4 years 2 months 12 days

Day 1533. Last night Tammy never came to sleep in our bed, which is rare, and Emmy only came briefly once, as far as I remember. The alarm went off at 7:15 am, as usual, and Randy got up first to make his breakfast, which is what they eat as well. I got up a little later to make Sammy's snack - bread with salami and fruit that go into his Micky Mouse box that then goes into his Micky backpack together with his drink bottle. Randy and Sammy then left just after 8:15 to go to kindergarten. As I had gone to bed late, I went back to bed and slept a little more, while the kids were playing. Once Randy returned, he went downstairs with them.

At 10 am I got up and soon went to the kitchen to cook lunch. Just after 11 am Randy and the kids came upstairs, and I started "doing school" with the kids. Emmy was a little more motivated to start with today, but he still had his moments where he refused to do what he was asked. Tammy couldn't get enough of it all, and even asked to do school in the afternoon. I had printed out some new papers, so we did several papers about the letter t, which we call Tammy's letter.

Just after noon I went to the kitchen to finish cooking lunch, and at 12:30 we sat down to eat. I thought that Randy and Sammy would be back by then, but it was 12:45 before they came and joined us at the table. Sammy gets lunch at kindergarten at 11:30, so he ate little with us. Today - the first day of week 7 - was the first day that Sammy stayed in the kindergarten for the full 4 hours that he's gonna be there every day, and all without a parent. I keep telling him how proud I am of him.

At 1:30 pm it was nap time. I sat down with Sammy who was soon asleep, then I went on top to lie down between Tammy and Emmy. Emmy has been giving me trouble at nap time every day, and today was no exception. He kept moving and moving; at one point I thought he was calming down, but he told me he didn't want to sleep. With Tammy having fallen asleep, I eventually left and left Emmy awake in his bed. I went to my own bed, where Randy was sleeping, who then sat in the chair by the kids after Emmy started talking loudly, risking to wake up his brother. Surprise, surprise, Emmy did fall asleep at some point. Unfortunately I myself never got to sleep. I was surprised, however, that Randy got Sammy to fall back asleep after I could already hear him awake, and that they all ended up sleeping really long, even Sammy. I was supposed to have a student at 3:30 pm, but he canceled, and that was about the time everyone was up. I tried to get some more work done, but nobody went downstairs. Instead we got ready to leave the house.

At 4:15 pm we left the house and took the 4:30 train, then the subway to go to their school. Sammy was once again lucky or blessed to always have a new subway train. Their class started at 5 pm, and we got there a few minutes earlier. This is a class all three kids are enrolled in; it's a music class. And because Sammy needs assistance, I'm the only parent who gets to stay in the room to help him. The kids have fun, but it's much more play time than a time of learning than it was with the previous teacher that I liked a lot more. Emmy and Tammy were a little wild, and Emmy does not always speak in an acceptable way to either the teacher or the other kids.

Two thirds into the class I left the room to ask Randy to take my place, as my back was hurting from carrying and holding Sammy upright for such a long time. I was waiting outside, together with another parent, until the class was over and they'd come back outside. Emmy and especially Tammy have made a friend in this class, a little girl, and that girl insisted that they'd wait for us to be ready so we could all leave the building together. Tammy said she was her best friend, while Emmy said that his two Paw Patrol dogs he had with him were his best friends. We soon separated after leaving the building.

We took the subway and then the train home, where we arrived just after 6:30 pm. I went straight to the kitchen to make their lunch. They ate, and then continued eating in the bathtub. Then we got them ready for bed. I read some stories to them, prayed for them, and put them to bed. Then Randy took my place, as he had finished eating, while I made myself something to eat. After having eaten, I went back to work. Now it's just after midnight and I need to go to bed, so I can be productive in the morning.