Day 1846. Yesterday was the first day of an announcement storm with rain like you only have it about every 100 years. Not only that, it was really cold. We put winter coats on them, then the rain coats that I had bought for their camps in summer. They were ready for the weather! Randy took them to kindergarten, while I tried to lie back down, but I couldn't sleep any more. I didn't have much time anyway, as I had to get ready for my 10 am student.
I taught from 10 to 12 am. Normally I then leave the house to pick up Emmy and Tammy and take them to their tennis class, while Randy and Sammy stay home. However, because of the disaster on Thursday, when Sammy was just crying and screaming for me, we decided to switch places for the first time on a Friday. I gave Randy all the instructions on how to go and what to do, then left the house to go pick up Sammy from kindergarten.
As always, Sammy was very happy to see me, when I walked into the room. His eyes lit up and a big grin spread over his face, all his limbs moving wildly for joy. One of the teachers was putting his coat on and then brought him to me. The group leader then talked to me and was bragging on Sammy who had done so very well. She said that he had sung today and done a lot of walking with the walker. Every day he wants to visit his friend who's now in first grade just a few doors down the hall. She said that he'd also done great in group therapy. Then we left.
We weathered the storm and rain and even stopped at the pharmacy before getting back home. We were gonna be together for the next three hours, which is a long time for Sammy not to see his Daddy. He asked about him and I told him that he had taken Tammy and Emmy to tennis class. I was very impressed by how well he did during those three hours! There were times, when he played on his own for a while, while he also needed me a lot and climbed into bed with me to play. He also asked to go potty and succeeded, which I praised him for. During the hours I was trying to get some work done, preparing for students. Sammy asked to call Daddy one time, and we did. We had a video call and even got to see Tammy and Emmy on the court.
At exactly 4 pm Randy and the kids walked through the door. Perfect timing! I started teaching at 4:10 pm and had to teach until 6 pm. Then I went to the kitchen to make their food, which started our evening routing.
It was Saturday today which was our chance to sleep longer than usual. However, Sammy was up early, as usual. What was unusual was that I was the one awake this morning, not Randy, and that Emmy was still sleeping, even though it was 7 am, when I got up and even though Sammy was making noise. I gave Sammy his tablet and told him to keep the volume low, which gave Emmy some more sleep time. Soon he was up, though, and then Tammy also got up earlier than necessary. I gave them the coloring books and crayons they wanted and lay back down. At about 8 am Randy got up to make their breakfast, and I finally got a chance to go back to sleep.
At 9:30 am my alarm went off. It was time to get up and get ready. At 10 am we all left the house together. Once again they were dressed for the cold, rain and storm. However, we were surprised by the intensity. It was probably the strongest storm we'd experienced by our house. I had Tammy on one hand and Emmy on the other, and we ran to the subway to find refuge. We took the subway, then had to go back out into the rain, but the wind wasn't as bad downtown. We made our way to their music school, where they were about to have their first class after summer. The teacher they had last year had said that she was going to continue teaching them, so I was very surprised to see a young man standing in the classroom. I made sure we were in the right room before we sat down. I even mentioned their previous teacher, but he said that he was going to teach the class.
We sat down in the back row, and I sat between Tammy and Emmy. We had done a review of what they had learned last year about twice during the whole break, which was not as much as I had planned. However, I was very impressed with Tammy today. She knew her stuff and also did what she was asked. Emmy, on the other hand, did not do what he was asked by the teacher or by me. I kept repeating what he was supposed to do to make him do it. It was tiring. Also knowledge-wise he wasn't quite doing as well as his sister.
The teacher started with the greeting song, as usual. Then he asked them to come up front and sit on the floor. I stayed in the back with Sammy and let him look at pictures on my phone. The teacher did the lion & mouse story with two hand puppets, then gave them stamps on their hands to remember which one was the lion hand and which one the mouse hand. The kids sat back down at their pianos, and the teacher had them play - high tones, low tones, and in the middle of the piano. He also came by and asked them where Do was on the keyboard. The kids then played using their different fingers for the different notes. Tammy did great, Emmy I had to keep helping.
Then the teacher called them back up front, where he reviewed where the different keys were on the piano, then the different lengths of notes. Then he got a drum and a stick out and had them play the sequence he had put on the board. Tammy and Emmy volunteered right away to play, while the shier kids didn't get to play as often. One Mom even spoke up that her kid hadn't had his turn yet, while others had played twice.
Tammy was the one asking for a story, but the teacher said they had too much to review, so there was no time for a story this first week of class. I think he did a pretty good job and that they're going to learn more in this class, as this teacher is more serious, so less dances and games. He even made them sing the sequences he was singing first, which the other teacher had never done. The class is called "I Can Sing" after all.
Sammy had done very well. He likes music and went along with it, when they were singing and playing, and he was looking at pictures on my phone, when he was with me. Randy and Sammy left the room a few minutes before the class was over, when he was getting antsy. The teacher did the good-bye song, gave them stickers for their sticker books, and we left.
We packed them up for the storm again and left, making our way back to the subway. We rode the subway for a few stops and got off to go to our McDonald's there. I hadn't eaten anything yet and was ready for some food. We ordered and sat down. The kids were happy about the new toys in the Happy Meals. We had a good time eating and playing, then got them all ready for the cold again and left to go home.
Just before 1 pm we were back home, and glad to be home again. However, I did not have much time, as I had a student at 2 pm and then one at 3 pm. I was very tired, but duty was calling. The kids started playing, and Randy fell asleep in his chair, so I was helping out the kids until I started teaching.
I taught from 2 to 4 pm, then we had to get ready to leave the house - again. It sure was a long day with no rest for me. We left at 4:15 pm and took the 4:30 train, then the subway. It was cold, raining and very windy. In fact, public transportation had announcements on their speakers asking people to stay home. And the first few towns around Vienna were declared disaster zones because of the flooding, but the wind had also caused a lot of damage. Thankfully we were underground or inside for much of the trip to church.
We got to church just as the service started at 5 pm and went to the front row on the side. The kids were excited and started dancing right away. They were having lots of fun. Emmy showed all his moves, and Sammy likes pulling himself up on the stage. Tammy and Sammy were playing really well together. Sammy had been looking forward to seeing our friend Janos and had been asking for him frequently. So I took him over to where he was sitting in the beginning so he could say hello. Later in the service, Sammy decided to make his way to him, even though he was on the other end of the room, and Tammy went with him. They sat with Janos and his wife for a while, then Tammy returned and Emmy then went to sit with them. After a while Janos brought Sammy back to us.
Nearly an hour had passed, when Sammy started asking to leave. And after an hour the lady in charge came to us to tell us it was time for them to go to the kids' program. Randy left with the kids to take them there and stay to help with Sammy. I stayed in the sanctuary to hear the preaching. The tiredness overcame me, but I was able to keep my eyes open for most of the time.
At 7 pm the service ended, and just before that Randy texted me to come because of Sammy. I was surprised to find Sammy not crying at all. Tammy and Emmy were playing soccer with the only other kid that had been in the kids' program.
It was rather late and time to go home, but I needed to talk to a few people first. I really enjoyed talking to someone for quite some time at first, then found the pastor to talk to him. After having talked to another person, I was done, and we could get going. We walked through the mall to the subway. Unfortunately we'd just missed the subway and were not gonna make the next train. And so it was the 8:23 pm train that we took home. The conductor asked us where we were going as the storm and rain had caused some issues and was satisfied that we were gonna get off at the next stop. Then Tammy said to him that she wanted a ticket. She knows no fear when it comes to talking to people. I told her that usually he was the one asking us for our tickets. But he was nice and pulled his stack of kids' tickets out and even let them choose the one they wanted. All three got a ticket each. I had to remind them to say thank you. Then we put the rain coats on all the kids, including Sammy, and got off. We were glad, when we had made it to our house in spite of cold, rain and wind.
It was extremely late for the kids, so we got them ready for bed right away and minutes later they were all in bed. It did not take them long to go to sleep. Then I finally got myself something to eat and started working on the pictures and later on the report. By 1:30 am I could not go on any longer and went to bed, leaving the rest of the report for the next day.
