5 years 5 months

Day 1979. I went back to bed after Randy and the kids left and got up, when my alarm went off at 10:30 am. I then taught from 11 to 12:15 pm. By the time I was done, Randy was already gone to go pick up Tammy and Emmy and take them to their weekly tennis class. A little while later I also left the house to pick up Sammy from kindergarten.

Sammy was very happy to see me, and so was I. They always praise him, when I pick him up. We then left and took the subway home. Back home, I got to eat for the first time, and Sammy also wanted food even though he'd had lunch at kindergarten. We then had a good time together and also spent some time playing. Sammy never asked to call Daddy. He likes vaccuum cleaners and recently started watching videos of people vaccuuming. And this time he also wanted to hear phones ringing, but he was not satisfied by the ringtones but kept saying he wanted someone to pick up the phones, so I found him phone conversations. At the same time, I was scanning materials for my students all afternoon.

At 4 pm I had my next student, but it was the one who always comes late, so that Randy and the kids returned home before I started teaching. I had made some food for them before that they were able to eat while I was teaching, as I had two students, teaching until 6 pm. After I was done, I went to the kitchen to cut their fruit. They ate it, then went into the bathtub, where Emmy had his bread with Nutella. After they had come out, I prayed for Sammy and put him to bed, then read a story to Tammy and Emmy, prayed for them and put them to bed. Then it was time for me to get some food. After having eaten, I went back to work on the computer.

This morning I stayed in bed, while Randy made breakfast for the kids, and got up just before 9:30 to get myself ready as well as get the kids dressed. At 10 am we all left the house together.

We took the subway downtown, then walked to the kids' music school. At 10:30 am their piano class started. For the first time in weeks Sammy stayed with us again and stayed for more than half the class.

The teacher started the class with the greeting song. Emmy was trying to get the teacher to include Sammy, as the parents and the teacher himself were included, but he didn't, when their previous teacher had done so. Emmy had told me that he'd behave well tonight, but from the beginning he didn't. The reason was that the teacher played everything way too slowly, so it was all too easy and too boring for Emmy. The teacher did all the songs they've had this semester, but he started with singing the song first, then singing the notes, then playing it with the right hand, then playing it with the left hand, and only then playing it with both hands. Emmy was whining and refusing to play and trying to sit in my lap. At one point I even sent him out of the room as he was disturbing the other kids.

Later he gave every kid the chance to play any of the songs on the piano up front. I went to bring Emmy back for that, and he played his songs perfectly. He chose the song from the concert. Tammy chose a different song, and also played it perfectly. And they both play all the songs by heart. I was shocked, when I heard the other kids play, as they all had a lot of trouble, and some even only played with one hand. Are our kids the only ones practicing nearly every day, like they were told? No wonder they're bored. I really hope the director is going to teach their class next semester, as she said she wanted to do so.

The class ended with a story, then we got dressed and left the school. We took one subway to another, then rode it for a while to get to where the swimming pool is. Just like with the piano class, they had missed the last two Saturday classes because of our vacation, but at least the kids had make-up classes for the piano class.

When we got off the subway, the only elevator was broken. So we had to take the escalator, and Randy first carried Sammy up, then went back down to bring up the wheelchair. Then we walked to the Burger King there instead of McDonald's, as McDonald's has toys we don't like right now. Burger King is not as good as McDonald's in Austria, but it was better today, though more expensive. And they had good toys, pretty big Smurfs. The kids also enjoyed the crowns, and the onion rings.

After we were done eating, we packed up and walked to the swimming pool. We paid, then walked around the building to the wheelchair entrance, where we rang the bell. They let us in, and we went to the cabin to get changed. Then we walked to the pool. We only had to wait a few minutes until our class started.

The water was as cold as ever, but Sammy was very excited about the class. It was his last one, as I've not enrolled him for the next semester. I did the greeting song with him, and he was having lots of fun. Then the kids had to swim to pick up a duck with their fishing line in hand. Again I stayed with Sammy. It wasn't long before the teacher said we were all going to the baby pool to work on diving. That was exciting as that pool is warm. She then did some diving exercises with them there. And then she already did the good-bye song, and the class was over.

The kids were excited to keep playing in the warm pool, and we played hard for the next half hour. Then we went back to th ecabin to get changed, which takes a while, and left the pool.

We had to take the stairs back down to the subway because of the broken elevator, then rode two subways to get home, where we arrived just after 3:30 pm. I had less than half an hour until my first student at 4 pm. Both students I had this afternoon had canceled their lessons during the week and were making up for them. In between the two students I quickly made some sandwiches for the kids, and after I was done, I cut their fruit and gave it to them to eat. Then they went into the bathtub, where they ate some more. Having come out, I prayed for Sammy and put him to bed, then read a story to his siblings and prayed for them and put them to bed. Then I got to go to the kitchen to make myself some food. After having eaten, I went back to work on the computer, and eventually downloaded and worked on today's pictures. Now it's nearly 2 am and time for bed.