Day 1539. On Friday Sammy went to kindergarten, and the parents were invited to come at 11:30 for the latern festival. As his siblings were not allowed to come, I stayed home with them, where we did school, while Randy went there. All they did was to make a latern, sing and tell the story of the festival.
With Sammy coming home later - even though he came ealier than expected, before 1 pm - we ate later. Because we already had to take the 2:30 pm train, I told Tammy and Emmy they could skip their nap, which excited them. I still tried to get Sammy to sleep, while his siblings were on the top bunk with their tablets on minimum volume. However, Sammy hasn't fallen asleep at nap time for days, which then makes him so tired in the afternoon, and at night he falls asleep immediately.
We asked Sammy whether he wanted to stay home with Daddy or go to the library, and of course he wanted to come along, so we all left the house together. We dropped Tammy and Emmy off at their dance class, then Randy and Sammy went to the library on the bottom floor, while I had to go to the post office. Of course Sammy was crying for me the whole time. It took me some time to mail my package and get back, and then I needed to sort out an issue with the school. I was finally reunited with a happy Sammy, and then we went back upstairs to pick up his siblings.
There had been some incident during the class between Emmy and some girls, some hitting and the girls laughing at Emmy, which is something he hates big time. I talked to the teacher but couldn't really find out anything. That's one disadvantage of not being present in the class.
We returned home, where I had to teach for one hour right away.
On Saturday morning the kids have their piano class. I decided to stay home with Sammy this time and let Randy take them to their class again. However, they did not behave well or participate well, so I'll have to be there again next week. Sammy and I were having fun at home; I was trying to work, and Sammy was actually able to play on his own for a little while. At 11:30 we left home to meet up with the others at McDonald's. Sammy always wants to ride a new subway train, and as the first one was an old one, I let it go and we waited for the next one, but it was also old. And so he cried. We ended up getting to McDonald's so late that Randy had already written me, asking me where we were.
Tammy and Emmy were so happy to see me that they ran to me. I ordered, and we sat down to eat, having fun together. Then we returned back home. At 1:30 I put them down for a nap and could only get Tammy and Emmy to sleep. Later they all went downstairs with Randy, while I tried to get some work done.
This morning we could sleep in, thank God, but of course they were up early. At least I did not have to get up to make Sammy's snack box but was able to stay in bed, while Randy made breakfast for them and himself. Then they went downstairs to play, which finally gave me the peace and quiet to get a little more sleep. What a blessing! At 10 am I finally got up and went straight to the kitchen to make the casserole for lunch. Then I sat down at the computer to get some work done.
They all came back upstairs early, and at around 12:15 we sat down to eat. At 1:30 pm I tried to put them down for a nap. Tammy fell asleep, but her brothers never did. In fact, Emmy even woke her up after a very short time, so all three ended up being very tired and cranky later this afternoon.
At 4:15 pm we left the house together to take two subways to church. The service started at 5 pm, and we found some seats on the aisle, where we could put the wheelchair. But Sammy wanted out anyway. I held him for quite some time, but he's sure getting heavy now. Tammy was making a drawing for Jesus, and Emmy wanted the streamers and fabric to dance with, which he did. Then we played together. He made a ball out of the fabric, and we threw it back and forth.
They have a mascot in their exercice class they got to every Wednesday, and every week it goes home with another kid. This week it was Tammy who was chosen, and she'll actually have it for two weeks as there is no class next week. This monkey, Max, has a backpack with a little diary, and each kid puts pictures in there of where they have taken Max. And so we took him to church with us today and took Tammy's picture with him to later put into the diary.
Half an hour into the service, at 5:30 pm, all the kids left to go to kids' church. All ages gathered in one room at first, where they had some food first, then worship, then they'd go to the different classrooms. It was Randy's turn to stay with them, so I left them and returned to the sanctuary for worship. After some time I looked at my phone and saw that Randy had written a message a while back that Sammy was crying for me. And so I left to return to the kids' room, where I found Sammy with Randy, but not crying. I then stayed with them there, while Randy went to the sanctuary.
They had worship going on for the children, but Tammy sat in a corner with a book, while Emmy was playing with a kid or two. We tried to encourage him to participate in worship, but to no avail. Then worship ended, and the kids got to play for a little bit. I put Sammy on the car that he enjoys, and he was moving all over the room. He wanted me to catch him, and so we had lots of fun together, with him laughing a lot.
Then it was time for the teaching. Tammy and Emmy both wanted to see with an older girl, or maybe it was the older girl who wanted them to sit with her. Emmy was still not listening or participating, and I was trying to get him to listen. Not much was said until they all went to the tables to do some drawing. Tammy was eager to do so, while Emmy had no desire to draw. He sat down briefly, but was up again in no time playing in the room. Sammy was still on the car and enjoying it, and then his siblings wanted me to catch them as well.
And then Randy already came into the room. The service was over. We put their shoes back on and returned to the sanctuary, where Sammy was looking for Anna, but she wasn't there. We found Sonja instead, and all three spent a little time with her. Then we put their coats on and left.
It was a long and ardeous trip home as they were so tired and cranky. First Tammy cried in a full subway, drawing people's attention to herself, and Emmy cried on and off for various reasons. The second subway was an old train, but Randy somehow got Sammy to be content anyway. Tammy however was so very tired, that she wanted me to carry her on my shoulders. That way-too-short nap ended up making her more tired than no nap at all.
At 8 pm we were back home and got them ready for bed right away. I only read them a short story tonight, which made Tammy cry, then prayed for them and put them to bed. I lay down next to Tammy, which made her stop crying, and Emmy also climbed to the top to lie down next to me. After some time I went back to the bottom to sit in the chair, and Emmy also went to his bed there, where he sleeps during the night. I sat there for a while, and soon they were all asleep. It was just after 9 pm, when I walked away.
It was my turn to get something to eat, then I started working on the pictures. Now it's 1 am and time to join the sleeping family.
