7 years 30 days

Day 2586. This is week 3 of school for the kids. All of us except Randy came home sick from our weekend in Burgenland, so all the kids stayed home from school on Monday and Tuesday. I myself also felt pretty miserable but taught all my lessons anyway. When you're self-employed, you don't have the luxury to be sick. I had two lessons on Sunday night, two lessons on Monday and three lessons on Tuesday. I did cancel my two doctor's appointments, one on each day. And the kids missed their classes - gymnastics on Monday, dance classes on Tuesday, but Emmy did go to soccer practice on Tuesday.

Wednesday

On Wednesday all the kids were back in school even though they were still coughing. I had a student from 11 to 12 pm. I picked up Sammy at 1:30 pm, while Randy picked up the other kids. They got home at 2:45 pm. At 3:30 pm I left the house with Tammy and Emmy so we could do our last tennis class of the semester. It was from 4 to 5 pm. I had fun in my class, with only one other student, and Emmy had fun too but not Tammy. She was in the back instead of playing and came over to our court, helping us pick up the balls instead of doing that on her court with the boys there. She was complaining (once again) that it was all boys in her group, no girls, just like she only has brothers and no sisters.

After the class ended at 5 pm, we went home as their maths club was canceled because of the teacher being sick. Back home I made their sandwiches and cut up their fruit, and from 6 to 7 pm I had a student. At 8 pm it was bedtime for them.

Thursday

Today I had unexpected early lesson at 8:50 am that a student asked for late last night. That meant quite a short night and being pretty tired. I finished at 9:40 am, then prepared for my 10 am student and taught until 11 am. Thankfully I didn't have to cook as I had cooked for 2 days yesterday. At 1:30 pm I picked up Sammy. Randy and the kids got home a little earlier at 2:15 pm, and at 2:30 pm I left the house with Tammy and Emmy.

We took the subway downtown and walked to their music school. It was cold and rainy. At 3 pm their class started. We had said last week that they alternate who does the first half hour and who the second but Tammy didn't want to go first, and Emmy did. Tammy was not in a good state of mind.

Emmy did a great job during his half hour. Being one-on-one with the teacher means that I cannot help them anymore, and that the teacher knows exactly how well they can read music and know the names of the keys. Tammy wanted to use Emmy's tablet while waiting for her turn but I said no. Instead I gave her my phone to do maths to practice for school.

When it was her turn to go to the piano, she did not want to do her lesson. She sat at the piano refusing to play. Thankfully the teacher is patient. Instead of pressuring her, she showed her her sticker book and asked her which stickers she liked. That distracted her, and after a few minutes she was ready to play. She then did her lesson with the teacher.

At 4 pm we were done and left to go home where we arrived at 4:30 pm. Randy and Sammy had just left to go to Sammy's wheelchair class. I made sandwiches for the kids and cut up their fruit, then I sat down to teach from 5 to 6 pm. After that I went to the kitchen to make my own salad.

Just before 7 pm Randy and Sammy got home, and they went straight into the bathtub. That meant it was earlier than usual when they came out, and that was good as Emmy still had to do two pages in his schoolbook that he had not been able to finish at school. So I sat down with him and helped him get it done. As for Tammy, she reviewed what they have to know tomorrow for their dictation. All that took some time, so it was 8:30 before Emmy made it to bed. Then I could finally sit down and eat my salad. After that, i went back to work. Now it's after 1 am and time to go to bed.