4 years 7 months 8 days

Day 1681. Today was a special day, and it couldn't have gone any better! Wow!

Yesterday was Easter Monday which is a holiday here. I had two students scheduled in the morning, but had just made it through the fourth terrible night in a row because of the fever. I was still feeling really miserable and canceled my second student. However, I did not my first one, as she really needed it, and made it through the session without affecting the quality of my teaching. We did not go anywhere and had not had any plans to go anywhere. The kids played downstairs with Randy for part of the time, and were upstairs for the rest of the time. Tammy had also had some fever during the night, and Emmy was really restless. All three had runny noses. In the evening I tried to keep the routine to a minimum, but at least I was able to stand in the kitchen and make their dinner.

This past night could have been good, as I did not have a fever any more. The fever gave way to a runny nose and sore throat yesterday. However, Emmy was restless that I was constantly awake. He was also scared of the dark and did not want to go to his own bed. At one point I was the one living our bed, as both Tammy and Emmy were there, and climbed up on top of the bunk bed to sleep in Tammy's bed. I finally had space there! I did that the night before, but then Emmy joined me there. This past night it was Tammy who joined me there. After some time I did return to my own bed, where there was only one kid remaining. Needless to say, it was another night of way too little sleep.

And then the alarm went off at 7:15. Randy got up to make his own-style oatmeal he eats and he's taught the kids to eat, then they all sat down to eat. A few minutes later I also got up and got dressed, then I started dressing the kids. There were so excited to be finally going to kindergarten! They couldn't await it! There was no trepidation or nervousness! We packed some houseshoes for them to wear there, and a snack, and the five of us left the house together at 8:15 am. Sammy seemed confused about us all going and didn't really like the talk about another kindergarten and what an excited Emmy was telling him.  I then held his hand as we walked to the subway, and he was very excited that it was a new train. And a very full one. Thankfully it's only two stops to his kindergarten.

I hadn't been there in months, so it was nice to be back and see his teachers. I exchanged a few words I needed to with the lady in charge, and Sammy was not happy, as we were about to leave. It was such an unusual situation for him for us to be all there, and he didn't want us to leave. But we did.

We got back on the subway in the direction we had just come from, but passed our house to go a few more stops, then got on a tram for another 10 stops. Their kindergarten is definitely a lot further away, about 35 minutes from our house to there. After we got off, we still had to walk a bit. There were so excited to go! Just before we reached the kindergarten, we ran into another Mom who we know. They are also missionaries and we once did a music class together - a coincidence. All her kids are in the kindergarten and school there, and she loves it.

We walked into the building at about 9:10 and went to their room. They first had to take off their coats and shoes, and the main teacher assigned them a hook, where they could put their stuff. Then they shyly went inside the room with us.

They have snack time at 9 am, so a few kids were eating and drinking, while the others were playing. Tammy wanted to draw, so she sat down at the right table and started doing so. Emmy wanted something to drink and sat down with his glass of water. I asked him what he wanted to do. He didn't really know. Then he found the little puppet theater stall and he picked up the puppet and started playing with it. Perfect! I talked to Tammy and asked whether it was okay for us to leave, and she nodded. Then I asked Emmy, and he also said yes. The teacher was shocked, as they plan on having the parents there for an extended time on the first day. I told her that they were going to be alright. We said good-bye and left. We took the tram and subway to go home. But Randy got off the grocery store, while I went straight home.
It was weird being in a quiet apartment by myself. I took out the stack of papers the teacher had given me and started reading through them and filling out the many forms. In fact, that took me the whole 90 minutes I was home for. At 11:30 Randy and I left home again to repeat this morning's route in the opposite direction.

We took the 11:42 bus near our house that took us to another bus that gets you the closest to the kindergarten. We were supposed to get there by 12:15, as they start eating lunch at noon, and we got there just before that time. All the kids were eating, when we got there. Tammy waved at me. She was about done and then washed her hands and mouth. Emmy needed a little longer and then also came outside. Randy started putting their shoes and coats on. The teacher came to me and started raving about our kids, singing their highest praises! Truly, she couldn't have said anything better than she did! She said that there are few kids like them, that they were polite and helping others and smart and.... I couldn't repeat it all. She was very impressed by them. We said our good-byes and left, as it was high time to get Sammy.

So far Sammy has always been picked up at 12:30, but from now on it's gonna be 1 pm. However, we hadn't told him we were coming a little later today. Randy was impatient for us to get there. There are about 5 different ways to go, and we picked the combination first bus, then subway. There was traffic, so the bus wasn't very fast. Maybe not the best way to go. The kids were excitedly telling about their first day in kindergarten, what they had done. They had gone outside to the playground and put their own shoes and coats on for that. One girl fell and hurt herself, and Emmy went to her to help her. However, it seems that they interacted little with the other kids, but were also not together with each other at all. They were sitting on different tables, when we got there. They said they talked a little to a few kids. They both told me how much they liked it there and said they wanted to go back. Emmy said he wanted to go there EVERY DAY. What more can a parent want?!?

I had told Sammy's kindergarten that we'd come around 1 pm to get Sammy from now on, but it was a bit later because of the traffic. At about 1:10 we were walking up to the door, when it opened, and there was Sammy in his wheelchair with one of the helpers, a huge smile on his face that we were finally all there. I asked whether they had waited long, and he said no. Usually Sammy is not ready to go and at the door, when Randy picks him up.

Sammy was happy to see us all, and Emmy was eager to tell him about their kindergarten and their lunch they had had. Their first lunch today was Spätzle with a sauce with chicken pieces. They had liked it. There was also carrot salad that Emmy had not tried, but Tammy told me with pride that she had eaten it and liked it. So far I have not been able to get them to eat any type of salad. Sammy was holding hands with his siblings at different times, as well as with me, as we walked to the subway, got on the new train, and rode the two stops home. Emmy is very talkative and talked with Sammy the whole time.

By about 1:30 pm we were home. They had all eaten lunch at the kindergarten, but we hadn't eaten anything yet. I still had chicken soup left over that I warmed up for us. We then also got to eat, while the kids were back on their tablets relaxing. Sammy wanted to go downstairs bad, but had to wait for Daddy to be ready to go. At 2:30 pm Emmy came to me saying he wanted to take a nap with me. That was unusual, but understanding after a rough night and early morning. I was pretty tired myself, so he lay down next to me and we both fell asleep, while Randy took the other two kids downstairs. I had first set my timer to 40 minutes, as they still had a class to go to. We had a nice nap and were woken, when Randy and the kids returned upstairs before my alarm went off. I got up and started dressing the kids and getting them ready. Emmy was still very sleepy and therefore cranky. At 3:30 pm Randy left with them, while Sammy and I stayed home.

They had missed at least two Saturday piano classes, but the first time there was no workable option for their make-up class. Today there had been an option that worked for us. But when they got there, they found out that the teacher was sick, and so they joined the class they had done last semester, which gave them no benefit.

Sammy and I had lots of fun together, as usual, but it's also very tiring. I never got to sit down for more than a minute or two, when he'd already ask me for something else to do for him. And we also played our usual games that make him laugh and giggle so hard. I then pulled him into bed with me, where we played until Randy and the other two returned home just after 5:30 pm. It had rained a little today, and they were excited that they had seen their second ever rainbow walking home from the subway. Randy took a picture of it.

I had done surprisingly well today, but the afternoon had worn me out and I felt worse again. I needed a break. The kids all wanted popcorn, so Randy made some for them. I enjoyed them being pulled away to the kitchen for a while. I tried to rest a little. Then I forced myself up at 6:30 to do my job.

I went to the kitchen and started making their dinner. Today we were back to our (nearly) regular routine. They ate then continued eating in the bathtub, then we got them ready for bed. I first prayed for Sammy and put him to bed, then Tammy and Emmy lay down with me for a story. They love stories! After the story, I prayed for them, and they stayed to cuddle for a few minutes. Then they went to their own beds, while I went to the kitchen to get myself something to eat. It was already after 8:30 pm. I ate, then went back to work. I knew this was going to be a longer report because of the significance of this day. I was writing, when Emmy came and lay down next to me. When Randy went to bed at midnight, I moved Emmy to his own bed and myself to the kitchen. Now it's after 12:30 am, and I still need to take care of the kitchen before going to bed myself. I'm hoping Emmy is less restless tonight so that I could have my first good night in nearly a week.