4 years 6 months 11 days

Day 1655. Sammy hasn't been to kindergarten all week, as he hasn't been too well and has been coughing the past few days. But yesterday and today, our mornings have been busy as the five of us have visited two locations of the same kindergarten for Tammy and Emmy. We had visited the Christian school that came out of that kindergarten a few weeks back, and I really liked it. Our kids are on a waiting list for it, and we'll find out in June whether they can start going to school there in September 2025. We had also visited the kindergarten in the same building, but only seen the rooms as we were more focused on the school. So yesterday we met the lady who founded it all again, and we met her at the other location, close to the first one, that we hadn't been to before. It was the original location where she had started the kindergarten, and I found out that an evangelical church that I once visited a long time ago also used to meet there.

You had to walk through their little playground to enter the building of the kindergarten. When we walked into the playground, we saw the school director right there with the group of little kids that were playing. As it was not the scheduled time of 10 am yet, we had to wait. And so Emmy and Tammy started playing there, as the little kids had their own area they played in. They went up and down the slide and went on discovery through the rest of the area. At 10 am the director went inside with us and showed us the rooms they had there. Then we went to the room that our kids would be in, and they got to stay a little. We all took our shoes off and went inside. The room was rather small, but nice, and there were lots of kids. The main teacher was Polish and only spoke English with the kids. Tammy started playing right away, while Emmy was a little more hesitant. They were playing with that they found and only interacted very little with the other kids. Then the director returned and gave us forms, and we said our good-byes and left. I told her that we hadn't really had a chance to meet the teachers and kids of the other kindergarten last time, and she told me to call the next morning to find out whether we could come to see it.

And so I called her at 9 am this morning. She told me we could come from 11 to 12. And so Randy took the kids downstairs to play until we left the house at 10:15. It's 30 to 35 minutes by public transportation to get there, and there are several combinations of buses, trams and subway. Yesterday we took a bus and tram, and this morning two buses, and we got there right on time. The kids were still outside in the courtyard, on the playground, but came in right after we arrived. The director introduced us to the Congolese teacher of the group of 24 children. The other teacher was sick, but she had an assistant for part of the time. Again we took our shoes off and went inside. Again the kids hesitated and didn't really want to go, but they quickly warmed up to everything. They started with climbing on a climbing construct, then the teacher gave the kids the option of doing some crafts. Tammy was excited about that and joined the other 4 or so kids who wanted to do that. The rest of the kids did other activities. Emmy played with some blocks by the other kids and then found a dinosaur puzzle he wanted to do, and I helped a little bit. I also got to talk quite a bit with the teacher. After Tammy was done, we ended up sitting down at the table with the teacher who brought a game that was easy and just right for their age. We were having fun. As for Sammy, he was having fun in the toy kitchen, which is always his favorite, wherever we go, and he then sat down with us with a cash register. At 11:50 the teacher told everyone it was time to tidy up; I knew they ate lunch at noon. And so we thanked her and said our good-byes. As she also spoke English (and French), she also got to talk with Randy a little bit. We said good-bye to all the kids and left the room. Then we saw the director one more time and talked a little bit. Our kids can start attending after Easter, and I'm very excited about that. Neither one of them actually wanted to leave there today, and they're excited to come back. And I'm excited as I've very much felt the need for them to go to kindergarten recently, and the urgency (from the Lord, I believe) for them to get started. Their mornings at home have just not been fruitful.

Yesterday we had taken the tram and subway to go home, today two buses again. Yesterday we got home earlier, as we had gone there an hour earlier. Back home I went to the kitchen to cook, then we sat down to eat. In the afternoon, Randy took Sammy to his appointment to have his new night braces fitted, while I took the other two to their exercise class.

We were gonna take the 3:20 pm train, as always, but when we got to the platform, there was no train. In fact, there was no S-train at all. I later found out that there are not going to be any S-trains until July because of maintenance. That's a long time! We had to take the regular train instead that arrived 12 minutes later than the other one. After we got off, we walked to the school, where they had their class. I was surprised that they still got there on time, and obviously we'll always have to take that train now.

Normally parents are not supposed to stay at the school and wait for their kids, but there are always some who do. It was my first time in a while to take them there, and I decided to stay in the locker room. Every few minutes all the kids came through the door to take a few sips from their water bottles. Every time they did, Tammy and Emmy shouted "Hello, Mommy!" to me across the locker room. At 4:45 pm the class was over. They got a sticker for their sticker book, and we left to go home. There was no rush, which is usually the case, as there was no 5:01 train to catch. I knew we'd have to wait for the next one at 5:23, which was quite a bit later. I told my student that we'd have to start our lesson at 5:40 pm. The kids wanted chestnuts, so we bought some. Soon those chestnut vendors will be gone. Yesterday and today it was so cold that chestnuts were just the right thing. We went inside and waited for our train. The kids were climbing on the metal bars, Emmy hanging down head first. Randy called, as Sammy was crying for me, as usual. They were already back home. We all talked to Sammy and told him we were about to get on the train.

Just after 5:30 pm we were back home. I hugged and held Sammy, then I sat down at the computer right away to start my lesson. I was done at 6:30, which was high time to get them some food.

Today we got home late, at 12:45 pm. I made a quick meal, then everybody rested. Randy hasn't been feeling well and needed a break, so he took a nap in the chair. At 2:30 pm I had a student. At 3 pm Randy left with Sammy to take him to a private physiotherapy session, as his other therapist is retiring. Sammy hadn't been there in over a year, but he soon warmed up to the lady again and had a good time "playing".

As for the rest of us, I finished teaching, then got the kids ready to leave the house. At 3:50 pm we left the house together and walked to the subway. After the subway we took the tram for one stop, then we walked the rest of the way to the dance studio. We got there 10 minutes early and were the first ones there. I took their coats and shoes off and put their dance shoes on. Then we waited. At 4:30 the teacher came. We were about to walk into the dance hall, when the teacher suggested that I could stay in the waiting room as the kids were big enough to go inside without a parent. The kids weren't too happy, but went inside without me. In the end some parents were inside and some in the waiting room. I had the paper of the day and my phone to keep me busy for the next 55 minutes.

Just after 5 pm Randy and Sammy arrived. Sammy was so happy to see me! Randy had decided to come to the studio rather than go home, where Sammy would just cry for me until our return home. I then had fun with Sammy, while Randy disappeared into the bathroom. Then Emmy came out of the class because he needed to go to the bathroom. I couldn't go with him because of Sammy, and he couldn't find Randy, even though he shouted for him. Then one of the waiting mothers offered to help Emmy, and I was thankful for it.

Just before 5:30 the class was over, and we left to walk back to the subway and go home. It was already getting dark, and everyone was hungry. At 6:15 pm we were back home, and I immediately warmed up some leftovers for the kids. Randy was feeling even worse and lay down in bed, where he's been ever since. I had to bathe the kids and get them ready for bed all by myself. Tammy has been falling asleep in my bed every night, but not tonight. But first I had to put new bedding on her bed, as she woke up last night and threw up. Then we climbed up to her bed, and Tammy and Emmy lay down with me. They had been crying because they wanted a story, but taking care of the bedding had taken so long that it was too late for it. And then I told them a story I made up on the spot. They were happy about the story, then I prayed for them, and soon Tammy was getting close to falling asleep. Emmy and I then left; Emmy went to his baby bed on the bottom, and I sat down in the chair next to him. Soon he was also asleep.

Normally I eat salad every night, but with Randy asleep in our bed, I couldn't use the bed to eat and use my computer. My desk was too small, so I ended up eating something else for a change. And then I stayed at my desk all night, which was not comfortable at all. At midnight I then lay down on my side of the bed with my computer to write my update. Now it's nearly 2 am, and all I have left to do is to turn on the dishwasher.