5 years 3 months 1 day

Day 1919. After a very intense, busy weekend I would have liked to be able to sleep in, but no such luck. In fact, I'm the one who left with Sammy at 8:15 to take him to kindergarten, while Randy took the other two straight to their kindergarten. I dropped Sammy off, then I walked over to the offices. I had a meeting with the head of the organisation (kindergarten and school), which was the reason I was there.

Originally we had decided to let Sammy have an additional year in kindergarten to give him more time to develop, as he's progressing more slowly than his siblings. Then I had found out that he'd have a certain spot in school next year, but in two years 9 kids would be competing for the 3 spots in school. So we thought it'd be better for Sammy to have a certain spot in school and therefore start next year. Then the doctor at his therapy center voiced her strong opinion that he should have the additional year in kindergarten and that she was against him starting school next year. That threw me off and I just didn't know what to do any more.

I was glad to have the meeting with the head of the kindergarten/school, a very nice lady. She had been my very first contact there two years ago, when I first made contact with them, and she was the first one to meet Sammy and assess him. She told me that the doctor from the therapy center (who she knows) does not know their school. Their school is a continuation of kindergarten and really not that different. He would still get all the therapies he needs. She also told me that she thought it would be better for Sammy than kindergarten. Right now, he's the oldest kid in his kindergarten group, and many of the other kids don't even talk. She said school would be good for him as there are other kids that talk and that he can actually have verbal interaction with. He'd also be more challenged intellectually than he is now. She thought that he needed those challenges that he does not have in kindergarten.

I was relieved by what I heard, that him going to school next year was the right decision. She'll talk with the center doctor, and hopefully she'll understand better after that.

After the meeting I went back home and straight to bed. After an hour I got back up and went to the kitchen to make lunch.

Randy brought Sammy home from kindergarten at 12:45 pm, and we had lots of fun together. At 2:15 pm Randy returned with the other two kids. There was not enough time to do piano practice, as I had a 2:30 pm student. Randy left with Tammy and Sammy at 3:45 pm to take them to ballet class. Sammy has not been enjoying going there and been giving Randy a hard time while there.

I didn't have another student, so I went downstairs with Emmy to do piano practice with him. At 5 pm we also left the house, and we took our scooters with us to be faster. We took the subway to the end, then rode our scooters to the school, where his soccer class was happening at 5:30 pm. He got changed, then his class started. As always he was having lots of fun, while the 60 minutes seemed rather long to me. By the end of the class I couldn't find a comfortable position to sit on that little bench any more. They always play a match during the second half of the class, and this time Emmy's team lost. It was the first time they played with the big soccer goals, using the whole gym and all the kids playing together.

After the class, Emmy got changed again, got his salami sandwich, and we left the building. We picked up our scooters and went on our way. It went downhill from the building, but I got on my scooter, only to be rudely stopped seconds later, causing me to fall to the ground. There was a mold in the ground that my scooter hadn't been able to master, bringing it to an abrupt halt. I fell on my knee; it hurt for a while but I was fine. Emmy was scared at first, as he had even said to me that I must not fall, but I assured him I was fine.

We rode our scooters to the subway, rode it home and got home at about 7 pm. Sammy and Tammy had already eaten most of their food, and Emmy sat down to eat as well. Tammy then did a short version of piano practice with me. They went into the bathtub, then we got them ready for bed.

This morning I was happy that I could go back to bed after Randy had left with the kids. And I slept pretty long, which I had really needed. Thankfully I did not have to cook today as we had leftovers from yesterday. I forgot that Sammy has his therapy session, and so Randy picked him up from kindergarten at the usual time. By 12:45 he was back home, and at about 1:35 pm Caritas helper Christine arrived. She went downstairs with Sammy to play with him. I then started teaching at 2 pm, and Randy returned with the other kids at 2:15 pm. They went downstairs as well. At 2:45 pm Christine left with Emmy to take him to Breakdance class. At 4:15 pm Randy left with the other two to take them to ball-playing class where Christine dropped off Emmy as well. As for me, I had three students, teaching from 2 to 5 pm. I had just finished, when Randy called me. Sammy was crying hard as his friend, the Dad of one of the kids in the class, had not come today. He had been looking forward to seeing him and was devastated, when he had not come. Sammy then stayed on the video call with me, on my computer, while I was scanning teaching materials, which worked out well. I was able to cheer up Sammy and get him to stop crying and even got him to smile and laugh again. He stayed on until the class ended at 5:45 pm. Today they had actually played soccer at the ball-playing class, and Randy told me how intense and passionate Tammy had been while playing. Tammy and Emmy were on the same team and won.

I then went to the kitchen to make their dinner, cutting up fruit, as they had already taken their salami sandwiches with them to eat on the way home. After I was done, I started cutting up my own salad, as I had the time to do it. They only returned home at 6:30 and sat down at the table to eat.

Once they were done, I went downstairs with Tammy and Emmy to do piano practice with them, which took about half an hour. Then we returned upstairs, and they went into the bathtub. We then got them ready for bed, I read them a bedtime story, and prayed for them all. Thankfully my salad was ready, so I could sit straight down to eat. Now it's after midnight, but I've been going to bed between 1 am and 1:30 am.