4 years 7 months 30 days

Day 1703. Yesterday I was looking forward to getting some office work done, but we had debated whether we should take Emmy to the pediatrician because of his toe. It's been 3 weeks since it started hurting, being all red and swollen and then infected. We had gone to the hospital with him twice and put on the creams and doing the footbaths they'd given us. It had improved somewhat, but 3 weeks is a long time. And so it was decided that I'd take him to the pediatrician, as it was the only possible time for the rest of the week. And so for the second day in a row I had short night and no possibility of going back to sleep after the kids were leaving the house.

The five of us all left the house together just before 8:30, and we all got on the same subway. However, Randy got off with Sammy and Tammy after two stops, while we stayed on the train. Sammy was crying hard, when we didn't come with him. We rode the subway to the end, then got on a tram to take us to another tram. Normally we'd only take one tram from there, but that tram is not running until September because of construction work. After we got off, the other tram was coming right away, so we got on. However, I soon noticed that we had gotten on the wrong tram. There were two tram lines leaving from there, which I had not thought about. And so we eventually got off and took the subway for one stop to the other tram we should have taken. So all in all it was a long trip. It was about 9:30 am, when we got to the pediatrician's office.

They have two locations opposite each other, one for healthy kids and one for sick kids, and we obviously went to the one for sick kids. We stood in line to register for quite a long time, only to be told to go to the other side of the street, to the healthy kids' location. She said that we wouldn't want Emmy to catch any bugs in the waiting room. And so we crossed the street and registered at the other location and sat down in the waiting room. And then it was finally our turn. We went inside the room and waited for a while until a nurse or assistant came. She weighed and measured Emmy (picture) and left again. We had to wait quite a bit longer and wondered whether we had been forgotten before a doctor finally showed up. She said that Emmy's toe actually looked great and that those kinds of things just take time. She said to just keep it clean and that it would soon be healed all the way.

Then we left again. It was about 10:40 am, and Emmy still wanted to go to kindergarten. And so we walked to the subway and took two different lines and then walked the rest of the way to their kindergarten. It was about 11:30, when we got there. Their room was empty, and as it was raining, there were not on the playground outside. The gym was the only other possible place to be. And so after Emmy had taken his coat and shoes off, I walked him to the gym, where he joined the fun there, while I left to go home. It was 12:15 before I got back home; I had run into Randy by the subway station as he was on his way to pick up Sammy. And so I only had a few minutes at home by myself until Randy and Sammy got home.

I was extremely tired after a short night and busy morning, but Sammy usually needs all my attention. At 2 pm Randy and the other kids came home. I was relieved and soon lay down in bed to get a much-needed nap before having to teach. At some point Randy took the kids downstairs to play so that it finally got quiet for me to be able to sleep. At 3:45 the alarm woke me up. Thank God I had set it! I had a 4 pm student, so I had to get up. I was still very tired and felt the whole time that I was teaching that I couldn't open my eyes all the way. At least it was my only hour in the afternoon. I then had another student from 8 to 9 pm, which meant that I had to watch the time while making their food and putting them into the bathtub. We had enough time to still read a story, which is so very important to them.

This morning the time had finally come to lie back down after I had gotten them ready for kindergarten and said good-bye to them and seen them off. I had a hard time sleeping and got up at 10 am to get some work done. At 11:30 I went to the kitchen to cook lunch. Just after noon Randy left to go pick up Sammy, and they always return home at 12:40. I'm always happy to see my boy and spend quality time with him. Randy always turns right around to go get the other two. I had a good time with Sammy. At 2 pm Randy already returned home with Tammy and Emmy, and that's when he gets to eat lunch.

I don't know how it came up, but Tammy had still not dug out her precious stones out of the block of clay she had received as a gift at Easter, and she wanted to do it. I needed a break from work anyway, so I got the stuff and set it all up for her. She had to dig and also had a brush to brush off the dirt. There were 12 gemstones hidden in the block, and a few of them became visible quite quickly. There was also a crystal-growing kit included, and so I did that with Emmy. I got some hot water, then Emmy stirred it as I poured in the powder that would be the substance the crystals use to grow. We set it on a shelf, and now we just have to wait and watch.

I was amazed at how much perseverance Tammy had as she chiseled and brushed. At 3 pm I put their exercise clothes on them, and at 3:15 Randy left with them to take them to their exercise class. At first Sammy was not happy for Daddy to leave, but then he started laughing and having a good time with me. He still bites and scratches sometimes, and when he wouldn't quite after I had warned  him, I put him down on the floor and told him I wasn't gonna play with him any more. He then played with his remote-controlled car that he loves so much. The tiredness had caught up with me, and so I lay down to take a short nap, taking a break from scanning exercises for my next student. I was thankful that Sammy gave me that much-needed break, not shouting for me to come help him for some time. It wasn't long, but it was enough, and I thanked him for having allowed me to take a quick nap.

By 4:30 Sammy was asking for Daddy and whining quite a bit. I told him it was another hour before he was coming home and then started playing with him and therefore distracting him. It was 5:40 before Randy and the kids walked through the doors, and I was supposed to start teaching at 5:40, so I immediately started my lesson. I had already prepared their food, as I was teaching again at 8 pm, which meant that time was short between my two lessons. That way Randy could give it to them before I was done teaching at 6:30 pm. We then went through our nightly routine. I told them there was no time for me to read them a story, which caused tears, so I said we could spend a few minutes on it. The stories we're reading right now are long, so I was not able to finish it. I prayed for them, then sent them to their beds and started my lesson.

Tammy was restless and crying/whining, and I could hear her. I excused myself once to check on her, then told her she could sleep in my bed until I was done teaching. Then Emmy wanted to come as well, so they both lay down in my bed, while I was teaching right next to them, with bright lights on. They eventually fell asleep, and when I finished teaching just before 9 pm, I took them to their beds. Then I got myself something to eat and had some relaxation time. At 10 pm Randy and I then had an online meeting that took one hour. Then I went to work on the pictures and today's report. Now it's 1:15 and time to go to bed as I teach in the morning.