Day in the Life ~ January Edition

It is a new year and there are some new things going on around our home.  For one, we are on a schedule now.  I have tried schedules in the past with poor results.  I always wanted a schedule, but we don't have a single day that is the same as another.  I think I thought of schedules as a rigid thing that must be followed perfectly.  Recently, I heard another mother say that a schedule helps her know where she is supposed to be after a disruption.  I liked that idea, but I still had to get around every day being different due to so many medical and therapy appointments, plus various dance classes.  I finally wrote up a schedule for each day of the work week.  We are on our second week with this schedule, and I only see a little bit of tweaking to do.  We are getting to some priorities that were being neglected before, and there is a lot less arguing at transitions.


We also made a few more changes.  I dropped speech therapy for Goldilocks.  I was seeing very few results and it was taking time away from other important things.  I will re-evaluate the need for speech this summer.  Also, Tim (our 21 year old special needs son) decided to rejoin us for part of the school day.  He will be working on writing skills with me.  He wants to do some form of college in the fall, and poor writing skills is holding him back.  Lastly, our journey with Tom Sawyer's allergies last March have led us to the realization that our Goldilocks has some pretty serious health issues as well.  It looks like she has a genetic condition that we did not previously know about.  Now, Tom Sawyer must be tested as well, since they are full blood siblings.  We will know exactly what the condition is on the 18th when the most recent blood work comes back.  The doctor told us to brace for another lifestyle change and some hoops to jump through in the coming months while we get our kids to their optimum health.  Wow, that is a lot to say. 
We have homeschooled for 13 years.  Our kids are 21, 11, 9 and 8. Now on with a day in the life.

6:30 am ~  Woke up and found a little person sleeping next to me.  I cuddled for awhile with her.
7:00 am ~ I made breakfast for everyone and made dh's lunch.  The news was on in the background.  Tom Sawyer (9) woke up and joined us.
7:30 am ~ Everyone else woke up and arrived for breakfast.  The TV was turned off.  Dh left for work and I had my 30 minutes of blogging time.
8:00 am ~ The kids had 30 minutes of free time.  I got dressed and showered and Tim walked the dog.  ( A neat thing about turning off the TV when my husband leaves is the creativity that I see in the children first thing in the morning.  They are no longer staring at the TV and then whining when I say it is time to do something else.)

Lego Play

8:30 am ~ Chore time...The kids helped me unload the dishwasher, mop the floor of two rooms, and changed the sheets on most of the beds.

9:00 am ~ We all had 7 minutes of Wii Fit time each (except Tim who was doing chores).  The kids love to use the Wii Fit +.  The rule is they have to drink a full glass of water before having their turn.  This is my clever way of getting more water into them!

9:30 am ~ We had reading time.  In theory, we are all supposed to get to read, but I am still helping a weak reader or two most of the time.  I hope in the next few weeks I will get more personal reading time.

This American Girl Doll book is really too hard for Goldilocks, but it is so nice to see her trying to read at all.

10:00 am ~ The kids watched a 30 minute documentary on Winslow Homer (art) while I got Timothy started on his writing project.  We then had seat work time and the kids did Jump or Mammoth math (math) and Explode the Code (language arts).  Then the kids finished their thank you notes from Christmas (language arts).  Next, we read a chapter from the elementary grades level series of Life of Fred (math).  We then did a picture study of "Snap the Whip" by Winslow Homer and started a coloring page of "Snap the Whip" (art).  We finished up our seat time with a Focus on the Family story about a foster child who saves a family member in his new home.  This story was a wonderful segue into reviewing emergency numbers, our address and how to calm down and think in a crisis.  It also allowed for any feelings around two of our kids being foster children before we adopted them.  I like to give them opportunities to express themselves and sometimes a good story is an appropriate trigger (social skills, health).



12:00 pm ~ I made lunch while Tim helped the kids with a puzzle.  Tom Sawyer also soaked his feet for 15 minutes in Epsom salts to help detox him (occupational therapy).

12:30 pm ~ Lunch time

1:00 pm ~ Everyone had free time.  The girls played My Little Ponies and watched some My Little Pony clips on YouTube.  Tom Sawyer played on the Wii and played with Legos while I made phone calls. 

2:30 pm ~ The kids took care of their pets and had some play time with one of the dogs.

3:00 pm ~ We had Tea Time and read the book, Mimi, A Norman Rockwell Character Story  (literature).
3:30 pm ~ Tom Sawyer had play time with Tim.  They have an arranged playtime each day.  This has helped both of them with their relationship.

They played on the Wii today.

4:00 pm ~ We did chore time and got ready to leave for Goldilock's dancing lesson.

6:00 pm ~ We are home.  Timothy made twice baked potatoes with broccoli and cheese. 

6:30 pm ~ We played a loud family game of Monopoly.

7:30 pm ~ Everyone got ready for bed.  The kids either had story or watched a DVD of an episode from the old TV series, "The Walton's".

The end of another productive day.

Blessings,

Dawn