Day 2619. Last week was week 7 of school and the last week before their one-week fall holiday. On Friday they always do a dictation at school, and Emmy had everything correct while Tammy made one mistake. Sammy stayed home from school as they celebrated Halloween that day.
As for me, I taught from 10 to noon, then I cooked lunch for the three of us. Just after 1 pm Randy left to go pick up Tammy and Emmy from school, and by 2:45 pm they were back home. I taught for one hour from 2:30 to 3:30 pm, then I left the house with Tammy and Emmy.
Emmy's breakdance class had been canceled, which I saw as an opportunity to go check out a ballroom dance club. The other day Emmy and Tammy had come to me to show me a choreography they had created dancing together, and I was very impressed. They said they were intereted in dancing together so I was looking around for dance clubs. I myself had some experience in that area thirty years ago, and my Mom also did ballroom dancing for competitions for years. I found one club with a great reputation that was easy to get to and had practice for children on Friday afternoon. With breakdance canceled, it was the opportunity to check it out. Thankfully my student was able to do our lesson early, so we could leave the house in time.
We rode the subway and then walked to the dance club. When we got there, there was a mother waiting outside that we got to talk to when the door was locked and on one opened up. Eventually someone did open the door for us to go in.
The dancing coach came to greet us, saying there were no other kids there yet. That way he had time to talk to us. We sat down and talked a little bit. Then the kids went into the dance hall with the teacher. He said he'd leave the curtain open - an exception so that I could see what they were doing. I was thankful for that.
He stood in the middle of the room showing the basic steps for three dances - Cha Cha, Jive and Rumba. Emmy stood behind him, trying to copy and learn the steps, while all the other kids were girls standing opposite the teacher. Unfortunately I couldn't see Tammy as she was behind a wall for most of the time, so I watched Emmy. He tried hard but it was not that easy for him. I really felt for him. At the end, they did a few games that they had fun with. After one hour, the training was over. Even though Tammy knew one of the girls as she's also in her dance sport and ballet classes at the other dance school, neither Tammy nor Emmy had enjoyed the lesson. They thought that the teacher was too strict and not enough fun so that was the end of that. I had spent much of the hour watching from behind the glass doors talking to the mother of another girl and had heard quite a few things from her. She also confirmed that this teacher was by far not as relational with kids than Tammy's dance teacher at the other school.
We left at 5 pm and went home where I made their sandwiches and cut up their fruit, then we did piano and reading practice. At 6:30 I sat down at my desk to teach for an hour, then it was bathtub time. I prayed for them, then I started teaching at 8 pm. Tammy and Emmy lay down in our bed right next to me to sleep so I had to take them to their beds at 9 pm, when I was done teaching. Then I got myself something to eat and took a break before going back to work.
Saturday
What a day! Randy got up at 6 am to make breakfast and left the house with Emmy at 7 am to take him to his tennis school where he had a lesson from 8 to 9 am. My alarm went off at 9 am. I got up, had breakfast, got Sammy ready and left the house with Tammy and Emmy at 9:30 am. We rode the subway downtown to where we were meeting up with Randy and Emmy at 9:50 am. Randy then took the boys and rode the subway to the end to take Emmy to his soccer practice at 10:30 am. Tammy and I went the opposite direction to go all the way downtown. After we got off the subway, we got on the bus and rode it to Saint Peter's church. Tammy likes the little fountain after we get off the bus, and as we still had lots of time, she put her hands into the cold water for a while before we continued on our way.
Her choir practice started at 10:30 am. Normally it's in the basement of the church but this time it was in the church tower as they had an event in the basement. And so we had to walk up lots of stairs to get to the room in the top of the tower. It was a cute little room with a keyboard. Soon everyone had arrived, and the teacher started choir practice. Physical warmup, then voice warmup, the first song, learning to read and write music, the second song, a game with the two songs again. At 11:30 it was over, and we left.
Before we got on the subway, we went to the McDonald's there to cash their birthday coupons that were about to expire. After buying food for Randy and the three kids, we got on the subway and rode it to Danube island where we got off. Then we walked for some time to get to the place where the Royal Rangers were meeting. They were already waiting for us; they were about to start a treasure hunt. It was 12:15. It was going to be another 15 minutes or so before Randy was to arrive with the boys. He had taken Emmy to soccer practice and then gone home with Sammy for half an hour before picking up Emmy again at noon and riding the subway to where we were. I left the food with Tammy and said good-bye, walking back to the subway. A few minutes later Randy arrived with the boys. Sammy had no desire to go to Royal Rangers, so I agreed to take him home with me while Randy was going to take Emmy to the Rangers and stay with them for the remaining 90 minutes of the program. The two of them left, eager to get their food as well, while Sammy and I had to take a big detour, crossing a bridge, to go to the other end of the subway because the one elevator was broken. Thank God there was a working one on the other end.
By 1 pm Sammy and I were home. I made some soup for him and me to eat, then I went to work on the computer. At 2:45 pm Randy and the kids returned home. At 3:15 I started teaching, and I had two students, teaching until 5:15 pm. Then I went to the kitchen to make dinner for the kids and gave it to them to eat.
At 6 pm it was time for me to leave the house with Tammy and Emmy as we had special plans for the night. We rode the subway downtown and then the bus to Saint Peter's church for the second time that day. Tammy was nervous about the upcoming performance, their first time doing real theater in front of a real audience. We got to the church at 6:30 pm and went to the kitchen in the back where found the boss and the other girl with her Mom. She went through what they had to do again. The fourth girl who hadn't come to the rehearsal either wasn't there yet. She only showed up at 7 pm which was when the performance started.
We all stayed in the kitchen where the kids could play and have fun without the noise bothering anyone. Their turn to come on stage was going to be around 7:30 pm. There were some snacks there that all the kids started eating.
Just before 7:30 the boss came to lead them into the performance room. I was surprised to see that the room was not completely full of people. Silently the lady led the four kids to the side and the front where they would enter the stage. That's where they waited for their turn. We parents went to the back to watch and film. Then it was their turn. First they had to look through the door, then their Moms from the play came to get them. Then they got to hand out papers to the people in the audience and sat down on the floor. One of the kids then had to go steal a bottle, and all the kids admired the beautiful bottle. At last, they had to go back on stage and just dance and dance. Then all the actors left the stage. The kids had all done a great job.
They silently walked to the back where we parents were, and Tammy and Emmy watched for a few more minutes before we left the room. They could have stayed, but it was 8 pm, and opera like that is rather boring for little kids. And so all the kids left with their parents. We took two subways to go home where we arrived at 8:30 pm. Sammy was still up, so we told him good-night, then the other kids also went to bed. I went to the kitchen to finish making my salad, sat down to eat and take a break, then worked a little more.
Sunday
On Sunday we finally had a day without anything going on for the first time in a long time but the day went by really fast.
Monday
Monday was the first day of this fall holiday week. With the kids home, it's harder to get to sleep in the morning as they're always loud. At 9:15 am I got up, then I taught from 10 until noon. Randy took the kids to the playground. In the afternoon, they rode their bikes right outside our apartment, and Sammy actually got on his scooter with a seat that he had received years ago, and for the first time he was able to keep his balance and ride it. As for me, I taught at 4:30 and 8 pm for an hour each.
Tuesday
Tuesday was a long day. I taught from 10 to noon, then I cooked, and we ate. I had another student from 2 to 3 pm, then Sammy, Tammy and I left the house together. We rode the subway, then took the bus and got to Tammy's dancing school quite early for Sammy's 3:45 pm dance lesson. Sammy then had lots of fun during his 45 minute lesson. He's learning a choreography, and in December he'll be on stage with his teacher dancing. Tammy and I were watching him.
At 4:30 pm he was done, and Tammy's class started, with the same teacher. Sammy and I left to take the bus back to where the subway is but we had to wait quite a long time. It was nearly 5 pm by the time we got there; Randy and Emmy had already been waiting for half an hour. Randy then got on the bus to go to the dance school to be with Tammy but he got there late so he couldn't help Tammy put her ballet outfit on. Somebody else helped her.
The boys and I got on the subway and rode it to the end to take Emmy to his soccer practice at 5:30 pm. He got there perfectly on time. Now that we changed our clocks on Sunday, it gets dark pretty early, so Emmy was playing with the floodlights on on the roof.
Sammy and I rode the subway home. Sammy had been waiting for days for his new Mickey Mouse as his old one was broken and couldn't sing any more, and my phone said the package was just one stop away, so he was in a rush to get home. However, quite some time had passed by the time the delivery guy finally rang our doorbell. Sammy opened the door and was happy to receive two packages. He then opened his Mickey Mouse and started playing with it right away. As for me, I cut up fruit for the kids, then I sat down to get ready for my student, and I taught from 6:15 until 7:05 pm. Then I went to the kitchen to finish cutting up fruit before sitting down at the computer to prepare for my 8 pm student. Randy and the kids returned home around 7:30 pm. There was no time for piano or reading practice. After they had eaten their fruit, they got ready for bed, and it was only ten minutes before I was done teaching that they fell asleep in the bed right next to me. After I was done at 9 pm, I took them to their own beds and sat down to eat. After a break, I went back to work.
