Homeschooling Day in the Life

6:13 am: C wakes up. Crying, as usual. My kids are so NOT morning people. I get her some cereal and OJ and turn on the Backyardigans. I doze on the couch.

6:32: Backyardigans is over, so I turn on Barney. Who’s that new orange dinosaur? Riff? OK, he looks very odd. His face looks kinda, um, real. But creepy. And his voice is too deep. I’m getting freaked out, so I turn the channel. C doesn’t mind much, her Barney days are nearly over.

6:40: Put away some dishes, putter around the kitchen sleepily.

6:55: Wake up PHAT Daddy and I go back to sleep. This is not typical, I’ve just been staying up way too late the past few nights.

8:30 PHAT Daddy wakes me and heads into his office. I throw on some clothes and brush my hair & teeth. Then I get the kids dressed and sit at the dining room table having a cup of coffee.

8:45 The kids are looking out the window, waiting for the sitter to arrive. I get them each a little snack of strawberries and peanut butter so they won’t be hungry in an hour when the sitter is here.

9:10 Sitter arrives, I go upstairs to work.

11:30 Go downstairs to have a sandwich for lunch. The kids are in the sandbox and they’ve found a really cool caterpillar. After I eat, I look up the caterpillar online and find that it’s this: http://bugguide.net/node/view/505. I print out some info and take it down to show L and the sitter.

12:13 Bring the sitter home and go to the post office.

12:54 Leave the post office and head home. C still hasn’t fallen asleep.

1:01 We arrive home and C helps me feed the fish. She tries to throw old leaves into the fish pond. Then she sticks her hands in the pond and sucks the water off them. Time to go inside.

1:15 We have a quick snack. L is looking at a “Science for Kids” site and tells me that male cockroaches sometimes whistle at the females to get their attention. Then he reads how to make an invisible ink note with milk and a light bulb. I make a mental note to try that with him soon.

1:25 Try to put C down for a nap, but she is not the slightest bit interested. Read books, sing songs.

1:45 Give up on the nap. Swiffer the floor, which has sand and crumbs all over it. L asks to help, so I let him finish up the rest of the kitchen. What can I say, the boy loves to clean.

2:05 Kids decide to feed Baby Alive and change her diaper. I have coffee and a cookie. I get a few peaceful bites and sips before C realizes I’m eating and insists on joining me.

2:20 My arms itch like crazy and I put some calamine lotion on. It looks like poison ivy, even though I haven’t been near any kind of foliage in several weeks.

2:25 I play with C on a big pile of pillows. She likes to push me over. L plays Battlefront on PlayStation.

2:40 L decides to do the Star Wars word find and crossword puzzle I found online. (Here’s the link, but you have to be a paid member of the starwars.com web site to access it.) We have fun doing it together. I draw letters on paper for C and she colors all over them.

3:05 C is finally ready for a nap. L practices his “story.” This is where he pretends to be a Star Wars character and makes up a story around it. Then he will perform it for me or sometimes ask me to write it down for him.

3:42 L & PHAT Daddy go to play baseball. This is a nice break for me! I debate whether to nap or read blogs. Blogging wins.

5:02 Start cooking dinner.

5:15 C wakes up VERY cranky.

5:18 The boys return home. I try to cook while holding a very cranky little girl.

5:25 The boys are changed and washed up. Daddy takes C outside, but she’s still crying. I give her some red pepper and that makes her happy for a couple minutes.

5:45 Eat dinner: Penne with pepperoni meat sauce, garlic bread, salad and white wine.

6:05 Clean up dinner, kids play with Daddy.

6:24 We all go outside, Daddy brings the garbage to the curb, L & I clean more leaves out of the fish pond, C tries to throw the leaves back in.

6:44 I go inside, change into my jammies and check email.

7:09 Daddy & the kids come in, get jammies on. I do more of the Star Wars worksheets with L. Daddy & C play.

7:45 L starts cutting paper to make our own board game. He already has some good ideas for game cards. I read more news and a little of the Carnival of Homeschooling.

8:10 L pulls out another worksheet I printed off the web about clouds. He reads it and draws some cirrus clouds. He’s really into weather lately. I search online for more info and unit studies on weather. Bookmark some sites for later.

8:34 The kids play a couple rounds of hide-and-seek with Daddy.

8:48 I read some books and cuddle with C in bed.

9:20 Back in my room, L and Daddy are watching the Yankee game. I sit down on the bed and start typing this post. PHAT Daddy goes to the office and L falls asleep soon after.

11:00 Watch 10 minutes of a Sex in the City re-run and fall asleep.

Exciting stuff, folks, exciting stuff. All in all a good day and pretty typical of most of our days, except that we often go out for an activity when the sitter doesn’t come and I usually don’t get an hour and a half break late in the afternoon!

If you post your Homeschooling Day in the Life, be sure to let me know so I can add a link to you over at Homeschool Hacks.