Read part of an article the other day about how perfect life was as a stay-at-home mom. I couldn't tell if it was satire or simply misleading. The author spoke of how she has so much time to keep her home spotless, herself and her kids well cared for, etc. I call a bunch of hooey.
So I thought I might try my hand at an honest look at life as a stay at home, homeschooling momma.
We wake up early (between 6 and 6:30am) in time to fix Daddy his lunch and wave goodbye as he leaves for work. Our toddler usually is starving at this point so we eat breakfast. Breakfast typically includes me telling our older two to "find something to eat, you know what we have, make a choice and come eat." I keep several choices on hand and don't have the brain power to cater breakfast time. Our little guy usually has yogurt or oatmeal with me.
After breakfast, the older two have kitchen clean up duty which includes sweeping, wiping down surfaces, and dishes. Since we are potty training, I take the little man to the bathroom and then get him dressed for the day. Some days he is the only one who makes it to the fully dressed stage besides Daddy! Then he usually asks for mommy to "play with you" so I hang out with him for at least 15-20 minutes while the girls finish their kitchen clean up. We go every 45-60 minutes to the potty...all day long. So interruptions are frequent!
After this, sometimes I have the girls watch their little brother so I can bathe. And, no, this is not a relaxing time for myself. It's often a mad dash to clean up so I don't feel grimy and get out before chaos ensues. On many occasions my little guy barges into the bathroom and starts throwing toys into the bath and begging/crying to get in and join me while his sisters are close on his tail trying to get him back out of the bathroom...when I am finished, my girls have to complete their morning chore of cleaning themselves up. They often stay in pajamas so they don't have much dirty laundry (and thus escape having to do their own laundry for a little longer). We did have to make a rule that hair and teeth get brushed, deodorant is applied, and clean undies are put on.
Around 8:00am we gather together to do our Faith & Character time where we have a bible lesson, learning scripture, or learn about a missionary, and on Wednesdays we do worship time using YouTube on the TV so our little guy can enjoy dancing to the music and we can learn all the proper lyrics!
Then if we're lucky, our little guy will play on his own a bit and I will do a Language Arts lesson with my younger daughter. My older daughter does her own individual work, and has also been assigned to entertain her brother if he is unable to play contentedly on his own while mom is busy.
The girls switch responsibilities next, and then while they finish some individual work, I do a learning activity with our toddler. Somedays everything flows smoothly and we have some free time before lunch at 11:30am. Other days, it's chaotic and we are pushing to get things done before lunch. The smooth days are where I get to start a load of laundry and possibly even get some folding done of clean laundry. Notice there has been very little down time for anybody except the little guy.
Lunch, sometimes we cook, sometimes we just pull out all the leftovers and I have to be bossy about making sure I'm not the only one eating the leftovers, and the kids make healthy choices. After lunch is the golden time of day when we put our little guy down for nap. He doesn't always nap, but he is good about staying in his room. I go through his nap routine while the girls finish their kitchen duty.
Then we get down to business with their math lesson. I teach the lesson from the book, they do some practice problems to show they understand the concepts, and then I have a few moments to myself while they do their homework problems for the day. This is usually when I scroll through Facebook or play my Facebook game in between their calls for help when they get to a problem that confuses them. It's inevitable. The moment my rear end hits the chair and my feet recline is the moment they say, "Mom, I need help!" Being pregnant does not make it easy to get back out of the chair! When my brain isn't already fried, I use my down time to make phone calls and accomplish my grocery list for the next week.
Math is followed by history and science, which we do together in the living room. I've organized our lessons on a Microsoft Word program, so we simply open up the document and click on the links to follow the day's curriculum plan.
After this, school is finished for the day. Anytime between 2:30 and 3:30pm depending on how things have gone and how time consuming the afternoon's curriculum was. I give the girls free time to go and play, when it is nice out, I kick them outside to get some fresh air and exercise.
If I'm lucky, I will have some time to myself before our toddler wakes up. When he does get up, I give him a little snack and we play. I've still not accomplished much housework and often have completely forgotten about any laundry I may have started earlier that day.
By 4:30pm, Daddy is home and I'm needing to start dinner. One of the girls is my helper with cooking and preparing dinner while the other one plays with their brother. My hubby is often sore and retreats to his ergonomic chair and heating pad until dinner time in hopes that he will be able to spend some family time after dinner instead of needing to go back downstairs to try and take care of his back again.
Once supper is finished -anywhere between 6:00-6:30pm, our remaining time is much more flexible and spent together. Sometimes the kids go off and play on their own. Sometimes I hang out with my toddler and hubby. Other times, I'm spending more time with our little guy until he goes to bed. Once he is in bed, the girls have quiet time where they either read books or play quietly together until their bed time. Then my hubby and I spend time as adults...ideally without kid interruption. We usually watch shows together, or on nights like tonight, his body forces him back to his ergonomic chair and I spend time doing my own thing: researching homeschooling stuff, working on lesson plans, putting my feet up and spending time on the computer, etc... (not doing housework, unless it is me rearranging something). Housework is mostly done on Saturdays and Sundays, or assigned as extra chores when the kids misbehave. It's not a perfect system, but it works for now. Next fall we'll add a baby to the mix and this whole typical routine here will not be the same.
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