Welcome to our day! Join me as I live blog how a day at our house really goes. To see what we’re supposed to be doing, click here. Then watch to see what actually happens!
7:12 I wake up, realizing hubby let me sleep. We’ve all had different variations of sicknesses, so I guess he thought I could use the rest. I jump up and start waking children. Little boys wake easily; the big girls need some coaxing.
7:15 The kids watch I Love Lucy and I start cooking the breakfast rice. I squelch the desire to override I Love Lucy and watch Fox News. I also squelch the need to blog about the passed health care monstrosity. More on that tomorrow.
7:36 After many questions about when he can have birthday cake, I finally tell Nicholas (4) I Do Not Want To Talk About Cake anymore! I also instruct him not to climb the furniture and not to open the kites that Daddy bought. I make my bed and apply some Mineral Ice to the crick in my neck.
7:41 Nicholas brings me his Superman pajamas for the first costume of the day. Chloe (9) wants to bottle feed the baby kittens. I tell her to wait until after breakfast, because I know it is a long process.
While the kids eat breakfast, I read today’s Bible reading to them, along with Proverbs. Then we have a reminder discussion about manners and proper behavior, including the proper way to talk to each other. Nicholas (4) asks for cake. I say ‘No’, and send everyone off to get dressed and do chores.
8:00 I realize Nathan (2) has a fever, Claudia (13) has a sore throat, and Chloe (9) has a headache. So I pass out vitamins and medicine, and drink a big glass of sweet tea. The girls start their daily and weekly chores so they can hurry and get to the kittens, and Nicholas (4) builds a train track. Nathan sits at the table eating his vitamins and chattering.
I start a load of laundry, straighten the kitchen, dress Nathan (2), help Nicholas (4) empty trash cans, tell Nicholas “No, you may not have any cake” and consider just giving everyone ALL the leftover cake right now to get it over with! Nope. I can do this. I AM in charge.
8:30 I take out trash, dodging cats who want to come inside and baby who wants to go outside. I then deal with about 5 minutes of crying from baby who didn’t get to go outside. Claudia (13) finishes up her chores and showers. Chloe (9) is still feeding baby kittens. I remind her that it’s time for piano. I catch up on some emails, check Facebook, blog, give more instructions, and text my husband.
8:38 Chloe starts piano practice. I remind her to play her recital piece 10 times. She is real excited. I spend some time in prayer and Bible reading. Chloe can’t find the power cord to the electric keyboard. I tell her to ask Claudia. Claudia doesn’t know where it is. I tell Chloe to look again. She still can’t find it. I tell her that when it warms up this afternoon she can go out to the garage (where our real piano is) and play her song. And don’t forget!
9:00 I prepare to go for my walk and realize the iPod is not charged. I spend about 30 seconds wondering if I need it. Yes, I’d like to have music while I walk. I plug it in to charge for a few minutes. Chloe and the boys play more trains in the floor. I realize I haven’t eaten breakfast and can’t walk on an empty stomach, so I drink a Slim Fast.
9:15 I inform Claudia that I’m going for a walk, and instruct her to practice piano while the little kids play.
9:45 I walk in the door to find the entire train set spread out on the table (where we eat and do school). Chloe (9) and Nicholas (4) are arguing about where the miniature stop-sign goes. Chloe hits Nicholas and has to write sentences.
Nicholas drinks chocolate milk while Claudia (13) begins grammar. Nathan waits patiently for some milk, too. Chloe informs me that her arm hurts from writing. I get Nathan (2) his milk.
10:00 Claudia starts Math-U-See, Chloe starts grammar while she drinks chocolate milk, certain children talk back and receive due punishment, while Nicholas (4) instructs Nathan (2) on how to draw the Incredible Hulk.
10:15 I have preschool with the boys. We read Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear from Five in a Row and talk about matching clothes and putting them away. We sing Itsy, Bitsy Spider about 10 times because Nathan (2) keeps saying, “Do again!” Chloe (9) finishes spelling and copywork. I tell her to watch her Math-U-See DVD and do 2 lessons. She can’t find Math DVD. I tell her where to look. Hmmm. That’s where it always is. Claudia finishes math and begins writing.
Nicholas does reading. He is excited, and keeps asking for ‘one more page.’ He does excellent! He reads: “Sam is mad at me.” “See the ram sit.” “The Ram is sad.” And he learns the letter ‘c.’ I finally tell him we will stop there today.
11:00 Chloe (9) informs me that she has finished math. I check her work, and quiz her on her spelling words. Great job! Everyone has finished up their required lessons for now. I declare it’s FREE TIME until lunch!
Nicholas appears from the bathroom naked. I tell him he must at least wear underwear. After he puts some on, I realize they are backward and fix the problem. Nathan (2) is obviously poopy. Mom needs a Dr. Pepper.
11:15 My aunt Kari calls me to encourage me not to let the health care vote get me down. She tells me what she’s heard today on the radio that encourages me that the fight is not over. Where would we be if the revolutionaries in 1776 gave up after one lost battle? I thank her for the encouragement and tune into Rush Limbaugh. The girls feed the kittens again while the boys watch. Claudia informs me that she successfully got one to potty. Yay!
11:38 I send little kids outside to play so Claudia (13) can finish feeding kittens. This will also ensure that Nathan (2) will be nice and tired after lunch. I continue my health care bill research. Ugh.
12:00 I give the kids the choice of ham, turkey, or PB sandwiches. Chloe (9) says “none of those” with a scowl. She forgets the the consequence of complaining about meals is that you get bread and butter for that meal. We eat sandwiches, chips, and pickles and discuss the joy of sunshine and warm air, the health care bill, and other misc. stuff. I don’t get any reading done since I am eating, too.
12:45 Claudia (13) washes dishes, Chloe (9) and Nicholas (4) EAT CAKE, and then Chloe reads her Sonlight reading while Nicholas plays with Hot Wheels. I take Nathan (2) to bed for his nap. We lay down and listen to a Bible CD while he falls asleep. It takes exactly 6 minutes.
1:00 We begin our Sonlight work. I read aloud for about an hour while Claudia (13) works on a knitting project (and eats CAKE) and Chloe (9) sews an apron. Nicholas (4) plays legos in the floor, rides Nathan’s new tricycle, plays in the backyard, and asks when Nathan (2) will wake up. I also take a phone call from Hubby, updating me about his day.
2:15 The girls and I do history and geography at the table, while Nicholas (4) plays with his Block Buddies game.
3:02 Most of our schoolwork is finished up. Chloe warms kitty formula while Claudia (13) does Spelling and Nicholas colors a map of the U.S.
3:18 Claudia is finished with spelling and she heads off with the others to feed the kittens. You can see why I refused this job. I told the whole family, including Grandma and Aunt Bonnie that I DO NOT WANT TO NURSE KITTENS EVERY 3 HOURS. The girls were happy to assume responsibility for their survival.
Nathan is still napping (although I don’t know HOW with all the meooowwwwing going on) so Mom decides to look into more health care stuff.
3:34 Kittens are fed. Nicholas and Chloe watch a video. I pick up legos, dinosaurs, Hot Wheels and blocks from the living room. I also collect 11 cups and water bottles from various parts of the house. We all do a little tidying up.
3:50 Nathan wakes up.
Our school day is over, and the rest is up to Daddy’s schedule. When he comes home, we’ll have dinner, family time, prayer time, and bed. The last kid will go to bed around 9, and Mom and Dad will stay up til close to 11.
This is what I call a very successful day. Some are better, some are worse, but every day is sprinkled with fun, learning, difficulty, and reward. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Come back tomorrow if you want an earful about our Big Government and Obamacare.
Tuned in! I love these things. 🙂 Love seeing how your day unfolds!
Oh and on a sad note… I myself have been resisting the urge to blog about the unwanted socialism that has just been unconstitutionally shoved down our throats among much posturing and crowing by the instigator… I mean, the President. I am pretty much speechless with outrage and can't think straight to put my thoughts into words right now. So I'm looking very forward to reading your thoughts on the matter.
And looking forward to seeing how long it takes before cake gets dished out! Haha… I have a 3 1/2 year old who is obsessed with cake (especially cupcakes) so I'm feeling your pain. 😉
Hehe… glad to hear they got their cake! 😉
Can't wait to see your thoughts on the HC bill. It's been dogging my step all day. Everytime I'm checking my Facebook something's popping up about it. The states are sueing or they're reinstating funding to ACORN or my friends are posting about how angry it makes them and how heads are gonna roll come November… and posting things like this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcBaSP31Be8
As long as the computer is on I cannot seem to escape it. Even the weather is depressing today here. I guess it's a really good thing that people are madder than a nest of hornets. Perhaps this will be the catalyst for some POSITIVE change in our country finally. I certainly hope so.
OK, so I have a question about the bread and butter for complaining about the meal. Is that just for complaining or if they refuse to eat the meal? I guess I'm asking that if they complain but ares still willing to eat it, do they still get b&b instead? Just curious and thinking about implementation in my house… I have one who is picky and will skip the meal altogether, but I'd rather she eat SOMETHING (no, I don't then make her a meal for herself. I usually let her go without or she'll come around and eat a few bites and be done.) As adults, if we aren't happy with the offering, we decline and go without. Given that, I don't feel like I have to push her to eat. It's a natural consequence and I like those (like being cold because you didn't want to wear a coat.)
I'm not organized enough to do a "live blogging" event! We school off and on during the day and have a lot of shore time in between. No playtime or tv until all the rest is done. But I really enjoyed reading yours! Thanks for being bold and sharing.
mychildsview.blogspot.com
Mirage: Complaining about meals got a little out of hand for a while, even complaining when someone liked the meal, but just didn't want THAT for dinner. Since I make three meals a day, it was causing me a lot of stress. So, I go ahead and require them to sit at the table with the family and eat bread and butter. This way they watch us eat what they turned down, and they don't go hungry either. I will still deal with the ungratefull attitude, but this is a very quick way to deal out consequences, which makes it less enticing to complain next time.