Day 1514. It was a long day yesterday. I took Sammy to kindergarten in the morning, and we stayed until 11:30, so 3 hours. I never once left the room. Sammy constantly wanted to be with me, even while I was in the room, and a few times he got away and crawled to me, as they were short-staffed yesterday.
Once home I started cooking right away, and we then ate closer to 12:30 than the usual 12 pm. In the afternoon, I was teaching from 3 to 7 pm, which is the longest consecutive teaching period since returning from our US trip, but it actually went pretty well, as I enjoy teaching. After feeding the kids and putting them to bed, I taught a fifth hour from 9:30 to 10:30 pm.
This morning I also started the day with a lesson, teaching from 9 to 10 am. Then I did school with the kids. While Tammy loves it, Emmy does not want to do it, so it doesn't bode well for homeschooling. They've been learning to recognize and write the first letter of their name, and to recognize and write the numbers 0, 1 and 2. After we were done, Tammy did some educational games on her tablet, while Emmy had to wait for half an hour until he was allowed to use his tablet again - a consequence of his behavior.
It was 11 am before my part was done, though I kept helping Tammy with her games. At 11:30 I went to the kitchen to get lunch ready, and a few minutes later Randy and Sammy returned from kindergarten. We sat down to eat before it was even noon. They all ate well, then they continued watching stuff on their tablets or playing, like Sammy.
At 1:30 pm I put them to bed, and I did it the same way I had done it yesterday, when all three went to sleep relatively easily. I put Sammy straight to bed and did not stay to engage or distract him. Instead I climbed up the bunkbed and lay down next to Tammy, who also wants me with her, and that made Emmy also sleep on the top, as he could also be near me this way. Soon they were all three asleep. Today I had to talk Sammy a little bit into it by telling he'd go to the supermarket with me if he slept.
Once they were all asleep, I left and lay down in my own bed and got a little bit of sleep. My alarm woke me at 2:45, fifteen minutes after I had looked at the time, and I got up and opened the curtains and turned the ocean waves off. The boys were up right away, but not so Tammy. We started dressing them and getting them ready to leave just after 3 pm, which we did.
It was the first time Randy and Sammy were coming as well on a Wednesday afternoon; the first three times I had taken the two kids there by myself. Sammy was in bad shape, crying the whole time and not telling us why. He was really cranky. And when we didn't take the subway, he cried even more. We took the 3:20 pm train, then bought some chestnuts and started walking to the school. It was the first time they had coats and long pants on going to exercise class, so we had to take the pants and coats off and put their shoes on. The teachers already knew their names, and they went inside for class. The three of us left.
We had planned to go to a certain grocery store that had a special sale, as there was one closeby. Sammy enjoys going to the grocery store and helped me carry stuff, or rather carry what he was gonna eat. We had seen a playground on our way there, so we went there after the store. It was small, but there was a round swing that Sammy enjoyed, and then he went down the slide quite a few times. 10 minutes before the end of the PE class we left to walk back to the school.
When they came out of the gym, I gave them their cards for their weekly stickers, then they came out for good, and we dressed them again for the cold. We all walked fast to make the 5:01 pm train, and we even made the 4:57 pm train. By 5:15 pm we were home, and today I did not have a lesson to teach, which is rare. Randy and the kids went downstairs, while I sat down at the computer to get some work done, and I enjoyed the quiet and made good progress. Randy and the kids already came back upstairs less than an hour later, and they started watching videos on their tablets again, while Sammy was looking for something to do that he enjoyed. He loves hammering at the toy workbench, so that's what he did.
At 6:45 pm I went to the kitchen to get their dinner ready, and Sammy came with me. We always have lots of fun together in the kitchen. I took two plates to the dining room table for Tammy and Emmy, while I fed Sammy right there in the kitchen with me. Then they all went into the bathtub, where they continued eating. However, Tammy and Emmy were also busy diving. Their new diving goggles had arrived yesterday, and so it was their second time having them in the bathtub with them and enjoying using them. They are eager to take them to the swimming pool with them soon.
We got them out and ready for bed, then I read a few Bible stories to them and prayed for them before putting them to bed. Randy then sat with them, while I made myself something to eat. I sat down to eat, then went back to work. Now it's nearly midnight, and I hope to go to bed soon.
