4 years 3 months 26 days

 Day 1578. Yesterday the cleaning lady came at 9 am to clean our house one more time before Christmas. She always brings the kids some candy, and yesterday they got something special - big chocolate figures. When Sammy came home from kindergarten at 12:45 pm, the first thing he said was "egg", as she usually brings them "surprise eggs" that have chocolate and a little toy inside. The cleaning lady had just finished and was about to leave, so he still got to say "thank you" to her. Sammy is very polite and says thank you a lot, even after the person he's saying it to has left.

When the cleaning lady is with us every three weeks, I also tidy up what I usually neglect and so I was busy with that for a while before starting to work on the computer. Then I cooked lunch, and after lunch the kids were watching or playing on their tablets.  At 3 pm Randy left with Emmy and Tammy, while I stayed home with Sammy. I really like the exercises class/school they now go to, as they introduce EVERYTHING to them. This week they were doing stuff with ropes, including jumping over them, and I really like the picture of Tammy pulling Emmy.

Sammy and I were having fun at home. Even though I was trying to get work done, I spent lots of time with him, and for about half an hour I got him laughing and giggling non-stop. I was surprised, when Randy and the other two already returned around 5:20, as I didn't expect them to make the 5 pm train. It was a welcome surprise. Randy then went downstairs with the kids. My 5:30 student had canceled, so I was able to do other work.

Randy and the kids soon came back upstairs. At 6:30 I started making their food. They ate some, then continued eating in the bathtub. After they got up, our routine changed a little, as time I was short. I had a student at 8:10, so I told the kids that time was short and that I was not gonna be able to read them a story. Tammy started crying. I then told them if they were still awake at 9 pm, when I finished, I would read them a story then. After having prayed for them, they went to bed. Emmy and Tammy wanted to lie down next to each, and that was a good strategy for staying awake. However, Randy didn't like them talking. Emmy then needed to go to the bathroom, and before he had returned, I was done teaching. I went to Tammy, only to find her asleep. I then lay down with Emmy in my bed to read him a story, as promised. Then he went to his own bed and fell asleep.

On Tuesday one of my dead teeth crumbled in my mouth. That was a first for me. I still had a sharp piece of tooth sticking out. I contacted my dentist and was told at first that I'd have to come next year. Then they called me and said I could come at 8:30 this morning. That was mighty early for me, especially as I needed to leave an hour before that. And so, when my alarm went off at 7:15 as ususal this morning, I actually had to get up right away, just like Randy. Tammy was asleep in her own bed and continued sleeping for a while, until after I'd left the house. I went straight to the kitchen to make Sammy's snack box. Then I laid clothes for the kids out and got ready myself and left the house just after 7:30 am.

Randy had to get all three kids ready and take them all to the kindergarten with him. Sammy's teachers were excited to finally meet his siblings. Then Randy took them to the grocery store with him, where they bought a turkey and a cake for Christmas, before returning home.

When I got to the dentist, I was told that his retired father was gonna take care of my tooth. He had never treated me before, but he was nice. He drilled off the rest of the dead tooth, then filled the hole and gave me a written estimate of how much a tooth implant would cost (about 1000€). What he did is gonna last a while, so there is no rush, but it's not pretty having pretty much a hole where the corner tooth was.

By 10:20 I was back home. I was dead-tired and went straight to bed and slept for two hours. I was surprised how late it was, when I woke up. Randy had already left to go pick up Sammy and had turned the stove on to warm up the leftover soup we were going to eat. Tammy and Emmy were watching videos. I finished warming up the soup, and at 12:45 we sat to eat it, after Sammy had come home.

After we had eaten, everyone returned to their devices, and I finally turned my computer on to work. Randy left the house with Sammy at 2:45 pm to take him to his weekly physiotherapy session, while I started teaching at 3 pm. The kids stayed on their tablets, which was not ideal, but there was really no alternative. Randy and Sammy returned before 4:30, and as my 4 pm student hadn't shown up, I ended up getting out the window Christmas stickers that had arrived a few days ago, but we had not put them up yet. The kids were having fun sticking them on our floor to ceiling windows. Unfortunately they were not sticking very well. Then Randy took them downstairs, while I had another student at 5 pm.

At 6 pm Randy and the kids came back upstairs, and at 6:30 I started making their food. They ate some, then continued eating in the bathtub. After they had their pj's on, they opened their advent calendars. Then I read them two stories, as we hadn't read them yesterday, and Sammy fell asleep while I was reading. He's always so tired at night that he usually falls asleep before I turn off the lights. The kids brushed their teeth, then I prayed for them and put them to bed. Randy sat with them, while I went to the kitchen to make my salad, which is time-intensive. After I had eaten, I went back to work. Now it's nearly 2 am, and I still have to do the dishes before going to bed.