5 years 24 days

Day 1850. Yesterday morning the cleaning lady was supposed to come, but she postponed it to today. I was glad I was able to lie back down after Randy had left with the kids to take them to kindergarten. It was a different day anyway, as Randy left at 11:45 to go pick up his new permit to stay in Austria that is valid for 3 years, just like the last one. This time the whole renewal process only took two months, which was less than last time. After he had picked up his permit, he went straight to Sammy's kindergarten to pick him up and take him to his 2:15 pm physiotherapy session.

That meant that I took the 12:27 pm train to go pick up Tammy and Emmy. Just over an hour later we were already back home. I appreciated having some time before starting to teach at 2:30 pm. And then I taught four hours in a row, until 6:30 pm. Once Randy returned with Sammy, he took all the kids downstairs.

This morning I lay back down after Randy and the kids had left and was woken up by the doorbell at 9:15, when the cleaning lady arrived. Whenever she comes, I also get to work sorting things out and putting stuff up, like kids' clothes. I also changed some of the kids sheets and bedding. It kept me busy for a while. Randy returned and then left again to go grocery shopping. At noon he left to go get Sammy.

Sammy likes the cleaning lady and often plays that he's her, especially since he got a toy vaccuum cleaner. However, at the same time he's also scared of her. He does not like the real vaccuum cleaner. When Sammy returned home, he was looking absolutely terrified as he knew that she was in our house. He was clinging to Randy and then to me. I was holding him, as Randy left again to get the other kids. When she came upstairs, I asked Sammy whether he wanted to say hello, and he said yes. And so we went to see her and greeted her, all the while Sammy being completely terrified and clinging to me. Later he wanted to show her his vaccuum cleaner, but then he was too scared to do so. In the end he handed her the money, and he was relieved, when she was gone.

Sammy stayed close to me, and we ended up talking to Paul in Mali so I could find out more details about the latest crisis. Sammy was very excited about that and kept asking, when he could say something. And so I kept giving him the opportunity to talk to Paul who was happy to hear Sammy's voice.

At 2 pm Randy returned with the other kids. Randy sat down to eat lunch, and Tammy also had some, while I was getting ready to teach at 2:30 pm. I also made sure both Tammy and Emmy had their exercise clothes on for the first session of this semester's exercise class. Randy left with them at 3:10, which was ten minutes before I was done teaching my student. They took the train and walked to the same school, where they took this class last year. The teacher was also the same. They had lots of fun. While many parents sat in the gym watching since it was the first class, Randy left to go shopping. After they were done, they took the train home.

As for Sammy and me, it was a significant day. For days I had asked Sammy whether he was a big boy so that I could teach a student, while I was home alone with him. He kept saying yes. Today I decided to give it a try for the first time, as it was the only way this student could have her weekly lesson. After I was done teaching at 3:20 pm, I played with Sammy until starting with my next student at 4 pm. It didn't quite work out like that that he never needed my attention during my 50 minute lesson. Thankfully it was not an issue with that student that I left briefly a few times to take care of him.

I finished at 4:50, then it was time to play with Sammy again after I had praised him for his behavior while I was teaching. And we had the greatest time. Sammy was laughing non-stop. I was in the kitchen already making their dinner. At 5:15 Randy and the kids returned, and I gave them their dinner a little early. The reason was that I had another student at 5:30 pm. That way they were able to eat while I was teaching. When I was done at 6:20 pm, they were also done and soon went into the bathtub. That was the beginning of our evening routine.