A Day in the Life

On a message board (for homeschool mommies) I read, members occasionally post "a day in the life" to show a typical, or maybe not-so-typical homeschool day. These are interesting for homeschool moms, particularly those of us who sometimes wonder if we are doing enough of all the right things for our children. Yesterday I posted my day, or at least the first several hours of it:

6 am daughter (E) awakens crying, needs to snuggle

7 am untangle myself from her, get up

7:05 let Max (our dog) out

7:10 feed Max, let Casper (visiting dog) out

7:15 feed Casper, start a load of laundry

7:30 wake everyone else up, start thinking about breakfast, shower

7:45 remember that no one has cleaned up the backyard in a couple of days (dogs don't clean up after themselves, you know), put on my martyr mom hat and go outside in the rain to pick up.

7:50 start making breakfast

7:52 tell dogs to stop fighting, let them outside, continue making breakfast

8:00 let dogs back in

8:02 use towel that dogs are supposed to stand on when coming in to wipe the rest of the floor (we have Max trained to stop there and sit for a minute but with Casper there, forget it)

8:05 eat breakfast, read catechism and Bible about being thankful to God for everything. Laugh out loud

8:45 start kitchen cleanup

8:50 let dogs out again

9:00 let dogs in again, wipe floor

9:10 try to set up MUS DVD lesson for E; discover I still don't know how to work the "new" (2 months old) tv set

9:15 get J (son) to set up DVD; I'll learn another day; someone lets dogs out

9:20 remind kids they need to do schooltime today even with the excitement of dogs playing "vigorously" (looks like fighting to me) in the backyard

9:30 let dogs back in.

9:35 dogs start barking madly and running around the house, we determine they are barking at the high wind.

9:40 help E with her math; J watches his DVD lesson

9:45 husband looks out window and announces that a neighbor's recycle bin has been blown over and papers are flying all around the neighborhood in the high wind. Kids and I go out to pick them up. E asks if that will count as a "good turn" required for girl scouts. I ponder whether it "counts" when her real motive is to get out of math.

9:55 realize we are locked out of the house as I left my keys inside and husband is now in attic and can't hear the bell.

10:00 J learns how to climb over the fence.

10:45 math and cursive practice are finally finished.

10:55 J decides he needs more practice climbing the fence and that E needs to learn. I am too distracted with dogs and let them go.

11:15 Kids come in, dogs go out. J and I work on a report about George Washington for cub scouts Friday night. E writes a thank you card from her birthday 3 weeks ago.

11:25 dogs come in, floor is wiped, more laundry is started

11:30 keep working on report. E is still writing her letter and keeps coming to ask how to spell words. I wonder why she is asking how to spell "chaotic."

12:00 start thinking about lunch

12:15 eat lunch while reading history.

12:45 3 science experiments, very simple ones, one of which involves jello.

1:15 fill out lab sheets, eat jello

1:30 kids fold and put away laundry, I wash dishes.

1:45 take dogs out to play with new ball. Dogs fight over new ball. Muscle Casper into the house and play with Max.

2:00 bring Max in the house, husband takes Casper outside to play ball with him.

2:02 E and I can't stand Max's whining while watching Dad play with Casper, so we take him for a walk.

2:30 come home to find Casper still outside. New ball has been destroyed already.

After that it calmed down a little, I guess...



That was the end of my post. I don't remember much else except laundry, letting dogs in and out, and stumbling into the office where the seminarian was working and asking desperately if there was more coffee made. No, there wasn't. He offered to make some for me, but at 5 pm it didn't really matter. Instead, he offered to make a quick run to the local wine shop so we could have wine with dinner, a rare treat these days. Aaahhh....

Oh and there was a (mercifully short) lecture to the kids about the homeschool laws in the state of Pennsylvania and the fact that if we take every day off while Casper is visiting we will not get our required 180 days of "school" in. Because no matter how you count "schooltime" I don't think watching dogs tear up the backyard counts.

Edit: I don't know what's up with all the fonts. I can't change them!