A Typical Day

I am here, provided I can stay awake which has not been my strong point the past few days. Last night around 10, I just rolled over and dozed until Mark came home (helping out our church for B, B, and B). I got up briefly to brush my teeth, then just crawled back into bed to go to sleep again. Every day I think, "I need to post on the blog before I start doing other things" but then I get caught up in parent letters, Facebook, etc. And here it is, 11:23, and I am fighting to keep my eyes open.

So I have all kinds of things I could post, but sometimes I just like being spontaneous. So I thought I would post a typical day at our house (as typical as they get anyway; it is always an adventure around here :).

6:10 My first alarm (across the room so I have to get up) goes off. I turn if off and crawl back in bed for one last snooze. If Mark is exercising, I stretch out across the whole bed, praying and sleeping for a few more minutes.
6:20 The second alarm goes off. Now I have to get up. I usually check e-mail, pray a little more, or get up to take a shower if I didn't cross that off my list the night before. During this time, Mark starts getting breakfast ready for the kiddos; of course, they all want different things. Meanwhile the kids are getting dressed. Hopefully no drama! (Actually the drama has lessened TREMENDOUSLY as certain children have matured :)
6:40 We sit down for breakfast (all except Mark...he doesn't like breakfast that early). A typical breakfast for me is a bowl of cereal or a granola bar (none of them extremely healthy), a handful of pistachios, and a glass of Cran-Grape juice. The girls would have Pop Tarts every day except we only let them have two a week so they have to "broaden" their horizons. :) The youngest loves him some Cheerios and thinks it cannot be breakfast without a banana. And the oldest is an oatmeal guy; he could probably have it every day and not complain.
7:00 Breakfast is over whether you are done or not. The rat race begins. The girls brush hair and teeth, put on shoes, make their beds. Child 1 does much of the same but with the Razorback fight song playing loudly in his bedroom. And Child 4 takes the time to play. Sometimes he play "guitar" for me (a toy one), sometimes he goes through my jewelry (costume necklaces), sometimes he hangs out in the closet. He is just busy. Thankfully, much of the time, if Big Sister gets ready in time, she is right there to entertain which helps us so much.
7:27 We (Me and the three) head for the car, grabbing lunches, backpacks, etc in the process. Meanwhile, Mark is getting Child 4 dressed and heading out himself. For whatever reason, that child has decided he would rather not get dressed so there is usually a game of catch going on in our house. :)
7:35 Arrive at school. Quick funny. One day I sent Child 3 to the cafeteria (which is where most kids go) after some disagreeable behavior. Usually my kids hang out in my room until the bell rings. They think of it as a privilege. Well, Little Miss wasn't happy to go that day but ever since then, she has asked to go there every morning! They dance a lot in the cafeteria with the principals; apparently she has a lot of fun in there.
7:45 The bell rings. My kids hightail it out. They both want to be first to their classrooms. I don't know why. They aren't afforded any special privileges for doing it, but they are raring to go. Meanwhile my kids/students start trickling in for the next fifteen minutes. I try to stand at the door to greet them, catch up on announcements with my co-workers, etc.
8:00 The official bell rings, meaning school has started.
10:45 After dropping my students off in the lunchroom (provided it is not one of my duty days), I will usually eat. However, today I did a quick trip to the grocery store because the thought of taking my little darlings after school did NOT appeal to me. I would rather give up some eat time than do that!

Note: I am not going into school detail since I usually share that schedule around teacher appreciation week...though I only seem to make it to lunch even though we truly have more school after lunch. :)

3:00 School is dismissed. The kids hang out in my room. Usually the first few minutes I am trying to get the room ready for tomorrow while I have children (my own) buzzing around telling me tidbits about their day, asking to play with friends, etc.
3:20 We head out the door. I have tried to never stay too late, especially with kids. And last year I worked really hard to leave by 4. It really isn't ideal to head out so fast; I have to fit in my work somehow. But for now, it is good for Child 4 after being in daycare. He needs to know we are still here. So for now, I am making it work. I get my work done, just on a different time schedule.
3:30 I have three or four kids in tow, depending on the day. Unless it was a day like today when Child 1 somehow missed his swim team van. So now we have an unexpected trip in our afternoon schedule.
3:40 We are home! Child 4 thinks as soon as we get home, it is time for snacks. It doesn't matter that he JUST had one at daycare. He just thinks that is what he does. So he does as well as any other child. Meanwhile, I try to straighten up the kitchen, start laundry, or take care of school papers for the big kids.
4:00 If it is nice, we typically head outside. On a rare occasion, I need to get some things done inside, so that means we all stay in. :)

One thing I have noticed coming home a little earlier is that I have a little more time to work on home stuff, like laundry. It doesn't mean I always keep up with it like I should, but it does help.

5:00 I assign "chores" for the bigger kids. Today one had the dishwasher. It was so cute; Child 4 really wanted to "help". So she patiently let him hand her any of the plastic dishes, utensils, etc. Meanwhile, I worked on dinner. Sometimes I am "homework" checker during this time period. It is never dull!
5:30 Sometimes if I need a little peace while I work on dinner, we will watch Sesame Street or Thomas. I don't like to use t.v. often but sometimes it is just a necessity! Now tonight was gymnastics night for Child 2. So Mark came home, I took the gymnast to her class, and shortly afterwards, Mark left with the other two to go pick up our little/big swimmer. Then they came home and helped finish up supper preparation.
6:30 Dinnertime. Child 4 thinks he is starving by this point, no matter how big his snack was. He becomes a bit unreasonable. We have made the rule he cannot be in the kitchen while we are getting plates ready...it just isn't safe with hot dishes and a child underfoot. Some nights he will follow that rule, some days he is too despondent since he is convinced he is starving. Then he takes a little break in his crib, which believe it or not, he enjoys being in. When dishes are ready, we gather round to eat.
7:00 Dinner clean up. Meanwhile we start the showering process, with Child 3 almost always going first so she can get to bed first. Thankfully she can now shower on her own...we are doing a happy dance over that! During that time, we usually gather in the living room. Some nights we watch a little t.v. (like a cooking show, our newest "thing"), sometimes we play a game, sometimes it is just a wrestle and play time for the youngest.
7:45 Child 3 is ready for a book while Child 4 is ready for a bath. Mark offers to bathe himalmost every day which is a huge help to me. We usually alternate the rest of the bedtime routine with him. Whoever is not "on" with him is reading to the rest of the crew. As close to 8 as possible, Child 3 is in bed with Child 4 not far behind her. The big kids have a "new bedtime" of 8:30 which they enjoy. (Like getting to play a rousing game of Hogopoly the other night). Sometimes I miss that half hour of extra freedom but it isn't too bad. :)
8:30 Finally the last child is in bed. Sometimes we chat for a bit, then usually we take a little time for ourselves. I sometimes exercise, check e-mail, work on projects, etc. It just depends on the day and my energy level. This is also my time to Facebook, "farm" on FB, and read others' blogs.
12:00 usually the time I actually head to bed...

Except tonight when I am really late.

Night night!
Reba