6 years 8 months 9 days

Day 2443. This is the kids' 31st week at school! This morning they had to get up early again, and they had a hard time getting up. Emmy came to sleep with me in the middle of the night while Tammy stayed in her own bed. I got up to fill their snack boxes and do Tammy's hair, then lay back down to sleep. I did not have a morning student - finally - and was planning on sleeping as long as possible to catch up from the past few days of too little sleep. However, I woke up at 10:30 am and did not go back to sleep. It was just as well as I had plenty of work to do. At noon I went to the kitchen to make lunch for Randy and myself, then we ate. But it was no typical Monday. 

At 1:20 pm Randy left to go pick up Sammy and bring him home. I left at the same time to take the bus to Tammy's and Emmy's school. I had such a great connection, both buses coming right away, that I got there early, probably the fastest ever. All the other kids were just leaving school at the regular 1:50 pm time but I went inside where Tammy and Emmy were already waiting for me. We went upstairs to their classroom where another kid and parent was inside, talking to their teacher. Our turn came next, at 2 pm.

This was the second time that we had a teacher-parent-child meeting with their teacher. Tammy had the first twenty minutes, and Emmy the second. The teacher had a sheet that both she and the kids had filled out to assess themselves/the student. Tammy then had to read each line, and the teacher commented on her and her own assessment. She also had some of her books there to show what she had done. Nearly everywhere they had agreed, coloring the best smiley. In the end, the teacher told me that Tammy was doing great in every way and that she was really proud of her.

Then it was Emmy's turn. Again, he read line after line, followed by his teacher's comments, and again she showed his books. Like Tammy, he had the best smiley for most everything, and the teacher said how great he was doing and how proud she was of him. He said that his favorite thing in school was everything to do with sports and that there was nothing he didn't like. 

After forty minutes we were done, and it was time to go as I had a student at 3:30 pm. I'd had to cancel my 2:30 pm student. We walked to the bus stop; it was a very hot day, like a summer day. We rode two buses and got home at 3:25 pm. I sat down to teach right away. 

Randy left with Tammy and Emmy at 3:50 to take them to their programming club. Sammy did great, happily watching his tablet until I was done teaching at 4:20 pm. It's a great relief that I can now teach for a while while being alone at home with him. Randy returned at 4:40 pm and started playing. I started teaching again at 4:45 pm and went until 5:35 pm. Randy had left again just before 5:30 pm to pick up Tammy and Emmy. 

Now it was Sammy and me. I gave him his bread, then started cutting up fruit for the kids. Just before 6:15 pm I sat Sammy by my desk for their music school online storytime. He was hoping his teacher was doing it but that was not the case. He still enjoyed the storytime while eating his fruit. When Tammy and Emmy returned home at 6:30 pm, they joined their brother at my desk, also eating their fruit, and they also enjoyed storytime as it's interactive.

At 6:45 pm it was over. It was time to go downstairs for piano practice. Back upstairs, they did their reading practice with me. Then it was bathtub time; it was already quite late. After the bathtub, Tammy called her friend from the camp but they only spoke for a minute as she had to go to bed. So did our kids. I prayed for them and sat down at the desk to teach at 8 pm. Emmy lay down in my bed, then Tammy as well, then Tammy left to go to her own bed.

At 9 pm I was done teaching and went to the kitchen to get myself something to eat. Then I carried Emmy to his own bed before sitting down to eat. After a break, I went back to work. Now it's 2:15 am, and I still have to load the dishwasher.