7 years 2 months 14 days

Day 2631. This past week was their 8th week of school this year. They always do a dictation on Friday, and it was the first time they both had several mistakes. They had to write numbers, and it seems like they hadn't really learned how to write those. 

Thursday

Thursday was a crazy day for me. I had to cancel my 10 am student as I had to go to the dentist. After three weeks of pain since an appointment there, it was time to do something about it, and they gave me a time slot at 9:30 am. That meant leaving the house at 9 am, so little sleep for me. I didn't have to wait long, when I got there. My dentist looked at the tooth and checked it and said that the cause of the pain might be a pressure point as the tooth was too high in one place. She filed some off and sent me home. That way I was home by 10:20 am. I lay down in bed to close my eyes for a little bit.

At 11 am it was time to leave the house again as I had another doctor's appointment at 11:30 am. At my GP's office, you don't get to go in right away but usually have to wait about an hour which I did. I had my blood results that we were going to discuss, and they were good. I even got one of my medications lowered, and I got an antiobiotic to treat an issue. I was in and out pretty quickly. On my way home I stopped at the pharmacy, and by 1 pm I was back home. 

I was extremely hungry and quickly warmed up some food to eat. Then I left the house to pick up Sammy at 1:30 pm. Once back home, I got ready to teach at 2:30 pm and started before Randy got home with the other kids a few minutes later. 

I was done at 3:30 pm and went to the kitchen to make their sandwiches. Randy and Sammy left before 4:30 to go to Sammy's wheelchair class. I went downstairs with the kids to do piano practice with them. Tammy, Emmy and I also left the house, befor 5:30 pm. We rode two subways, then walked to the premises of their programming club. Their class takes 90 minutes. They learned some aspects of programming a game. As for me, I left them there and walked to the nearby McDonald's where I started teaching a student on my computer at 6:15 pm. Then I grabbed the food for the kids and walked back to the programming club. After having looked at what they had done, we left together. The kids were happy to have the McDonald's food and ate it all. 

By 8 pm we were back home. It was bed time, so they got ready for bed right away. I prayed for them, they went to bed, and I went to the kitchen to make my salad. Then I sat down to eat and take a break before going back to work.

Friday

Friday was a very busy day of teaching for me. I got up at 9:30 am to teach from 10 to noon. Then I warmed up some food to eat. Randy picked up Sammy at 12:30 pm. He then left again at 1:45 pm to pick up Tammy and Emmy at 2:30 pm; they have choir every other week which means being done later. By 3:15 pm they were back home.

For me it was time to start teaching at 3:30 pm, and I taught for four hours straight. While I was teaching, Randy took Emmy to his break dance class, and by 6:40 pm they were back home. I had made their sandwiches before starting to teach and got some fruit on their plates during my short breaks in between students and finished after I was done at 7:20 pm. Then I took the kids downstairs for piano practice. Thankfully my 8 pm student had canceled so we had time to do it properly, and there was time for the bathtub. After that I prayed for them, and they went to bed while I got myself something to eat. After having taken a break, I went back to work.

Saturday 

Saturday was a really crazy day, especially for Emmy. He left with his Dad at 7 am, as he had tennis from 8 to 9 am. After that, he was supposed to take the train downtown and meet up with at the subway so he could take Sammy with them, while Tammy and I went to choir. I left the house with Tammy and Sammy just before 9:30 am as we usually meet up at 9:50. We were there at 9:45 am, but not Randy and no Emmy. I finally called and found out that Randy and Emmy had gone straight to his soccer practice instead of to our meeting point. Randy had forgotten. They then turned around and arrived at 10:15, so we had waited for them for half an hour. The three boys then got on the subway to head to soccer practice where Emmy arrived a few minutes late. Then Randy went home with Sammy where they had half an hour before leaving again to pick up Emmy.

Tammy and I got back on the subway, then we took the bus and were only a minute late for choir at 10:30 am. There was a new kid there as well as some of the kids that are not there very much. They did their physical warm-up, then their voice warm-up, then practiced their two songs as well as learning how to write music. They all had fun. In the end, the teacher played a few classical pieces on the piano while all the kids danced. At 11:30 am choir was over and we took two subways home.

It was noon, and I started making a quick lunch. Randy and the boys were supposed to arrive around 12:20 pm but arrived at least ten minutes later. Emmy was very upset and crying. Randy had gone to McDonald's, thinking we were meeting there, until Emmy was able to convince him that they needed to go home. Thankfully they did not arrive any later than they did.  Everyone sat down to teach.

Tammy, Emmy and I then left the house first, just before 1 pm, while Randy and Sammy left at 1 pm as Sammy had his music class at 1:30 pm. He is the only student and loves his teacher; he always has lots of fun. They were supposed to come home after, as always, which is usually 3 pm.

Tammy, Emmy and I took the train and then a subway, then we were at the meeting point for the Royal Rangers. We were a little early but soon the leader arrived, and I left them in his care and went back home. I had to wait for the train for quite some time, so it was 2:15 pm by the time I was home. At 2:30 pm I started teaching, and I had two students in a row, going until 4:30 pm. And Randy called me several times during this time. When he first called, I was surprised to find out he and Sammy had gone straight to the Royal Rangers meeting place to pick the others up instead of coming home and Randy leaving again by himself to get them. They were there half an hour early, at 3 pm, and the pick-up was at 3:30 pm, so Randy and Sammy went to the McDonald's there. But the kids are often late coming from Royal Rangers and only showed up at 4 pm. So the four of them came home around 4:45 pm, after I was done teaching.

I was in the kitchen at that time, making their sandwiches and cutting up their fruit. They then sat down to eat dinner. They only had one hour at home before leaving again. I was very tired, and I felt so bad for Emmy who looked very tired as well. What a long day for a 7-year-old! But I'm glad they got that one hour of eating and relaxing with their tablets.

Just before 6 pm I left the house with Tammy and Emmy. We rode two subways and reached Saint Peter's church just before 6:30 pm, the time we were supposed to be there. It was the second time that day for Tammy and myself to be there as choir practice takes place there. People were already arriving and taking their seats in the room before the theater, but the kids and I went to the kitchen for the artists. It's really a cold storage room with a fridge and a table. The lady in charge then arrived, then the other two kids that were playing in the opera arrived as well. 

We had been told in advance that a TV-crew was filming the performance, and the journalists also wanted to interview the four children who were in the play. The kids lined up, then the lady in charge of the opera house did the interview with them. The two other girls (8 and 9) did really well, talking quite a bit and not looking nervous, but Tammy and Emmy were nervous and only answered with yes and no. When Emmy gave such a short answer, the lady asked him if he was a professional then, and he answered with yes.

After the interview, we all returned to the kitchen to wait for when they'd be called to the stage. The four kids were having fun with each other until we all went into the theater just after 7:30 pm.

The kids went to the side and the front with the boss as they were going to enter the stage there, while I went to the back to watch and film. The theater was full this time around; it was their second and last time playing those parts. And they did great again, just like last time. They handed out papers to everyone in the audience, and then they danced on stage. After a few minutes, they were done and exited the stage. We quietly returned to the kitchen, got our coats and left to go home.

It was 8 pm - bed time - as we walked to the subway right by Saint Stephen's cathedral, the symbol of Vienna. There was a Christmas market in full swing and a lit up Christmas tree. It was beautiful. Emmy wanted to go look at the stands, while Tammy didn't. So we walked by the first few stands, then turned around. It was extremely crowded, full of tourists like I've never seen a Christmas market before. It was not enjoyable, and we made our way to the subway, riding two subways home where we arrived by 8:30 pm. Sammy was still up but it was bedtime for them all. It took some time before they were finally in bed and asleep. As for me, I went to the kitchen to get myself something to eat and sat down to take a break before going back to work.

Sunday

Finally a day without going anywhere! We really needed that after yesterday. Of course the kids woke me up early, so I actually gave up and got up earlier than planned. Then I went to the kitchen to make lunch. We ate after 12:30 pm, then everyone played or relaxed. I try not to work on Sundays but today I even had three students in a row, from 2:30 pm to 6 pm. It felt like a normal weekday to me because of that. I had a half-hour break in between that I used to make the kids' sandwiches and cut up their fruit. That way they were able to eat while I was teaching. Randy and the kids never left the house though they had talked about riding their bikes. Randy started hurting yesterday and didn't feel like doing that with three kids.

Once I was done at 7 pm, I went to the kitchen to start cutting up my salad. Then we went downstairs for piano practice. They are very competitive, and I had challenged them to continue in the finger exercise book as fas as they wanted, and the one going further would get a piece of chocolate. And so Tammy practiced for half an hour tonight, then it was Emmy's turn. He also practiced for half an hour, and he went further than his sister, so won the chocolate. If it wasn't for the chocolate, they wouldn't have practiced that much.

We went upstairs where Sammy was already in the bathtub, and the others joined him. After the bathtub, the kids still did reading practice, then Emmy told me that he had one page to do in his schoolbook. It was the first time we had heard of that! While the other two went to bed, he got his book out and did about half of his homework, then he put the book away and also went to bed. I was finally able to finish my salad and sit down to eat it and take a break before going back to work.