what do you think?

We got sick again this weekend with stomach flu (Natsuki, Sakura, Emi and I). Not fun. But in spite of everything I still taught English on Tuesday even though *really* I wanted to stay home.

I'm having a bit of a dilemma about the students in my classes. In every class I have at least one student who is awesome. They remember everything, even new stuff, they improve each week and I totally love teaching them. This would be great except that the other kids in the class are totally awful. I mean really horrible at everything. There are two students (in different classes) who are confrontational.

I wish I could ask these kids to quit. I have been preparing the mothers for that possibility by having the kids take a series of tests (once every three months) so that the mothers can see that there has been no improvement (AT ALL!).

But I'm starting to wonder if maybe I teach to a certain "learning type" of child. Maybe the awesome kids are awesome because they think like me. This idea occurred to me before the summer so I have been trying some different teaching styles but I'm still not reaching these kids.

So this is my question. Should I just teach all of the kids anyways (for the money) or is it OK to ask them to quit so I can concentrate on the kids that are doing really well? Is that too snobby?

Another complication is that because of the downturn in the economy Chikara's company may be in a difficult situation six months from now. My ability to make money could be really important next year especially since we will need to pay tuition for Sakura to go to preschool.

I'm usually really good at making decisions but I'd like some advice this time.

all the songs run together

While I was gone Natsuki's English vocabulary expanded. I have been surprised everyday by how much she can say that I actually understand. I think that when she's with me I already know what she's going to do or want so she doesn't bother trying to speak for herself. I'm going to be more careful from now on.

She also is singing more songs but they are starting to run together. My favorite mish-mash is "Running Over" mixed with "I Love You, You Love Me" from Barney. Here's how it goes.

Running over, running over
My cup is full and running over
Since the Lord saved me
I'm as happy as can be...
...With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you
Won't you say you love me, too.

I'm trying to get it on video because there's actions, too! I even get a kiss at the end.

a little better every day...

I've been home for nine whole days and I still don't have my voice entirely back. Or my energy back. Or my strength back, for that matter. I do not recommend losing 6kg that quickly, although secretly (oops, I told you) I am a little thrilled. I have been unsuccessfully trying to lose a few pounds over the past months. No matter what I do the needle stays over the exact same number. OK, I haven't been trying *that* hard but I really wanted to to lose those last pounds of pregnancy weight. Also, I have never in my entire life been sick for this long. Ever. It's not fun.

... I want to clean the house but I don't have the energy. Then the house being so out of control makes me even more tired so that I don't even want to try to tidy up even a little.

... I know I need to eat but my stomach is only accepting a little at a time. Eventually thinking about having to eat or making dinner for the kids makes me tired.

... I really appreciate Chikara for taking such good care of the kids but I still need him to help out more than usual because, you guessed it, I'm tired. (He has been awesome, by the way)

So it's been going like that. I have noticed improvement and at church on Sunday a lot of the ladies gave sighs of relief when they saw me and said my color had improved over the week before. I am hoping that by the end of this week I have enough strength to start walking outside for some exercise.

Another side effect of being sick is weird dreams. Like, I saw on the news that it's supposed to get cold at the end of this week so that night I had a dream that it snowed and I got the girls all bundled up to go outside and play and then I realized that none of them had boots. They were all standing around in the entrance of the house in puffy jackets, scarves, toques and mittens but there were no boots. I was frantically opening all the closet doors looking for boots. I think it's related to the fact that I haven't been able to do as much for them as I normally do.

But I'm getting better. I am. Thanks for all of your well wishes.

thank you

Thank you to everyone who left comments on my last post. It was comforting to know there were people out there thinking of me and my family. I am so glad I went home for the funeral. Even up until the day I left I wasn't sure if it was the right decision but once I landed and saw my mom, I knew I had done the right thing.

There were highs and lows during the trip. Highs: I got to spend a whole day with just my mom and another day with my sister. Nana's funeral was lovely. Honestly, our extended family is so much fun to be with, even when it is for a sad occasion. Lows: I got totally sick with laryngitis and couldn't eat much. I lost 6kg. The low of this is that I missed out on eating a lot of good food. I usually gain weight when I go home. Hmm, I guess you could look at that as a high and a low.

Chikara did a great job with the kids. The house was even clean when I got home! Thank you to Abigail, Ruri, Eri and my in-laws for helping with the kids, too.

It's going to take me awhile to get better and get the house back to normal so there probably won't be any posts from me for a bit.