So...What Do You Do All Day?

If you're a stay at home mom, I can guarantee you've fielded this question once or twice. If you homeschool, the same is true. Some ask because they honestly have no idea what a person could possibly do all day at home with children. Some ask because they are thinking about making a change and want some insight into the "at home" world. Some are just giddy with curiosity about what it's like homeschooling a relatively large family. Others, sadly, are asking the question to find out how you might be failing your children. For all of these reasons today I decided to keep tabs of all we do, so others can gain a little insight into the life of this one homeschooling family.

6:30 - 7:30 - I woke to find DH up and watching a little morning news. Lee was already up and having his first breakfast of 3 pieces of cinnamon sugar toast and water. I washed up, dressed, made the bed, opened some shades, folded a load of laundry, checked emails and started on making pancakes. DH shut down the sprinklers; it was a frosty night on the cranberry marsh.

7:30 - 8:30 - The girls and Ray got up and joined us at the breakfast table. Lee was having his second breakfast of 4 pancakes and juice. Ray helped me make a Mickey Mouse pancake using blueberries for his face. We all ate. Cranberry juice was spilled to the floor. The kids did their morning jobs. They dressed, made beds, brushed teeth, put away their clean laundry, fed the animals, folded socks and collected dirty laundry and practiced instruments. Lee and Ray finished quickly, so they headed out to check their chipmunk traps. Grace joined them for a little morning bike riding, while Lou stayed in to practice piano. She's a little slow in the morning, therefore, not getting much play time before school. I tidied up the kitchen, loaded the dishwasher, made some mental notes regarding a lunch menu, brushed my teeth, started a load of laundry and read a few blogs.

8:30-9:30 - DH did some paper work and then left for a weed management seminar. I balanced the checkbook, switched over the laundry, filled out a rebate form, and filled out the registration form for Something for Summer. Grace settled in to do math and spelling. I helped her with an estimation problem, otherwise no concerns. Lee worked on language arts and spelling. Lou and Ray played babies with all the new baby gear - car seat, bouncy seat, baby swing.

9:30 - 10:30 - I gave Lee his spelling test and checked his language assignment, folded laundry and put it away, started another load of wash, wiped down the bathroom sink and toilet and suggested the kids have a snack of cheese and crackers. They all took a break to snack and check on the baby chicks. Grace and Lou collected trash and took it to the dumpster.

10:30-11:30 - Lou and Ray played music and danced, dressed up and played with their dolls outside and checked on their pet turtle, Rocky. Grace biked to the mailbox to send out my rebate and then read a couple chapters from her current Narnia read. Lee read 10 pgs. from his current book and then started math. I wiped up the cheese and cracker mess, swept the kitchen floor, placed a few more items in the dishwasher and did a quick pickup around the dining table.

11:30 - 12:30 - Reheated leftover soup, applesauce and chip salad for lunch. Definition of chip salad - a mixed variety of chips and crackers in a bowl, usually the bottom of the bag chips which have been hanging around in the pantry for a few weeks, also usually eaten with a spoon due to small size of chip pieces. DH got home just in time for lunch. Grape Kool-Aid was almost spilled. The kids had ice cream for dessert while DH and I read through the mail. I tidied the kitchen, loaded the dishwasher and started it and washed remaining dishes.

12:30 - 1:30 - DH headed out to work. Grace started mowing the lawn. Lou did her math. Lee continued with his math. I explained the terms: average, mean, median, range and mode to him and then he finished his assignment. Ray played outside. I basically helped Lou with her math.

1:30 - 2:30 - I started typing up this blog post. Grace continued mowing. Lee and Ray caught a frog and worked on setting up a habitat for it. They found some info in the Creepy Crawlies book. Lee complained that his aquarium isn't large enough and tried making a case for us having a kiddie pool in the porch for critters. Case denied. Lou wanted to do another math page so I helped her with that and answered many questions regarding frog habitats because I must be the expert.

2:30 - 3:30 - The boys continued working on their frog habitat, digging up some dirt, collecting cattail leaves, searching for worms, finding just the right rocks, etc. Ray and I made peanut butter cookies. Grace finished mowing and had a snack.

3:30 - 4:30 - I unloaded the dishwasher, made a few phone calls and then called everyone in to get ready for a funeral visitation.

4:30-5:30 - We all went to the visitation and then Grace and I left for violin.

5:30 - 6:30 - DH sharpened the mower blades. Lee peeled oranges for supper and the others played. Grace and I were in town for violin.

6:30 - 7:30 - Grace and I returned home for pizza and movie night. We had freezer pizzas, orange wedges, water and peanut butter cookies while watching National Treasure.

9:00 - Kids went to bed and DH and I attempted to watch 27 Dresses. We both fell asleep on the couch and finally woke and went to bed around 11pm.

So that's one day in my life. Not a very exciting day, but a very average day.