchair with him as they were going to take off the headrest and put it on his new wheelchair. At the entrance of the school I said good-bye to Sammy and turned around to go back to the subway. I rode it downtown, then walked a bit to get to my dentist's office. While I was walking there, they called me to ask where I was. It was only 9:02 am, so just two minutes after my appointment! I told them I was nearly there. Even though they had called me, they made me wait in the waiting room for a few minutes before calling me in.

After half an hour I was done, paid and left to go home where I arrived around 10 am. I was extremely tired but had planned to make a casserole which I can only do when I'm up early enough to make it so it's done by noon. So I went to work, then Randy returned from grocery shopping, providing me with the missing ingredient for the dish.

After it was in the oven, I wanted to lie down and get a much-needed nap but my phone distracted me so I never got to sleep. I hadn't eaten breakfast so I got so hungry that I went to the kitchen at 11:45 am, and Randy and I both ate since the casserole was done. At 1 pm Randy left to pick up Tammy and Emmy, and I left 20 minutes later to get Sammy. I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. It was really bad. When I got to Sammy's school, it was Sammy himself who opened the door for me. One of his teachers had him on her lap on a chair with wheels and had fun with him, twirling around with him and pretending he was flying while singing. Sammy was laughing and enjoying himself.

By 2 pm Sammy and I were back home. My 2:20 pm student had canceled which I wasn't sad about. I couldn't go on any more, I needed to lie down which I did after giving Sammy his tablet, drink bottle and a snack. Randy returned with the kids at 2:30 pm, and while they came to see me, they left me alone once they saw me sleep.

My alarm woke me at 3:30 pm. I made their sandwiches and got ready for us to leave the house which we did at 3:50 pm. Tammy, Emmy and I walked to the train station to take the 4:04 pm train. Randy and Sammy left not long after us to go to Sammy's wheelchair class. I did reading practice with them on the train, then on the tram we took to get to their exercise class. Emmy wasn't allowed to use his tablet today, and I told him he needed to have a day without an anger fit before he could use it again so he was trying hard not to have one. 

We got off the train and walked to the school where they have their exercise class. We got there really early since the later train we usually take is not running right now, for another 10 days. They got changed, then played Hide & Seek until their class started at 4:50 pm. It was the 2nd of five sessions of athletics. I stayed in the locker room, reading the paper at first, then closing my eyes as I was still really tired. When the class was over, they got changed again, and we walked to the tram stop. We had to pick up bread before 6 pm but the wait time for the tram was rather long so it was going to be tight. We got to the bakery 2 minutes before closing. The man working there threw some bread and buns into a bag for us. We were all disappointed as we did not get any decent ones this time, not even a sandwich. Still, Tammy tried a few of the ones in the bag after having eaten her sandwich. 

When we got to the train station, we still had a little time but it wasn't cold today so we waited on the platform. We were going to take the 6:18 pm train. In the past, we'd always just about make the 6:01 pm train but that one is also not running for another 10 days. 

It wasn't even 6:45 pm by the time we were home. There had been a package delivery while we were gone, so we went to the neighbor's to get the boxes. The kids wanted to show me how strong they were and carried all the boxes to our door three doors down. Then they wanted to open them right away. We were doing that when Randy and Sammy came home as well.

It was time for me to cut up their fruit. I gave it to them to eat, then sat down to prepare for my 8 pm student. Once I was done and the kids had had time to eat, I called them to go downstairs with me to do piano practice. Tammy went first, and she did really well playing her 8 pieces for the competition on Sunday. She's ready! Then it was Emmy's turn, and he also did really well. We went back upstairs, where it was high time for the bathtub. Time was short. Back out, we ticked off all their chores, I prayed for them, then I sat down to teach while they were getting ready to go to bed.

At 9 pm I was done teaching but I still had some wrapping up to do. Then I got myself something to eat and took a break before going back to work. Now it's 1:30 am, and I still have to do the dishes before going to bed.