A Typical Day
If alarm clocks go off at 5:00am, I pretend I don't hear them. They aren't for me. Steven, showered and dressed, wakes me at 5:30am and I roll out of bed and grab my fluffy robe as I stumble out to the living room for family scripture reading. We read for ten or fifteen minutes before Steven and Hannah grab their jackets and head out the door for seminary, and work, and school. The boys and I roll back into bed and are quickly asleep.
Around 6:30, a cat jumps on the bed and I glance at the clock and then close my eyes again and pretend that I don't have to get up yet. Ten minutes later, I'm standing in the shower letting the hot water massage my back as I rub the night's crust from my eyes and try to wake up completely. By 7am, I am out of the shower, dressed and on my way to wake the boys. John jumps up and retreats to his closet to get dressed almost instantly. Josh and Peter groan and stir and pull the blankets over their heads. I make sure Peter knows where his school uniform is, and then I finish getting myself ready.
In the kitchen, I empty the dishwasher, set bowls, spoons, and cereals on the table, change the cats water, refill their food dish and empty the cat litters. By this time, John is usually eating breakfast, and I eat with him. Sometimes Josh is ready in time to join us, too. At 7:30, I call out that it will be time to go in 15 minutes. John packs his lunch, Josh makes sure his lunch is in his backpack and that he has his homework. I continue the countdown, every five minutes, while I play the piano or sing, or otherwise make noise to make sure a certain someone isn't falling back asleep. At 7:45, John and Joshua are usually ready to head out the door, and I send them off to school.
That's usually about the time Peter stumbles out of his room, searching for his shoes. I'll let him know where I last saw them... under the desk, in the living room, or in the bathroom... and I'll start collecting the dirty laundry and getting it into the washer while he gets his shoes on and makes sure he has everything he needs in his backpack. When he is finally ready to go (usually about 7:55 - he can move fast when he needs to) we put on our coats and head out the door and to school. I sometimes think that Peter prefers walking with just me rather than when all four of us go together because he can talk to me without competition for my attention. We keep a brisk pace, and usually make it to school just in time for him to go inside to start the day.
I return home on my own, and usually go straight to the computer to check email, see if it's my turn to play Scrabble on Facebook, and spend about 20 minutes doing Indexing. I transfer the laundry to the dryer, check to see what's for dinner, and try to decide on something to blog about. After a while, I'll usually look around to see what around the house needs doing, and I'll try to spend a little while taking care of that. If I don't have specific plans for the day, it is easy for me to spend several hours on the computer, whether I'm browsing Facebook, reading blogs, creating logic puzzles, drawing in Photoshop, checking the state of our finances, searching for recipes, or whatever. Sometimes I'll find an episode of Doctor Who or Sherlock to watch while I'm folding laundry. Off the computer, I'll sometimes make bread or granola bars, or yogurt. Sometimes I'll sew or crochet or knit. I'll pull out my beads and wires and play with them for a while. I'll practice the piano or read a book. Today I took a long (3 mile) walk. Some days I remember to eat lunch, but other days I just graze, grabbing an apple, and an hour later some crackers, and a while later a slice of bread with butter.
At 3:15, I grab my jacket and head to school and walk back home with Joshua and Peter. They usually have plenty to tell me about their day as we walk. Once home, I ask if they have homework, and encourage them to change out of their uniform. Sometimes the homework gets done quickly, and sometimes I have to sit with them to help them focus and stay on track. When the homework is done, I'll let the kids play on the computer or watch a movie; often that is the incentive that gets the homework done! John walks home on his own, and he usually arrives home a few minutes before I do, but he usually has enough time to change and do his chores so he can spend the remainder of the afternoon coding/programming on Steven's laptop. Hannah arrives home any time between 3:30 and 6 or later, depending on what activities she has going on after school. (This week she was auditioning for some one-act plays.) Before long it is time to start on dinner so it will be ready when Steven gets home from work around 6pm.
Then come the evening activities, whether it is Family Home Evening, Scouts, Visiting Teaching, school activities or whatever. We appreciate the evenings when we can stay home and relax and maybe watch a movie together. Around 7:30pm, I start Josh and Peter packing their lunches and getting ready for bed. We try to have them alternate these tasks because it seems that if they are in the same room together, they distract each other and it takes ten times as long. By 8pm, the boys are supposed to be in their beds, quietly reading. That's usually when Steven and I will start preparing ourselves for bed, and between 9 and 9:30pm, our lights are off and we are headed to dreamland.
Around 6:30, a cat jumps on the bed and I glance at the clock and then close my eyes again and pretend that I don't have to get up yet. Ten minutes later, I'm standing in the shower letting the hot water massage my back as I rub the night's crust from my eyes and try to wake up completely. By 7am, I am out of the shower, dressed and on my way to wake the boys. John jumps up and retreats to his closet to get dressed almost instantly. Josh and Peter groan and stir and pull the blankets over their heads. I make sure Peter knows where his school uniform is, and then I finish getting myself ready.
In the kitchen, I empty the dishwasher, set bowls, spoons, and cereals on the table, change the cats water, refill their food dish and empty the cat litters. By this time, John is usually eating breakfast, and I eat with him. Sometimes Josh is ready in time to join us, too. At 7:30, I call out that it will be time to go in 15 minutes. John packs his lunch, Josh makes sure his lunch is in his backpack and that he has his homework. I continue the countdown, every five minutes, while I play the piano or sing, or otherwise make noise to make sure a certain someone isn't falling back asleep. At 7:45, John and Joshua are usually ready to head out the door, and I send them off to school.
That's usually about the time Peter stumbles out of his room, searching for his shoes. I'll let him know where I last saw them... under the desk, in the living room, or in the bathroom... and I'll start collecting the dirty laundry and getting it into the washer while he gets his shoes on and makes sure he has everything he needs in his backpack. When he is finally ready to go (usually about 7:55 - he can move fast when he needs to) we put on our coats and head out the door and to school. I sometimes think that Peter prefers walking with just me rather than when all four of us go together because he can talk to me without competition for my attention. We keep a brisk pace, and usually make it to school just in time for him to go inside to start the day.
I return home on my own, and usually go straight to the computer to check email, see if it's my turn to play Scrabble on Facebook, and spend about 20 minutes doing Indexing. I transfer the laundry to the dryer, check to see what's for dinner, and try to decide on something to blog about. After a while, I'll usually look around to see what around the house needs doing, and I'll try to spend a little while taking care of that. If I don't have specific plans for the day, it is easy for me to spend several hours on the computer, whether I'm browsing Facebook, reading blogs, creating logic puzzles, drawing in Photoshop, checking the state of our finances, searching for recipes, or whatever. Sometimes I'll find an episode of Doctor Who or Sherlock to watch while I'm folding laundry. Off the computer, I'll sometimes make bread or granola bars, or yogurt. Sometimes I'll sew or crochet or knit. I'll pull out my beads and wires and play with them for a while. I'll practice the piano or read a book. Today I took a long (3 mile) walk. Some days I remember to eat lunch, but other days I just graze, grabbing an apple, and an hour later some crackers, and a while later a slice of bread with butter.
At 3:15, I grab my jacket and head to school and walk back home with Joshua and Peter. They usually have plenty to tell me about their day as we walk. Once home, I ask if they have homework, and encourage them to change out of their uniform. Sometimes the homework gets done quickly, and sometimes I have to sit with them to help them focus and stay on track. When the homework is done, I'll let the kids play on the computer or watch a movie; often that is the incentive that gets the homework done! John walks home on his own, and he usually arrives home a few minutes before I do, but he usually has enough time to change and do his chores so he can spend the remainder of the afternoon coding/programming on Steven's laptop. Hannah arrives home any time between 3:30 and 6 or later, depending on what activities she has going on after school. (This week she was auditioning for some one-act plays.) Before long it is time to start on dinner so it will be ready when Steven gets home from work around 6pm.
Then come the evening activities, whether it is Family Home Evening, Scouts, Visiting Teaching, school activities or whatever. We appreciate the evenings when we can stay home and relax and maybe watch a movie together. Around 7:30pm, I start Josh and Peter packing their lunches and getting ready for bed. We try to have them alternate these tasks because it seems that if they are in the same room together, they distract each other and it takes ten times as long. By 8pm, the boys are supposed to be in their beds, quietly reading. That's usually when Steven and I will start preparing ourselves for bed, and between 9 and 9:30pm, our lights are off and we are headed to dreamland.
Comments
Post a Comment