Before I dive into our TGIF Linky Party, I have a treat for you! I am premiering a new series – A Day in the Life of Another Mom! This series will be moving to Saturdays, but I wanted to kick it off with my fabulous party friends!
I don’t know about you, but there are days when I wish I could be a fly on the wall in someone else’s home. Is that Mom always that put together? What time do they get up? Do the kids ever fight…. and how does she deal with fighting? Does she do crafts every day? I think we all have a natural curiosity of what other families are like. We want to see what we already know – no family is perfect. AND we want to glean tips and strategies to make our days more effective, fun, and intentional.
So with that in mind I am starting a new series – A Day in Life of Another Mom. So prepare to be a fly on the wall as you see what a day is like for another Mom. And to get things started, I thought I would go first =-)
A Day in the Life of a Homeschooling Mom with Little Ones by Yours Truly =-)
Bright & Early
My day starts at 5am. Go ahead and gasp! My kids are early risers so if I am going to get anything done…. I have to get up even earlier! Sometimes I may grab a cup of coffee (we have a Keurig my hubby got for Christmas a couple years ago), but I am not a habitual coffee drinker so it is anyone’s guess if I will or not that day. Next I have been going through a Proverbs 31 study in the morning. Then I check and respond to personal & blog related emails. I work on any posts I have in process and share my post for the day on Twitter, Facebook, and KBN Pinterest Board.
The Pitter Patter of Little Feet
If I’m so lucky, I won’t here the pitter patter of little feet until 6:30am. Sometimes they creep down the stairs BEFORE 6! Way too early. If they get up before 6 they are sent back to bed! So now it is time to give my kiddos my full attention: morning hugs & kisses, get the kids dressed, brush Minnie’s hair (usually with some complaints that it hurts. Sometimes it is more dramatic than others. (I found that if I can style it while she watches 5 minutes of Curious George, Mickey Mouse, or another favorite show she doesn’t complain at all!) At this point I usually call my husband’s cell phone to remind him to stop working (he gets in some extra work time in his basement office in the morning) and come upstairs.
Breakfast Time & Morning Walk
We usually eat breakfast about 7am. Today we are eating Honey Nut Cheerios. Many days we just have cereal or homemade oatmeal (a favorite in our house – especially with fresh fruit!). Sometimes I am on the ball and will make eggs or muffins. So glad everyone is cheerful and there is time for our family morning walk today. I love this time to get out and get some fresh air, stretch my legs, help the kids get some exercise, and chat with my hubby while the kids run ahead. We are not diehards though, if it is really hot and muggy or in the winter we do not walk. But if it is 50-84 degrees we will walk.
Daddy Departs & Mickey Mouse time!
At 8am my hubby kisses the kids and goes to work (in the basement – so blessed with the short commute!) I plop the kids in front of the TV at this point to watch 30 minutes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. This is my “prep period.” I quickly pop out front to water our hanging baskets and then check the calendar to see if there is anything on the calendar for the day – today is Big Balloon Dinner at the library.
Our Morning
At 8:30 on the dot the kids are running in the other room announcing the show is done and asking what we are going to do now. Since the weather is nice we pop out back and survey our garden. The kids each bring a bowl to collect blackberries from our bushes. We use the other bowl to collect about 6 cucumbers – I’ll need to make time to make pickles today or tomorrow. Goofy runs off to play castle and Minnie goes into our play house to make some tea. Tinker Bell (as per usual) wants to be pushed in the swing. No big craft project today – I am actually a little glad I don’t have to clean up from it.
It’s 10:30 now and time to get ready for the library. We start looking around for library books to return. The kids use the bathroom and we spend about 10 minutes looking for a missing shoe (does that ever happen at your house?!) We are finally ready to go… running later than I wanted so I hurry the kids. I really don’t like being late. We get to the show just as the doors are opening. The show is AMAZING and I thoroughly enjoy watching the kids giggle at the balloon artist. We are so blessed to have such a good public library.
Lunch Time
We get home shortly before noon so I decide to pop some potatoes in the microwave. No fancy lunch today! Daddy joins us for baked potatoes with cheese & chives and an apple. The kids each get to pick a favorite story and I read 3 books. Then the two older kiddos are left with instructions to clean the ‘school room’ while I put Tinker Bell down for a nap.
School Time
For the next 3 hours (give or take) we have school time in our house. Minnie works through the days workbox showing me each activity as she finishes. She LOVES doing school. Big brother gets a little frustrated that Minnie does more “fun” things that he does…. but he keeps going. We spend about 30 minutes doing Language Arts, 30 minutes for Math, 5 minutes looking at new postcards we got in the mail for our USA Postcard Swap, 30 minutes reading books and doing a craft for our Westward Expansion Unit, and 20 minutes or so in Music (Color the Classics). Then, we cuddle up on the couch for me to read a couple school related books to the kids and for Goofy to read to us.
More Play Time
It’s 4pm now – how Tinker bell sure took a long nap today – she must be growing! I can hear her mobile on – that is how she ‘announces’ to us she is awake. So I get her and then we work on making cards for Grandma’s birthday. The big 70 this year! It is dreadfully muggy outside so we decide to play games inside until dinner. We play one of our favorites Curious George Visits the Zoo. Now it’s time for me to make dinner. Since Goofy did so well at school today I let him play some educational games on the ipad while the girls play kitchen. I have to referee one girl took the other girls pretend food, but no major calamities today =-)
Dinner Time – Come and Get it!
We call Daddy up and eat dinner about 5:30. I grilled for super tonight: grilled chicken, zucchini & yellow squash packet (from our garden), and homemade potato fries. It is so nice not to heat up the house on hot days like today! I also use our 3 ingredient recipe to make ice cream and turn it on just before I call everyone to the table – that way it will be ready just in time for dessert. After dinner we all pile in the car and pop over to Target to pick up a couple odds & ends we are missing. So glad Target has the big carts! We of course stop to browse in the dollar section – my favorite place to find treasures to tuck away for vacation gifts or school prizes!
Bed Time
We get back form Target about 7:20 and put away the groceries. Everyone goes upstairs to brush teeth and get ready for bed. Then everyone piles on our bed as I read one of our favorite books Tippy, Tippy, Tippy Hide! Then we have our family devotion time (currently from one of Kenneth Taylor’s book), we read from the Bible, sing, and pray together. I have the kids tell me their favorite thing they did that day. After we all share the kiddos get tucked in bed and drift to sleep listening to a Disney CD story. Usually Goofy gets to stay up later and read to Daddy, but it is almost 8pm – so not tonight.
My time!
Usually at this point my hubby & I cuddle up on the couch to stream a TV show (we tend not to watch things live because of timing and cutting out commercials), but he has to finish up a couple things for work. So I take the time to finish up a Preschool Pack I was working on – Egypt. It is now 9pm and I finally get some time to cuddle up on the couch with my hubby! My hubby is feeling a little under the weather so he ends up falling asleep as we watch Falling Skies (we love Sci Fi). Then it is up to bed to fold some laundry and then drift to sleep watching reruns of The Big Bang Theory. And we are drifting to sleep by 10:30pm…. Good Night! ~Beth
What is your day like?
Would you like to contribute to A Day in the Life of Another Mom? We’d love to read about your day! This series will be ongoing as long as there are people willing to give us all a glimpse into their lives. If you would like to share A Day in Your Life please email me your day to livinglifeintentionallyblog (at) gmail.com. Feel free to include a picture (s). I will let you know when it will be posted. (If you have a blog please let me know as I will include a link to your blog in the post.)
Now on to our weekly TGIF Linky Party!!
Thanks everyone for linking up & sharing your creativity with the rest of us! I really do enjoy seeing all your creative ideas every week. After a few posts from the new series I will go back to featuring your posts! By linking up you give me permission to use a picture from your post to feature you. Pictures will only be used to feature you above and will always contain a link directly to your blog.