I thought it might be fun to give a run down of a typical day. Mostly for myself, so I can look back on this time years from now and remember what it's like. Also for my family who may wonder why I never have time to call. And to encourage anyone else in the trenches: you're not alone.
5:15am: Baby wakes up. Already was up to feed him at 2am, but since I went to bed at 9pm the night before I really got plenty of sleep. Somehow though, the sleep between 5am and 6am is particularly restful for me. Missing that today.
6:00am: Husband plays with baby while I make coffee and check my email for the first time. We drink coffee, talk, I do some dishes and get the day started.
7:45am: Take the big kids to school. I load up all the kids in the van, a couple of them are eating toast while we drive. The biggest kid says he forgot to wash his basketball jersey for his game tonight. I suggest that wearing a stinky jersey that's just going to get stinky again is no big deal, but he's not convinced. I'll wash it for him but not tell him that until I pick him up this afternoon. We listen to John MacArthur on the way home.
8:30am I feed the baby his breakfast (applesauce and baby oatmeal) and put him down for a morning nap since he's been up since 5:15! Get the homeschool kids started on some work.
We all work to pick up the house a little since we have Ruth's piano teacher and our homeschool teacher coming over today. The kids need snacks.
10:00am Ruth has her piano lesson with her wonderful teacher. Ruth is really loving learning the piano. Eventually Ben wakes up from his nap and nurses. We finish school work and I finish grading their work from the last month to be ready to show their CT (Credentialed Teacher). The kids eat lunch. Teacher calls and says she'll be here early. Oh goody.
12:30pm We meet with our CT and go over Ruth and Paul's school work. This year I'm trying a public charter homeschool. It has many pros and cons, but basically allows me to use state $ for curriculum and extra curricular activities. The CT verifies that the kids are actually learning. While meeting with the CT I feed Ben lunch.
2:30pm Nurse Ben and load up to pick up the kids from school. Sarah and Phillip have piano lessons after school today. I play with the little ones in Mrs. Ward's den while listening to make sure the big kids have been practicing well enough and see if there's anything I need to remind them of this week. They have their Christmas recital on Saturday. Ben crawls forward about 2 feet to get to his puff snacks. He loves those things.
4:30pm Sarah gets started on her homework. I get dinner started. Tonight it's spaghetti. Russell will be home in just enough time to take Phillip and the big girls to the basketball game. Ben is fussy b/c he hasn't napped since 11am. He gets dinner too (a smashed-up version of spaghetti). After the group leaves for the game I let Paul and Mary watch some TV while I nurse Ben and get him down for the night.
6:45pm Baby is asleep. I tackle the mountain of laundry that needs to be folded on my bed. Paul and Mary ask for hot chocolate. I do dishes while they drink. We read some books, pray and sing a hymn and they're in bed by 8:30.
Now it's 9:15. They're back from the basketball game. Phillip says the game was bad because they lost. Russell says it was a good game. They were down by 20 but rallied to come back within reach. I need to get to bed myself, though, because I have a feeling I'll be hearing from someone around 2am.
