4 years 3 months 3 days

Day 1555. While Sammy was in kindergarten yesterday, I did some school work with Tammy and Emmy, and Emmy did much better than usual. I try to encourag him as much as possible. In the afternoon they were supposed to have their last music class, but then it was canceled. Given how late it was, and how hard it's been to get them to sleep at nap time, and the Mobile Support lady coming early, I decided to not put them down for nap. Instead they were playing. The lady arrived at 2:45, and they all went downstairs to play. I was supposed to have two students in the afternoon, but one also canceled, so I just taught for one hour. And it was nice that I did not have to rush off after. I've been really tired, so I simply continued doing office work.

Today we decided to try to put them down for a nap after lunch; Sammy looked pretty tired. But it looks like those times are over. The boys are just having fun, which keeps the girl awake who would fall asleep otherwise. Emmy is doing fine with no nap, but not the other two. Sammy gets really tired and cranky, and Tammy comes to a point, where all she does is cry. At least it's not ALWAYS the case with Tammy.

It soon became clear today that Sammy was not going to sleep; all he does is laugh and enjoy our efforts of trying to get him to sleep. Tammy then whines about the noise, but today she never fell asleep. I had to leave at some point, as I had a student at 2:40 pm and had to prepare for that. Eventually Randy took the kids downstairs.

When I finished teaching at 3:30 pm, we put their snowsuits on and left the house together a few minutes later. Sammy was tired and crying, but if he had stayed home with Daddy, he would have cried non-stop for three hours. He wanted me to hold his hand, and I did.

We got to the ice-rink at a good time and went to the changing room to put their shoes on. Sammy was still cranky and crying. It took a while to get the kids ready and also put their gloves and helmets on. Then we walked over to where the classes are being held. Unfortunately it was raining, which wasn't very pleasant, and the temperatures were just above freezing. But the kids didn't seem to mind and were eager to go ice-skating. The three of us tried to find a roof to stand under to not get rained on all the time. Today Sammy stayed in his chair for most of the time, and he was not happy. Especially once his tablet died. Eventually he said he was cold. I did my best to try to make him happy.

After about 35 minutes the kids had a break and came off the ice. Tammy's eyes were lit up and she said she didn't want to take a break but continue ice-skating. I couldn't believe she was having so much fun, especially considering the weather! Emmy seemed to have more fun that last time as well, as he never once left the ice to take a break. The official break lasted way too long for the kids, and our kids got back on the ice before it was over to play around. Once the class continued, there were only 4 students left, including our kids, so they got a lot of attention. And they were having fun playing games. Sammy, on the other hand, kept asking to leave. At 5:50 pm the class was finally over, and with that also the fun. I took Tammy's wet gloves off, and she was crying that she was cold. She then cried quite a lot on the ride home, but because she was tired. Emmy also did his share of crying, so did Sammy. At one point all three were crying. Once we were in the heated subway, they were at least out of the cold. And we don't even have temperatures below freezing yet!

By 6:40 pm we were home, and Tammy was still the one crying. We filled the bathtub with hot water right away and put them in as soon as it was ready. I took the food to them there right away. The hot water did them all good. Then we got them ready for bed. Sammy fell asleep right away, while I still read some Bible stories to the other two. After having prayed for them all, they went to bed, and I went to the kitchen to get some food, while Randy sat down by them.

I was extremely tired, but also really hungry, and I was supposed to teach at 9:30 pm. I have to say I was quite happy, when the student canceled. That gave me a chance to eat without looking at the clock, and then get back to work on the computer. Now it's midnight, and I wouldn't mind going to bed soon, especially as I teach early in the morning.

By the way, today I braided Tammy's hair for the first time and took this picture to show her what it looks like.