Day to Day

Taking a post from Emily. We've all got to share during this daily blogging thing :) Inspiration and all that...

So what does our day look like? Each day is slightly different, of course, with the beginning of the week more crammed with errands and the end of the week being more social outings. Guess which end of the week I like more ;)

5:15-5:30am; Jeff's alarm goes off, I get up and go downstairs to drink my cup of coffee before everyone is up. Often I play on the computer or watch a DVR'd show.

6:00am; Lily comes downstairs...often Andrew is with her. Jeff comes down to eat breakfast, and I run upstairs to take a shower

6:15am; Jeff is out the door to catch the train. Andrew and Lily watch tv (I am not a mother before 7 am), play pretend games, fight, etc. I usually clean up the kitchen at this point (I am bad about doing it at night...). If Mike isn't up yet, I'll run and dry my hair.

6:45ish; Mikey usually wakes up around now. He gets changed and comes down to watch a show while drinking his milk.

7:00-7:30 Breakfast time! Nobody tends to eat the same thing, but nothing is really that difficult. Lily usually grazes all morning, so she has a bagel or dry cereal. Andrew eats several courses of breakfast, cereal/yogurt/fruit/drink...I feel like I'm making breakfast for him all morning ;) Michael just sits down and hogs. I also make Andrew's lunch, double check all the papers are where they need to be, make lists for errands, and somewhere in there make my own breakfast.

7:30; My daily call to my mom. The kids usually are just entertaining themselves at this point. Often they are watching a tv show, or playing Pokemon, or just generally destroying the house. While I talk to my mom, I usually finish up the kitchen, throw a load of laundry in, wipe off the table, etc etc etc.

8:00; Time to get dressed. Everyone goes upstairs and dresses...about twice a week I'll throw bath time in as well (those mornings are a bit more harried...). Teeth are brushed, beds are made, hair is styled. Usually we have extra time to read books.

8:40; Time to get Andrew to the bus stop. Almost every morning I end up screaming during the last 5 minutes..."Getyourshoesongetyourshoesonwhereareyourshoesgetyourshoeson." No matter how early we start this process...le-sigh.

9:00-12:00; On Lily's school days, we go and drop her off, run errands or go to class or playgroup, and then pick her back up and come home for lunch. On not-Lily school days (M,W), we do other things...playdates, errands, library, playdoh, parks, etc etc.

12-1:00; lunch time/wind down for nap time

1pm-ish; Michael goes down for his nap. Lily can usually be convinced to play by herself for about 45 minutes. I will play around on the computer or fold laundry and watch a DVR'd show. My down time. Even though Lily is nearly constantly requesting help with something.

2-ish; Lily time. We play a pretend game every day for 30 minutes. I literally set my timer. Lest I go insane. When the time goes off, I do some chores. Lily usually tags along and talks my ear off. If my chores are done (or if I don't want to do them...usually the case), we will read library books, practice writing, practice using scissors, etc.

3-4:00; Michael will wake up sometime during this hour. Sometimes earlier, but usually during this time. We usually have a little snack, read books, go outside to play, play playdoh, etc.

4:00-5:00; Andrew's bus comes back home. We often walk down to get him. He comes in the door and has a snack. I go through his backpack and clean out his lunch box. We talk about what happened that day and he usually plays with Lily during this time. Michael plays too...although not usually with them.

5:00-6:00; If he hasn't already, Andrew has to start his homework at 5pm. During this hour I make dinner, help Andrew with school work, and try and keep the littles from distracting him. After he's done (it only takes 10-15 minutes), we crank up the music and they all color or play while I make dinner.

6-ish; Jeff comes home. I am usually fried by this time. We fight the kids to sit down with us for dinner, since they always HATE what is for dinner. After we inhale our food, we try and not kill them until bed time

6:30; start a show for the kiddos. General winding down time for half-hour. If I'm good I'll clean up from dinner. If I'm not, I am finishing up my dinner or talking to Jeff or whatever.

7:00; Michael and Lily go upstairs and get ready for bed. Tooth brushing, pjs, stories, songs. Andrew has to come up and get all ready for bed, but he gets to come back downstairs with us.

7:00-7:45; If Andrew has already read to us, then we play a game...UNO, Skip-Bo, Battleship, etc. If not, we cuddle up and read.

7:45-?; Jeff and I occasionally watch tv together. I'll read a book or watch tv or play around on the computer. Jeff does the same. But not usually together. I'm usually in bed by 9:30, and Jeff by 10:30.


That's pretty much a day. Of course it goes without saying that any time we are at home, I am doing little odds and ends to keep the house running...loads of laundry, mopping up spills, making phone calls, picking up toys, folding laundry, feeding pets, etc etc etc. Just so you don't think that I'm lying down eating bon bons or something while the kids are coloring ;)