This was yesterday here with 13, 11, 9 and 5 yr old girls:
6:20 am - My husband stands beside our bed as my morning alarm. He kisses me before he heads out the door. I sleepily murmur, "I love you, sleep good." Clearly, I should sleep a little longer. I stretch, lie awake a few minutes before I greet the day.
6:40 am - I hug the girls as they emerge from their rooms one by one, grabbing Fire tablets and journals. They congregate in the living room for their own personal quiet time. Blossom3, who is nine, has her headphones. She prefers to listen to the Bible. Blossom4, who is five, commandeers my phone because she also likes to listen to the Bible. While I'm reading the Word and journalling, I keep jumping up to heat another of three kettles of hot water to assist the girls with frozen rabbit water dishes in a little bit.
7:15 am - We meet in the kitchen for an oatmeal bar for breakfast. Once we gobble it up, I read Proverbs 5 and we talk a little about it. Then, we pray. The girls head downstairs to suit up in cold weather gear for outside chores.
7:45 am - With all those layers and the silly sisterly discussions, it's a while before they actually make it outside this morning! They take care of all 21 rabbits, 11 chickens and 1 duck, even though it's 13 degrees. Gotta make sure the "livestock" are warm, toasty and well-fed!
Lately, I've learned to use this time to enjoy a little bit of silence. This morning, I tell the girls not to worry about the kitchen because chores will take so long in the cold. I tidy it up, writing out the day's menu on the board. I sip tea,
get dressed, make sure my to do list is in order, throw in a load of wash, etc.
8:30 ish am - They trudge back inside and I remind them that it's time to do inside chores, like feeding inside animals, vacuuming the house, dustbusting bathrooms floors and bringing out the hampers. I rely so heavily on them to keep this place tidy.
8:45 am - Once they finish inside chores,
we gather in the school room and they start their independent work. I usually spend the first half hour at least working with Blossom4. She's the least independent at this point. I hit the most important things first every day, literally ~ reading and math. That way, when things get crazy, I have the comfort of knowing they're done.
9:00 am - The phone rings; it's my little brother. We don't get to chat often, so I leave the school room to fold clothes while I chat with him. For the most part, work continues in the school room. It's a little louder than I'd like in there, but they keep working... or else.
9:30 am - I get off the phone, as the girls are clamoring for my attention. I help Blossom2 with her math and then Blossom3 with her math.
10:00 am - The girls are STARVING, so yes, it's snack time.
10:20 am - Back at it. I rotate through helping people who need help. Sometimes, it's helping Blossom4 with instructions, so she can work on something five minutes by herself. Then, I answer Blossom1's heavy duty diagramming question. I dart back over to Blossom2's chair, making sure she has her stuff down pat. I sit on the couch for some more reading with Blossom4. This is how the morning usually goes - me bouncing from desk to desk to couch to my chair like a pinball.
Noon - Again, the girls are starving. I have Blossom3 practice her speech that she's writing for Public Speaking class one more time. I squeeze in finishing our history assignment. We
finally break for lunch. The younger three Blossoms think that means they can wrangle in a card game or two now.
Warming up leftovers and chowing down, we sit around the island, enjoying the break. As soon as I'm finished, I curl up in my recliner and read
Trixie Belden and the Happy Valley Mystery aloud to them. They sort-of happily clean up the kitchen while I read.
1:00 pm - Rest time is still in effect here, though it's the time where they play quietly and read. We all need it. I spend my rest time shopping for a swim suit today. We're going to Youth Convention in a few weeks and I haven't had a new swim suit in years.
1:45 pm - At my "Back at it!!!" the girls head
back to the school room to finish up. I'm back in my pinball mode, bouncing from desk to desk to computer, as needed. I send Blossom4 off to play quietly, as she's finished her work and needs to not be "mixing in" with everyone who is trying to concentrate. I use this block of time to correct Blossom3 and Blossom4's work, record their schoolwork and sort it back into assisted and independent work drawers. I check over Blossom1 and Blossom2's work, even though they correct their own work. I like to make sure they are understanding what they're learning.
3:30 pm - By this time, I'm working on the non-schooling parts of my to-do list. I say that because I actually have a "school" check box on my to do list. It's a big part of what I accomplish every day, so why not?!
I shop a little more for a swimsuit. I register for the Homeschool Convention coming up in June. I double-check Hunter's Safety dates. I get payment ready for co-op music classes. I review my outline for co-teaching Etiquette class at co-op the next day. I alert parents about some details about Public Speaking class later tonight. I rotate the wash. I double-check that my crew has all co-op homework completed for the next day. I work on my email. Today, I even sit down and write a short intro to a story using a prompt assigned to me. I'm assisting in a 13-16 yr old writing class at our co-op. Because it's such a neat class and because you're never too old to grow in your writing abilities, I've been participating in the assignments. Homeschooling is so fun!!! I also chat a little on the phone with my sister. We catch up on all things motherhood and help each other keep the faith.
4:00 pm - I start supper and the girls pack lunches for co-op tomorrow. We have Public Speaking at 6:00 pm and this next hour and a half seems to fly by. After schoolwork, the little girls went outside to play and sled and forget to let the chickens out and gather eggs. I'm thankful one of my friends shared an easy recipe to Barbecue Chicken Quesadillas with me. Along with our canned green beans...
4:50 pm - Daddy just got home and now we're eating an easy supper together. We chat about our day and tell Daddy about good grades on math tests and little Blossoms who read through a whole book in a day. It's just celebrating family victories together. The girls head off to change for Public Speaking, as do I. We clean up the kitchen, pack Daddy's lunch and make sure his coffee is set up for the next day.
5:35 pm - The older three Blossoms and I head out to Public Speaking class. We've been learning so much through our 4-H program and three local university professors.
6:00-7:15 pm - Public Speaking class with several other homeschoolers is lots of fun. Now that they've learned all about descriptive language (Did you know Eskimoes have somewhere in the neighborhood of 14-20 words for SNOW?!?!), they're almost ready to give their speeches next week. I'm pleased with how far they've all come this session, but we'll definitely be practicing those speeches this week.
7:30 pm - Back home to Daddy and Blossom4! We squeeze in a quick game of Rummy, which Daddy wins... of course. The girls are enjoying a little down time, sometimes reading and sometimes playing more card games. I decide that we'll need something quick for breakfast in the morning, so the Little Blossoms help me make Lemon Bread. There is lemon zest all over the counter, but they actually were a help. We get that in the oven.
8:30 pm - The Little Blossom go to bed and the Big Blossoms are free to stay up another hour. We've had such a busy weekend and beginning to the week that they elect to go to bed early. Wednesdays are a long and busy day of co-op and Poetry Performance class, capped with their first day of Avian Bowl practice. They want their brains fresh!
9:00 pm - I lie on the couch. I fill Daddy in on my frustrations, our victories, my thoughts; I even read him a few of the things I've been writing lately. We chat, as I continue lying on the couch in an exhausted state. I jump up to check on the lemon bread and eventually pull it out to cool. He heads downstairs to load up the wood stove one more time.
9:30 pm - We're spent, so we head to bed.
Stay the course, friends! Check out other
Day in the Life posts here. There's even a
socialization edition that's super fun!
Dominique
