4 years 1 month

Day 1491. This past night might have been the worst yet. Not only did Emmy come and go what seemed like 10 times, but I couldn't sleep, even when the kids were sleeping. At 7:15 am the alarm went off.

Sammy was up first, while we were getting ready for breakfast and for the day. Then Tammy was awake; Emmy woke up last. It was pretty early for them, since returning from America. At 8:15 am, Sammy and I left the house to take the subway for two stops to his new kindergarten. Thank God it's so close. After getting off, we just had a short walk, and I took his picture by the sign for the kindergarten. Then we went inside.

I went straight to his classroom with him. A few kids were already there, as you can bring them between 8 and 9 am, and it was 8:30 am. Sammy was taking it all in, all the new people and things to see. I took him out of the chair and went to a round swing that was hanging in the room. He enjoyed it, but not for long. Then the lady in charge showed him the play area, and I put him on the floor to play. He was quiet and reserved, but played a little with what he was giving. Once he got a ball, we played ball together.

The lady in charge came to me and gave me a bunch of papers and explanations. It was a little much at once, and I must have felt a little bit like Sammy, a little overwhelmed by the amount of input. The physiotherapist introduced herself to me, a little later the lady over both locations of this special kindergarten arrived. She's really nice and has made a difference for us, and that was also the case today.

At 9 am they started with a half-hour program. All the kids, and there was a good number today, sat down by the tables, each one with a chair that best fit their needs and abilities. They gave Sammy a chair with three sides and something between his legs to keep him from sliding. He stayed in there for a long time, but then the nice lady, the director, moved him to a different chair that was more suitable. It had only a back, but the table had half circles cut out for the legs, which also kept him from sliding off, plus he had a bar to hold on to on the table, to keep himself from sliding off.

They did their program, singing some songs, handing out different things to pass around, and all their pictures went up on a board. Sammy listened and participated and did just great. When it was over at 9:30, he said that he was done as well. The director then said that it was okay for him to go home, as it was only the first day. She talked to me about a few more things, then the lady in charge of the group talked to me. I put Sammy back into his wheelchair, and we said good-bye and until tomorrow.

Sammy said that he had enjoyed the program and the children. He was also happy to get on the subway with Mommy again. He did not like it so much, when I said that Daddy would go with him there on Wednesday. We'll see.

The other kids were excited to see us back home before 10 am. Sammy joined them downstairs, while I put some stuff up for the cleaning lady, who was already there, to do her job. I was not feeling well at all. At 11:15 I went to the kitchen to start cooking, and at noon we sat down to eat. It's about how much I could handle. I went straight to bed after having eaten. But of course, no chance for some rest with the kids around, especially Emmy. He simply does not get it, even though I've explained to him many times that he needs to leave Mommy alone, when she's sick or sleeping. I had fallen asleep, and he woke me up. I then did my job of putting them to bed at 1:30 pm.

They soon fell asleep, but I could not fall back asleep unfortunately, even though I was so tired. And I was hurting bad - my ears, my throat, the cough, just swallowing hurt. I thought about going to the doctor, but it was quite a long walk from the subway I didn't feel up to. Plus I was teaching from 4 to 6 pm. By 3 pm I decided I just had to go to the doctor considering how bad I was doing. I told my student that I wasn't going to be home at 4 pm but didn't know whether I could make the 5 pm session.

I got on the subway and rode it to the end, then started my long walk. I could barely open my eyes I was so tired. After registering in the doctor's office, I sat down in the waiting room that was full of people. I soon canceled my 5 pm lesson as well.

After a long wait, I was called inside. The doctor looked inside my mouth at my throat, measured my temperature and told me I had a fever, and gave me 4 medications, telling me to come back in a week. I started my walk back to the subway, stopping at a pharmacy on the way to pick up my prescriptions. I couldn't wait to get home and get some rest.

At 5:30 I walked through the door, and Emmy saw me right away. He asked to come upstairs, and I said no. However, before I could lie down, Randy came upstairs with them a few minutes later. No rest again. They needed me to do this, and to do that, while all I wanted was to lie down. I was not up to doing any work. At 6:30 pm I gave them some soup, as they were hungry, and at 7 pm I made them their bread with salami and fruit that they ate at the table. They then continued eating in the bathtub, but not everything. I had not had any voice all afternoon, so I told them Daddy would have to read the bedtime story tonight, and he did. By 8:30 they were all in bed. I made myself some soup to eat, then lay down and actually fell asleep. By 11 pm I woke back up and took care of the kitchen, took the remaining medications, and wrote my report. Now it's after midnight and time to go to bed. It's another (early) day at kindergarten tomorrow.