A Day in the Life ~ One Crazy, Busy Day

Now and again, I like to post a day in our lives so that I can remember what it was like when I am old and grey. I am frequently asked what a day really looks like around here. Well, each day looks different! Hopefully, they are all filled with love, learning, consistency, clean and well-fed children and parents who still feel sane at the end of the day. This was one of those days that looked feasible on paper, but was really difficult to get through. I did a whole lot of sighing throughout the day, and I am not sure how sane I was at the end of it. The kids were fed, clothed and loved! What they did for "school" is in bold.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

6:50 am ~ Yikes, I woke up late. But, I can still get the day on track, right? The next hour is filled with breakfast, making lunches for my husband and oldest son, and making sure that the boys get all of their morning supplements. Tom Sawyer takes supplements to help heal his gut and reduce his allergies and Tim takes supplements to reduce his anxiety and stress levels. Tim's newest supplement is Inositol. It seems to be helping more than other things we have tried.

7:40 am ~ Tom Sawyer (my early riser) has joined me and we are working out on the Wii. I have worked out for 20 minutes or more every day for the last week. Woo whoo!

8:20 am ~ Everyone is awake, dressed, fed and in full motion. Goldilocks is super chatty and loud this morning, which is not a good sign of how well she is going to function. I give her some Bach's Rescue Remedy with the hope that it will calm her nerves. It proves not to help much. The kids do their just five things (clean clothes on, brush hair and teeth, breakfast, make beds, and watch CNN Student News).

8:55 am ~ We are still running late. We head off to drop Tim (23) at his day program for brain injured individuals. This has been such a great program for him. He is enjoying all of the volunteer opportunities and field trips they attend. This week the participants went on a pumpkin picking field trip, worked at an animal shelter, attended a Halloween party and had a work day at their building, which included gardening, playing games and cooking class.

Boomer, my co-pilot

We listened to an audiobook, Centerburg Tales, (literature) most of the time we were in the car today. That was about 2 hours of literature.

9:20 am ~ Back home again ... We watched several clips from www.history.com about the history of Halloween, witches, and how candy corn is made (which seemed totally gross to those of us who eat a healthy diet). Tom Sawyer said it was a relief he didn't have to eat those chemicals!! (history)

9:45 am ~ This is the point that we split up our learning. Tom Sawyer (11) and Little Red Riding Hood (10) stay with me and Goldilocks (12) goes to her room to learn. For the next two hours, Goldilocks will do her assignments in her room with me checking in on her 30 minutes or so. This morning she is listening to Sarah Plain and Tall (literature), doing worksheets from the Magic Tree House website from her reading of the book, Revolutionary War on Wednesday (language arts), doing multiplication worksheets (math), completing three pages of Draw Write Now (art and language arts), writing five spelling word sentences (language arts) and determining which clothes on her floor are clean/dirty (life skills).

Tom Sawyer and Little Red Riding Hood do a spelling lesson from All About Spelling (language arts). Then they listen to Your Story Hour ~ McKinley (history). By this point, I am looking at the rest of the day and think I may need help in the afternoon. So, I call my Mom and the kids start goofing off. Insert lots of mom sighing here...and whining from the kids. The kids take turns doing Teaching Textbooks (math) and workbook pages (language arts). Lastly, they read their books for 15 minutes (language arts).

12:00 pm ~ We are done with the core of our school for the day. The kids and I eat a quick lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches (grain-free bread for Tom Sawyer) and carrots. The kids have 30 minutes of free time before we head off for occupational therapy (OT).

1:00 pm ~ While Tom Sawyer is in OT, the girls and I go shopping at a nearby grocery store. On our way back, we discover a great park just a block from OT. That will be great in the future.

2:10 pm ~ We leave OT and head to pick up Tim. We are running late again!! We pick him up and go home.

2:30 pm ~ The kids have 45 minutes of free time and I go through email and phone messages. My husband calls to say he is feeling really sick but is finishing out the day at work. I am disappointed to realize that I am going to have to take everyone to dance in the evening. More sighing and worrying about how I am going to get through the rest of day. Grandma to the rescue. Grandma volunteers to come and make dinner for the guys and help Tim get his Halloween costume together for tomorrow.

3:15 pm ~ The kids and I do the most necessary chores (dishwasher, wipe down sinks, sweep kitchen and rotate laundry). We listen to songs on YouTube while we work (Mindcraft songs, The Piano Guys and My Fair Lady).

4:00 pm ~ We drop off Tom Sawyer and Little Red Riding Hood at dance. Goldilocks and I go to the library.

5:00 pm ~ We are back at dance and Tom Sawyer's class is over. Little Red Riding Hood has another 1.5 hours to go. I am worn out and we decide to look at our new library books, hang out with friends and rest in the dance studio waiting room. Goldilocks makes several social skills mistakes (including jumping into a teenager's arms, which makes that girl drop what she was holding, and then insisting on being carried). When I correct her behavior, she gives me lots of sassy attitude.

6:30 pm ~ Tim is dropped off for fencing at the same dance studio and the rest of us head out for dinner. Tonight, I am feeding the kids at Subway. Usually, we would eat dinner at home or I would have packed a "picnic". I get Tom Sawyer a Subway salad since he can't eat the bread.

7:00 pm ~ We are finally home. The kids start taking baths and hearing stories from Dad. There is just one more trip out tonight. Tim needs to be picked up from his fencing class. We made it!

Blessings, Dawn