Day 2578. I was really glad not to have any morning commitments on Monday morning after the weekend we'd had. I was able to sleep in, which was nice, and have a late breakfast. Randy warmed up leftovers from Sunday to eat, while I left the house at 12:15 pm to go to the gym before picking up Sammy from school at 1:30 pm. After I got home with him, I made myself something to eat, then I started teaching at 2:30 pm . Randy and the other kids returned home at 2:45 pm. After I was done teaching at 3:30 pm, we did piano practice.
This is week 2 of school, and so most of their classes now start up again. On Mondays Tammy and Emmy have their new exercise class, i.e. gymnastics and using different things in the gym like bars and the vaulting horse. I'm really glad they got in as there is already a waiting list with as many kids as there are in the class, and there are a lot of kids in that class.
We left the house just before 4:30 pm and took the subway and then the bus. Then we had to walk a little. We found the school, and we found the entrance where there were other parents with children waiting. Someone then opened the door for us, and we all went inside and followed the others. There were already other classes going on that were about to end, and a coach was running around giving instructions. We had to take our shoes off outside the locker room, then went inside. They suggested the kids go barefoot, so Emmy did while Tammy had socks that don't slide.
At 5 pm the class started. All the kids sat down in a circle in the middle of the gym. Tammy and Emmy were too shy to go there. It was hard to hear the coach from the entrance where we were standing so I walked to the circle together with Emmy and stood behind him, with him sitting in the circle with the other kids. Tammy refused to join us at first but eventually she did.
It was obvious that some kids had been part of this group for quite a long time already. When everyone got up, everbody was getting all the equipment out. Tammy and Emmy were joining in and helping right away. Then they started warming up - for half an hour. Two girls in a professional outfit led the warm-up. The three coaches (and one on maternity leave that was helping out) walked around and corrected kids.
As it was the first session of the semester, the coaches allowed the parents to stay and watch. Since my student had canceled, I decided to stay and watch the whole 90 minutes. The kids were very happy about that, and I was happy to get an idea of what they were doing in this class. They did somersaults forward and backward and, jumped on the vaulting horse and went around the bar. They were having fun which was the most important. And Emmy found a friend right away he stayed together with. As they had a LOT of children in the class, they split them into four groups, with each group doing something different. That way the groups were smaller.
At 6:30 pm the class was over. We put our shoes on and walked back to the tram stop. By 7 pm we were back home. They had already eaten their sandwiches on their way home and ate their fruit at home after I had cut it up. After the bathtub, we read a story and prayed, then they went to bed while I sat down to teach from 8 to 9 pm. Emmy lay down in my bed, so I took him back to his bed after I was done teaching.
Tuesday
On Tuesday I had to get up extra early which was hard as I had gone to bed very late. I taught from 9 to 10 am, then from 10:30 to 11:30 am, then I went to the kitchen to cook. At 1:30 pm I picked up Sammy from school, and at 2:30 pm the other kids got home with Randy. At 3:45 pm Randy left with Tammy to take her to her dance school. She had dance sport at 4:30 pm and ballet at 5:30 pm, and she had fun.
The boys and I left the house at 4 pm, and we rode the subway to the end and walked to Emmy's soccer club that is on the roof the building. His training started at 4:30 pm, and we left him there and returned back home. We had half an hour at home, then we left again at 5:30 pm to pick him up at 6 pm, after 90 minutes of training.
There were a lot of children playing soccer; four soccer fields were in use. I found Emmy, and we watched him for a few minutes as there were 5 minutes left. The top guy then talked to me and let me know that they had actually moved the training to 5:30 pm and apologized that he hadn't added me to the WhatsApp group yet which meant that I did not know about the change. Still, we were not gonna come back an hour later but took Emmy home at 6 pm. By 6:30 pm we were home, and Randy and Tammy returned home at 7 pm. They ate their fruit, then it was bathtub and story time followed by prayer time. They went to bed while I sat down to teach from 8 to 9 pm. This time both Tammy and Emmy lay down in my bed right next to my desk where I was teaching. After I was done, I took them to their beds.
Wednesday
Today I was able to sleep a little longer, thank God. Of course, that is after getting up at 6:45 to get their snack boxes filled and going back to bed after. I got up just after 10 am, had breakfast and got ready for my 11 pm student. I taught until noon. By that time Randy was gone as he had to pick Sammy up early and take him to the company that made his night braces and corset so they could make sure they fit and adjust them where necessary. Randy had to take a sandwich with him for Sammy to eat for lunch. It took all afternoon so that they only got home around 5:30 pm.
That meant it was up to me to pick up Tammy and Emmy. I wasn't hungry yet so I left just after 1 pm without having eaten lunch. As I got there early, I made a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up a few items, then I walked to their school. They used to get out at 1:50 pm, but today it was 2 pm by the time they came outside. Because of that, it was 2:45 pm before we got home. That meant we had 45 minutes before having to leave again.
I was hungry so I cooked myself a meal and ate. At 3:30 pm we left the house together, got on the subway and walked to the tennis club where our classes were to start at 4 pm. I played on one court with a coach and two other adults, while Tammy and Emmy played on the court next to mine, and they also had a third kid in their group. We were all having fun.
At 5 pm we were done and walked to the new tram stop right there. We got on the tram, rode it for a few stops and then had to walk a bit to get to the school where their next class was starting at 5:30 pm. Last year they had done a maths club at a different location on Sundays which was not great. Then they tried out this one that teaches the same methods, and it was much better so that it why they go there now. It was the first session of the semester. We walked in and up a few flights of stairs, then walked down a long hallway until reaching the classroom. Last time Randy had taken them, so it was my first time meeting the teacher. I took a picture of the kids and left. They got their backpacks, books and abacuses and told me that they had had a lot of fun.
I walked to the subway and rode it to the train that I rode home where I arrived at 6 pm. I was extremely tired and glad to be home. Randy then left at 6:30 pm to go pick them up at 7 pm, while I stayed home with Sammy. There was a problem with the subway so Randy got there late, and they only returned home at 7:45 pm. I had their plates with fruit waiting for them; they had already eaten their sandwiches before the maths club. They then went into the bathtub, but no story time as it was already 8:30 pm by the time they went to bed. I finished eating my dinner, then went back to work.
