A Day in the Life...

I was inspired by Farrar, over at I Capture The Rowhouse, with her recent Day in the Life post. This is just an overview of a pretty average day for us, not any particular day, but we can call it Tuesday (no evening activities like derby or fencing on Tuesdays!).

...6 am...
I'm up. Most days I take a shower first, though sometimes I have to hit that snooze button and get another 15 or so minutes of sleep. Then coffee, and I lay out breakfast stuff for the kids, or pop a batch of baked oatmeal into the oven (I prep it the night before). I also leave the kids and the husband little notes! And I usually try to wash the previous night's dinner dishes before taking off.

...7:30 am...
I'm off to work, smoothie or egg sandwich, depending on my mood, in hand. I leave a tiny bit early so I can take the pretty backroads instead of the horrid freeway. I get to work just before 8:00, and am there until 12:30 Monday through Thursday, and until noon on Fridays.

...Meanwhile...
The kids get up sometime between 8 and 10 most mornings. I do like it that they can sleep in, as both are adolescents, and have a different circadian rhythm than I do right now! They putter around, fixing breakfast, making tea, feeding the pets, and at some point, they get dressed. Morning is their free time (sort of the opposite of many homeschooling households). They might watch a TV show, play on the Wii or computer, spend time reading, sketching, etc. This is also the time of day that they work on projects with their dad.

...1 pm...
I am home, and fixing lunch! Generally, I eat a sandwich or a salad with some chicken and beans, while the kids have sandwiches, or quesadillas, and fruit/veggies. Sometimes we all have soup. Anyhow, while we eat, we watch something together, like Big History, Downton Abbey, Wild China/Africa/South America [or sometimes Lost]. We chat about their mornings, check the chickens, and all that.

...2 or 2:30 pm...
I read something out loud, like a story from Wild Muir, or a few sections from The Everyday History of Someplace. Then we get some math going! I get The Girl set up with Saxon, then work with The Boy on Jacobs Elementary Algebra. Once they have everything under control, I can work on something else for a bit -- housework, sewing, my homework -- though I am frequently interrupted to further explain something.

Reading goes for about 15-20 minutes. Math generally takes about 45 minutes, then we move on to writing, which is another half an hour or so.

...Around 4 pm...
Snack time and quiet reading time. I do not tell the kids what to read during this time, so on any given day, The Girl may be reading from Little House in the Big Woods, or a Wonder Woman comic, while The Boy spends time with books like The Maze Runner, or The Small Engine Handbook. After a good chunk of reading to ourselves, I read out loud from our current book choice, which right now is The Hobbit.

...4:45ish...
Science time! This can take the form of reading, or looking through the microscope, or working on a project, or watching a documentary.

...About 5:30 or 5:45, or even 6...
We're done with "school" for the day. The Girl often moves on to an art project, or making paper clothing for her Groovy Girls -- she's currently working on a line of girl super hero outfits (Bat Girl, Aqua Woman, Spiderwoman, etc.). The Boy will work on computer science, or engine work (he's rebuilding a four-stroke engine from a rototiller in our garage), or an art project. I catch up on whatever I need to around the house, and start prepping dinner.

...7:30 or 8...
We sit down to dinner. Yes, I am old-fashioned in that I like to eat at the table and talk, rather than sit in front of the TV. Last night (a Tuesday), we had veggie burgers on sourdough toast, salad, and salt potatoes with fresh minced chives.

...9ish...
We start winding down. I like the kids to be in bed by ten, though they can read for an hour after that. 10-11 is the time that I always set aside to hang out with M, since the rest of the day is so busy! We interact a lot during the day, but it's nice to have this time set aside. So the kids will have dessert (last night it was Kashi Dark Chocolate Almond Butter cookies), watch a TV show or play a game, and then brush their teeth and head off to bed. I try to make some tea for myself.

...11ish...
Good night!