At the beginning of the summer, I wrote down a daily schedule. Just a guide, nothing too strict. I found said schedule in my notebook while sitting in a training yesterday. When I saw it, part of me giggled and part of me wanted to cry .
Summer 2014 is nearly over.
The kids go back to school next week and I begin work. Did we completely waste this summer? Here is the schedule I had written:
- Rise and shine early…by 7!
- Breakfast, with help from the kids.
- Clean up breakfast and shower. Kids brush hair, teeth, and get dressed.
- Every day:
- One hour of summer/homeschool…topics organized by day.
- One hour of screen time for kids…I catch up on email and computer stuff.
- One hour reading/books
- Lunch.
- Activity: swim, museum, visit SLC, park, library, etc..
- Dinner. Kid’s help.
- Books, go on a walk, read stories, baths, and bedtime.
Doesn’t it all sound lovely?
Today was a little atypical because we didn’t really leave the house. It wasn’t terribly out of the ordinary for how this summer has gone, though.
- 8:30: The kids wake me. They are hungry. Geez, cant they get their own breakfast? Fine. I’ll get up. I should’ve gone to bed earlier.
- 10:00: Just finished my coffee. What have I been doing? Oh yeah, making breakfast. Emmett is watching minecraft videos on youtube and Augi is watching some Australian show about mermaids. Did I take my medicine? You know, the one that helps me focus. I should really get one of those “days of the week” pill boxes like my grandpa used to have. Oh. I have one. Maybe I should try using it. I look up the show Augi is watching to find out if there are more seasons. I read the entertainment news. I hate world news, it is too depressing. Oh…back to breakfast. The pancakes are burning!
- 11:00: Kids are finished eating and I have started to clean up “breakfast.” I am quite proud of myself for making them a hot breakfast. I only burned 3 pancakes. Maybe we should call it “brunch?” I should have another cup of coffee. Did I take my medicine? Em is building some really cool creatures out of Legos. I should have a look. Augi has been playing in her room. She wants me to stay out so she can finish her game. Oooo! I am going to arrange my tea set. Oh wait, the kids want to Skype with friends. I’ll help them get that set up. Yay! We got to chat with both Bellsie and Heidi. What was I doing again? Oh ya, I am moving the hutch for my tea set. I love furniture sliders.
- 2:00: Em would like lunch. Is it really 2? It has taken me 3 hours to arrange a tea set? Well, I also cleaned the bunny cage, cleaned up the kids’ art area, and fixed a box to keep treasures in Augi’s room. Augi isn’t hungry. She fixed herself lunch a while ago…tomatoes and cheese. I get lunch together for me and Em. Salami, celery with peanut butter, apple slices, pretzel sticks. I love finger foods. So does Em.
- 4:00: The kids have been watching TV for 2 hours. I can’t exactly say what I have accomplished. Hmmm. No homeschool today. We will try again tomorrow! I sit down to work on my blog. Oh…Mindy has a new blog post! I read it and wish I could post as much as she does.
- 5:00: Oh dear, no time to update the blog. I make dinner. Augi mixes baking soda and vinegar and dips packing peanuts into it. Interesting. Did I mention we are ALL still in our jammies? Emmett makes more Lego creatures. He knows the box on the counter says “tacos” but insists that he doesn’t know how to read. We argue about that for a while. Tonight we will have leftovers. I suggest we go outside, but a thunderstorm starts. Darn. Em and I make up some stories about “Agatha and Edmund” while I continue to rearrange that damn tea set and he jumps among the various objects lying on the floor in the living room, pretending the carpet between them is hot lava. Emmett has a new trick…he puts all of his Lego guy heads in his mouth at once and shoots them out like bullets. Nice.
- 7:00: Chris is home late, we try to talk but we are interrupted 57 times. The kids head back down to watch TV while I clean up. Didn’t they have chores to do? It’s so much easier to just do them myself. Maybe Chris will help them with the new stop-motion animation studio he created.
- 7:30: I leave for the thrift store to find a dish rack. Augi joins me. We wander and take FOREVER.
- 9:00: Oops. I forgot to get them in bed by 830. In fact, I just got home. Where does the time go? We read Little House on the Prairie together.
- 1000: Brush teeth and get to bed. At least they fall asleep quickly since they are exhausted.
Somehow, this day didn’t match my great intentions. No chores. Too much screen time. No art. No planned homeschool activities. We didn’t even go outside.
I’d like less screen time (although some days are more screen-y than others) and a tad more structure to the day. Christian is worried that the kids don’t eat healthy meals, brush their teeth and hair, get outside, and go to bed on time. I think he is trying to tell me something about my SAHMness. Maybe it’s just that he sees we are still in the same clothes he saw us in last night. There might be some truth to his concerns…especially the brushing hair bit. And maybe the bedtime bit.
To put Christian’s mind at ease, here is my assessment of the great things that happened today:
- The kids got 3 well balanced meals…no soda or cookies. They did each have some little lollies. Meh.
- There was no fighting and very little arguing…except between Emmett and I regarding his ability to read.
- We did not make any new dirty laundry today…good for the earth!
- We didn’t get sunburned because we stayed indoors.
- The kids fell to sleep very easily, since it was 90 minutes past bedtime.
- They did brush their teeth.
- Both kids made up cool tricks today…always useful if they need to join the circus.
- Augi said: “today was such a nice, relaxing day.” This is great coming from a very anxious little girl.
We can always be structured tomorrow.
That’s life at Villa Villekulla.
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