5 years 5 months 27 days

Day 2006. Thursday is the day without classes for Tammy and Emmy, which means it is my busiest day. I taught from 10 to 11, then went to the kitchen to make lunch. I was very tired. I wanted to lie down after I had put the casserole into the oven, but I was pulled into doing something I had wanted to do for a long time, and so I just did it instead of sleeping. I was glad that I had gotten it done. However, I had no time left to lie down to sleep as Randy returned with Sammy at 12:45 pm, then left right away to go pick up the other two.

I had Sammy who needs my attention a lot, but still tried to close my eyes for a few minutes - with limited success. When Randy came home with the other kids, I went downstairs with Tammy to do piano practice with her. Then I sat down at the computer to get ready for my 2:30 pm student. Randy took all the kids downstairs.

I then taught for 4 hours in a row - French and maths. Randy left with Sammy at 4:30 to take him to his wheelchair class, where he had lots of fun.

When I finished at 6:20 pm, I went to the kitchen to make their food, then I returned to my computer to prepare for my 8 pm student. Randy and Sammy returned, and everyone went into the bathtub. They insisted on me reading them a story, so I did. Then I prayed for them, and they went to bed, while I sat down to teach.

After I was done teaching after 9 pm, I went to the kitchen to get myself something to eat. After having eaten, I continued working on the French translation of the newsletter and got it sent out. It was after midnight by the time I was done, and I still had to clean up the kitchen. Around 1:30 am I went to bed, which is a typical time for me.

Today was a crazy day, and one where I've been extremely tired most of the time. Early this morning Sammy threw up in bed. He also did two nights ago, but in the middle of the night. He's been fine, though. Before that, Emmy came to me, to lie down next to me, but he was whining that his belly was hurting so bad. He did so for quite some time, keeping me awake, before he finally fell asleep. Surprisingly, Tammy never came to sleep in our bed last night, which is rare.

Since Sammy threw up around 6:30 am, he stayed up after that. Soon Tammy was up too, as her bed was right there. And so it was Emmy who slept the longest next to me. And once he was awake, he was still saying how his belly was aching so bad, and so it was him today who asked to stay home from kindergarten. And Randy wanted to keep Sammy home because he had thrown up, even though Sammy said he wanted to go.

I okayed them staying home, and so Randy left with only Tammy who didn't mind going to kindergarten without her brother. Emmy got on his tablet, and Sammy was listening to songs on his headset. But he always needs me for something. I was so extremely tired and just wanted to sleep, but no chance. At 9:30 am I got up for good being extremely tired. I sat down at the computer to get ready for my 10 am student. Randy returned home before I started teaching and took the boys downstairs.

I taught until 11 am, then started again at 11:15 and taught until 12:30 pm. Randy left just before I was done teaching. He and the boys had already eaten leftovers, so I warmed mine up and ate as well. But time was short. I got the boys and myself ready, and we left the house just after 1 pm.

Emmy was still whining about his belly aching, but he was up for going to tennis class. I really didn't want him to miss a lesson, like Tammy had done last week. We rode the subway, then were supposed to get on a train. However, the train was running late. And so we got on a train going the direction we needed to go and got off before it went where we didn't want to go. We then took a tram from there and walked the rest of the way.

We got to the tennis center before the class started. Randy and Tammy were already there; Randy had picked her up from kindergarten and taken her there. Sammy was happy to see Daddy.  At 2 pm the kids went onto the court for their class. I sat down at a table by the window to watch them play. I hadn't been there in a long time, as Randy has been taking them, while I stay home with Sammy. Today Randy took Sammy with him to the grocery store, while I was watching the kids play. The tiredness soon overwhelmed me. Then Randy and Sammy returned.

I hadn't seen them play in a while. Today I was very impressed with how well Emmy was playing. He hit every ball. He interruped his class twice and came to me because his belly was hurting so bad. Once time he came, the two elderly ladies next to us addressed him, telling him that he played very well, that he was the best of the four kids on the court. They asked him how old he was. And they said that Emmy was going to be the next Dominique Thiem. When they saw the blank look on his face, they asked whether he knew who that was, and he said no. Tammy, on the other hand, missed many balls, and many balls went straight up into the air.

At 3 pm the class was over, and we all left and started the long walk to the S-train station. We took the 3:24 pm train. After a few stops, Randy and Tammy got off. They then had to take a bus to the dance school, where Tammy had ballet class from 4 to 5 pm. The boys and I continued on the train and then got on the subway home, where we arrived just after 4 pm.

It had been hard pushing the wheelchair with the heavy bag of groceries Randy had bought. I quickly put them up, and I needed to make their dinner before starting to teach at 5 pm. However, I was so very exhausted that I just HAD to lie down a little first. I told the boys I was not available and dozed for a little while. It wasn't much but it helped. At 4:45 I got up to make their food. Thankfully the 5 pm student was the one who always comes late, which gave me the much-needed extra minutes to get everything ready, and I still didn't quite succeed.

I taught until just before 6 pm, then went to the kitchen to finish making their dinner. Then I returned to my computer for my 6 pm lesson. Randy and Tammy had just returned. I taught until 7 pm, while they were eating, then they went into the bathtub. After they had come out, we went downstairs for piano practice.

Back upstairs, it was already pretty late. I prayed for Sammy, then still sat down to read a story to Tammy and Emmy. They ended up going to bed half an hour later than usual, at 8:30 pm. I went to the kitchen to get myself something to eat. After having eaten, I went to work on the pictures. Now it's afer 1 am, and I still have to take care of the kitchen.