5 years 3 months 23 days

Day 1941. It's the last week before Christmas, and it's just as busy, if not more.

On Monday Sammy had his first horse therapy session since this summer. That meant that he stayed home with me, when Randy left with the other two at 8:30 to take them to kindergarten. It also meant that there was no sleeping for me, being alone with Sammy. Randy returned home at 10 am and left with Sammy a few minutes later to take him to horsetherapy. I was then able to lie down for a little bit.

After they returned, Randy had lunch and then left to go pick up Tammy and Emmy. Once again I was alone with Sammy. I had a student at 2:40 pm and Randy and the kids returned just before then. I then taught untnil 4:30 pm. Randy left with Tammy and Sammy at 3:45 pm to take Tammy to ballet class.

After I was done teaching, Emmy and I got ready to leave the house which we did at 5 pm. There was such a storm that we chose to leave our scooters at home, and I was glad about that once I stepped outside.

Emmy then had his soccer class from 5:30 to 6:30 pm. He was excited to put on his goalie gloves that he had received on Sunday. When they started playing a game, he immediately volunteered to be in the goal and put his gloves on. Unfortunately another boy in his team came to him after only a few minutes to take his place, even though the teacher had not said to switch yet, and Emmy ceded his place to him. He then ended up playing and played really well, scoring a sensational goal he got a lot of praise for. In the end they all have to try to shoot a ball into the goal, and he succeeded there as well.

By 7 pm we were back home. It had been really tough with Sammy at ballet class again. It's hard when he's just unhappy and Daddy can't do anything about it. After they had all eaten, I still went downstairs with Tammy and Emmy to do piano practice. Last Saturday they started playing with both hands at the same time, so that's what they do now. Back upstairs, it was time for the bathtub which started our evening routine.

Yesterday morning I lay back down after Randy left with the kids at 8:30 am, but half an hour later the doorbell woke me up as the cleaning lady had arrived. She comes every 3 weeks, but this time it was 4 weeks for some reason, so it was very much needed. She started doing her job, while I lay back down to sleep. At 11 am I got up and started making lunch.

Randy called me from the pediatrician where he had taken Tammy who's had some itching/pain. They had a very long wait time there. They called me again at 12:45 saying they had just left, so I recommended they'd pick up Sammy on their way home, since they were passing by his kindergarten. I had already called Emmy's kindergarten to let them know he was getting picked up at about 3 pm.

The cleaning lady left, asking where the kids were, and it wasn't much later that Randy arrived with Tammy and Sammy. Randy and Tammy ate lunch, and I started teaching at 2 pm. Randy had to leave before 2:30 to take the bus to go to Emmy's kindergarten and pick him up at 3 pm. He then walked with him to the dance school where his Breakdance class was taking place. It was just around the corner. His class ended at 4:15 pm.

Tammy was playing with Sammy, and they were having fun, while I was finishing my lesson. Then I was free until after Randy's return. At one point Randy called, and I was glad he did, as he was unaware for some reason that there was no ball-playing class today. That way they were able to get on the next bus home instead of going to the school in vain.

I had another student at 5 pm, but that one is always late. Randy and Emmy returned home right after I had started my lesson. Once I was done, I made dinner, they ate, then we went downstairs for piano practice. Back upstairs, it was bathtub time which was the beginning of our evening routine.

Today we all left the house together at 8:30 am and all got on the subway. After two stops they all got off to take Sammy to his kindergarten. I continued on and got on another subway to my old neighborhood where my ob-gyn is located. It's now over 5 weeks since my operation, and I had an appointment as a check-up post-operation. I walked into the doctor's office, sat down, and only minutes later I was called into the office. It was great to see my doctor again who I really like. She was my doctor long before my pregnancy. I found out today that she's retiring in 6 months so I probably won't see her again which is sad. We had a great time, as she had me telling her the whole story of the cyst and operation. Then she checked me, and we said good-bye. It was only 9:40, when I left the office.

But I wasn't going home yet. I had a USB stick to send to Paul in Mali via DHL, so I had to take the tram all the way downtown to where the DHL office was. It was surprisingly easy to do the paperwork and get it sent, but it's not cheap, of course.

From there I walked to the nearby subway station. They only reopened that part of the line days ago, and I was excited to ride it for the first time in years and see the changes they've done. When I got to the platform, workers there were telling everyone that the subway was not running because of a technical issue. I had no choice but to get on another line that took me to where we usually change lines, as my subway line was running from there.

By 11 am I was back home, and so extremely tired that I lay down right away. I woke up just before I heard Sammy call my name at 12:45 pm, when they returned home from kindergarten. I had no choice but to get up. Randy left again to go pick up the other two. They only returned just before I started teaching at 2:20 pm. And Randy had to leave again at 2:30 pm to take Sammy to physiotherapy. I finished teaching at 3:10 pm and quickly got the kids ready so we could all leave the house. This time we all took our scooters with us.

We took the 3:30 pm train, then rode our scooters to the school where their exercise class was taking place. They got changed quickly and went into the gym, while I stayed in the locker room with the other parents. I had some papers to read as well as my phone to keep me busy. Once their class was over, they got dressed and we left to make the 5 pm train home. Thanks to our scooters, we were even able to buy some chestnuts there, upon their request, and then made the train.

By 5:15 pm we were back home. Sammy was playing with our door, opening and closing it, which is his current favorite activity. I was glad that my 5:30 pm student had canceled, and so we went downstairs to do piano practice. Back upstairs, it was time for dinner, then the bathtub, which started our evening routine.