4 years 8 months 28 days

Day 1732. Yesterday was a regular morning of going to kindergarten for the kids. I, for once, did not have any students in the morning, and so I lay back down once everyone was gone and got some more sleep. I had my first student at 2 pm, and then the second one canceled.

Randy left with Tammy and Emmy at 3:15 to take them to their exercise class, and so Sammy and I stayed at home together and had fun. I was scanning teaching books while playing with him. The others returned at 5:40 pm.

Today it was also a regular morning. Randy left with them to take them to their kindergartens around 8:20, and I lay back down for a little more sleep. At 9:25 my alarm woke me up, and I got up to get ready for my 10 am student. After I was done with her, I prepared for my next student at 11 am. Once done, I did all the work that comes after, wrapping it up, and warmed up some leftovers for lunch. At 12:40 Randy came home with Sammy and left again right away to go pick up the other kids. And so Sammy and I had a good time together, as he always plays with me.

I actually took Sammy downstairs after a short while. It was time to continue setting up my downstairs office, and I carried teaching books and my printer downstairs and did some work downstairs. I had a 2 pm student, and was glad, when Randy and the kids returned a few minutes before that time. The kids also came downstairs, while Randy ate his lunch upstairs and only came downstairs after.

I taught until 3 pm, having my headset on, while the kids were playing pretty close to me and making noise. It was my one student who does not want to study at all, and he was having a bad day, which makes teaching so very tiring. After I was done, I dressed the kids for dance class, and they left with Randy just before 3:45. I had already moved my computer back upstairs and was done downstairs for the day. I then got dressed myself and dressed Sammy and made their dinner already. I put Tammy's and Emmy's in the fridge, and packed Sammy's bread with salami to take it with us. He was impatient for us to also leave the house, and we did so at about 4:15 pm.

I was very hot today. We walked to the bus stop nearby and waited for the 4:27 pm bus. We rode it to the end, then took another bus, then walked a bit to get to the school, where his wheelchair class was taking place. It was only 5 pm, so we had another 15 minutes. We thought we were the first ones there, but then the second teacher came from the gym. Then the main teacher arrived, and a few minutes later another kid. Today there were only three kids, including Sammy, and Sammy was extremely disappointed that his friend Jeanine had not come today. He talks about her all the time. And next week Thursday is a holiday, so it's two weeks until the next class.

We took the elevator down to the gym and went inside. The third girl today was one I had not met yet. It was Sammy's third class today, and my second time there. I sat down on the floor against the wall to watch Sammy. He was not happy about his friend's absence and wanted to be with me and to go home. The teacher then offered me her wheelchair as she can currently not use it because of an injury. At first I said no, but then I sat down in it so that I could play with them all, which encouraged Sammy to also join in.

I had never sat in a wheelchair and used one before, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. It's a shame I don't have a picture. As for the kids, they were practicing going up and down sidewalks today - something I did not try myself. Sammy enjoyed it and kept saying "again", wanting to do it over and over. The main thing he needs help with is to use both hands to go straight, as he tends to only use his better, left hand. I pretended to chase him a few times to get him to move, when he was not doing his part in the games we were playing. A couple of times during the one-hour class Sammy said to go take the bus home, and he was glad, when the class was over. We said our good-byes and left.

While we were walking back to the bus stop, I was wondering whether we should try going home a different way to get home earlier. In the end I decided to give it a try, but I regretted it, and next time we'll take the two buses home again. Sammy was so excited, when I mentioned going on the subway, that I continued walking, walking all the way to the tram stop, which is quite the distance. We could take either a bus or the tram to get to the subway, and I was going to take whatever came first. That was the tram, but it was an old one with stairs, so we let it go. Then the bus arrived, and we got on it. We rode it for quite a long time before arriving at the subway stop. I was gonna let Sammy ride a new train, but the two next trains to arrive were both old ones, so I told Sammy we could not wait that long. He was upset.

It was only three stops on the old train. Sammy kept his hand on the door handles that you need strength for to open the doors, and in one stop he actually managed to open the door. I could hardly believe my eyes, but he was excited and proud of his achievement.

By 7:10 pm we were back home. Tammy and Emmy had already eaten most of their food, and Sammy just needed to get his fruit. I cut up some fruit for him, and then he went into the bathtub, where he ate it all. He came out, and Tammy came in next, eating the rest of her food. After she got out, Emmy got in, and he had already eaten everything. I then went to Sammy to pray for him, and he was already on his ways to falling asleep. Then Emmy and Tammy joined me in my bed for some stories. Then I prayed for them, they brushed their teeth and went to bed. It was already 8:30 pm. I got myself something to eat, then started working on today's pictures. Now it's 1 am, and I hope to make it to bed soon.