Day 1363. Once again I got up this morning to make an alternative breakfast for the kids. I had sweet bread today, so I cut three slices and put butter and jam on top. Tammy didn't want any, so Emmy ate hers and his. Sammy had a few bites but then returned to Randy's oatmeal. I guess Emmy is the only one who cares for the new breakfast.
After breakfast I dressed them for piano class, and at 10 am we left the house. They'd said it was a really warm day today, and they were right. We didn't need any jackets, and the sun was out as well. We took the subway, then walked the rest of the way to the music school. After we had taken their shoes off, we went into the classroom.
The teacher started with the greeting song. As there were only two other kids in class at that point, it was the first time she sang the greeting song just for Sammy. Usually she includes him with the moms & dads, and sometimes not even that. After the greeting song, they went to the front, and she did two action songs with them. They were sitting on the ground in front of the board. Tammy was the one singing the loudest.
Then the teacher got three sound bars out playing low, middle and high sounds. She had a sequence she wanted the kids to play, including a pause, and one kid after another played it. Neither Tammy nor Emmy kept the pause but played a sound instead.
The kids returned to their seats and were given the finger puppets. The teacher played a song, where they have to move it from finger to finger, learning what number each finger was. Then they got to choose a little animal to make a tapping sound and once again had to use the specific fingers one after another to tap with. Then she had them play the piano, telling them whether to play low, middle or high sounds. She also had them play sequences, and I had to help them a little in terms of encouragement to do what they'd been asked.
Then they returned to the front and were given a drum each to play, and they greatly enjoyed doing so. Back at their seats, she handed out playdooh, and they had to make notes with it. I helped them a little. They were greatly enjoying this task. And then it was already time for the final story. All the kids sat in front of the board, where the teacher had set up a felt board to tell her story. Then she did the good-bye song, and the kids got stickers for their sticker books. The class was over, and we left the room to put their shoes back on.
I took them to the bathroom, not making last week's mistake again, and we left to walk back to the subway. But today we did not ride it home but got off after 3 stops. With no swim class tomorrow, today was the day for our McDonald's visit. We hadn't been to that McDonald's for a while, but were reminded again how much better that location is. We all enjoyed our food and especially the new toys that had finally come out.
After having eaten, we left the place and walked back into the beautiful sunshine. Looking at the clock, I asked whether they wanted to go to the playground for a few minutes. They had been asking me about going to a playground the past few days. They were excited, and so we walked to the playground right next to McDonald's.
The kids ran straight to the wobbly walkway in the air and started playing on it. Then Tammy went to the round swing and had me push her as high as possible. She was giggling, having so much fun. Sammy then joined her, but didn't want to go as high. So I took him to the baby swing that he enjoyed greatly. There he wanted me to push him as high as possible. Tammy and Emmy went to the slide that was in the middle of a big sand pit.
After a couple of minutes there, it was time to make our way home. Sammy was crying hard, when I got him out of the swing, and as he scratches and bites, you really have to know how to carry him to not be hurt. We put him back into the wheelchair and walked back to the subway. By 1:15 we were back home, just at the right time for nap time.
I got them ready for bed and put them to bed. Soon the boys were asleep but not Tammy. By 1:45 I left her before she was asleep. After a few minutes of whining Randy sat down by her and then she fell asleep. At 2 pm I also lay down for a nap, setting my timer to 40 minutes, as I had to start teaching at 2:50 pm. At about 2:30 Emmy walked into the room, waking me up, and lay down next to me. He was going back to sleep, but the alarm at 2:40 woke him up. I had no choice but to get up even though I would have much rather continued sleeping. Emmy stayed in my bed for a while, even after I had started teaching, then he left to go be with Daddy, who took all three downstairs after they had all woken up.
After my 3 pm student, I had another student from 4 to 5 pm. The delivery of all the drinks for the party arrived, while I was teaching. When I was done teaching, I reminded Randy that he needed to go pick up the food for the party tomorrow at the nearby supermarket. I had placed the order online, but you could not have it delivered. And so Randy took his little cart just after 5 pm and started walking to that supermarket. Just after 5:30 pm he returned from there with the food.
When Randy left, the kids came upstairs. Sammy was listening to kids' songs, while Tammy and Emmy sat down to watch or play. At 6:15 I started making their dinner and taking it to them at the table one by one. They then continued eating in the bathtub, while having fun. We then got them out one after another and ready for bed. I read some Bible stories to them, prayed for them and flew them into bed. It was about 8 pm at that point, so earlier than usual. And so all three kids were rather awake and talking a lot. Tammy wanted new tattoos on her hands, but I said no, to wait until after the party, which made her cry. Then she wanted apple juice, but refused to say please. Her brothers tried to help her, telling her to say "please", but she wouldn't.
Randy then took my place, so I could get some food, and the drama with Tammy continued. It took a long time before she finally whispered "please" while I was holding her in my arms. It took them all a while to fall asleep.
After having eaten, I went back to work. Now it's nearly 1 am and time to clean up the kitchen and then go to bed. Tomorrow there is no swimming - thank God - but we have to prepare the room for the party in the afternoon.
