A Day in Our Life – Aussie NBTS

Back with the next installment of the Aussie NBTS blog hop, today I’m sharing a ‘Day in Our Life’. I was hoping when I chose to share a midweek day it would be a ‘normal day’, and it is, and it’s not, ’cause each day is always slightly different. Some days we have after school activities, some days we don’t, some days are more ‘routine perfect’, this day wasn’t.  We started late, we didn’t pray, we spent far longer house cleaning than usual, the boys were rather aggravating and yet… it was also a terrific day, we persevered and deep and real connections were made whilst the children were tracing their mega maps.

It’s funny but it’s not until I record our day for a Day in the Life posts that I realise how crazily insane full our life is.  Sharing the real nitty gritty here, as a reader commented in the survey, “..but don’t you have bad days..flaws in family life” well here it is, the bad days, the flaws, in all its messy glory!

7:20AM  

• Woke up very late, consequence of staying up late reading the night before, so felt the effects of beginning the day a good hour behind!
• Boys had arisen early and were playing on computer (they have permission to play quietly before breakfast if awake)
• Boys off computers and setting table for breakfast, woke the girls up.
• Noise awakens Bella and she wanders out (she was asleep in our bed)
• We breakfast together
• The children interrupt their breakfast to enthusiastically show us the new dance steps learnt at their previous days lesson. They fetch their tap shoes and the noise begins! Having sheet flooring means they can tap directly on the floors, when the new polished flooring is laid they won’t be able to.

8:00AM 

• PC leaves for work
• Michelangelo wants to set up an account with mathematics.com.au online (has previously used their CD) I begin to help him then remember he already has an account, retrieve details and leave him to begin his maths
• I get dressed and remind children not yet dressed to do so
• Children continue tap dancing, baby joins the fun and they teach her some dance moves. She holds the shoes and beats out a clever rhythm on the floor
• I throw a load of washing into the machine
• Younger children ride scooters on the verandah

8:30AM

• Jelly Bean and Jack Jack work enthusiastically on their maths, completing not only daily lessons but a whole weeks worth.  They’re at a place they’re enjoying and are rather competitive with one another.
• I ring Einstein and have a quick chat

9:30AM 

• Redirect Michelangelo back to his maths lessons, he’d sidetracked with a book
• Sitting on the lounge I read Esau & Jacob to the younger children, they orally narrate and we discuss their actions! JB announces “That family has some issues!” (this story always makes her and I burn in outrage)
• Princess emerges from her room where she has been working on her handwriting
• Princess has a late breakfast then begins a maths lesson
• JB  and JJ ride to the highway to check if tap shoes have arrived in the mail, return sadly with no shoes
• JB works in her bedroom on copywork.  She has decided she will copy the alphabet daily in cursive script as well as continuing on print work
• We move to the learning room
• Start JJ on his copywork lesson, he argues with me (just the beginning of a grumpy morning in which I come to regret sharing my birthday Tim Tams with the children, they always make them cantankerous, why do I always forget?!) He wins the argument (but not the war;) and heads to his room to read a Hey Jack book
• Bass and Bella play on the floor next to us with farm animals, Bass gets upset when Bella wanders off and doesn’t want to keep playing
• Finally everyone is settled and quiet (of a sort) and I begin copywork with Jem, I dot and he tracing the letters

10:00AM 

• Begin a reading lesson with Jem.
• Bass becomes rather noisy whilst playing on the floor, we’re I’m determined to focus
• Bella interrupts us climbing onto the table, I pick her up and sit her at the small table with paper and crayon.
• Return to reading lesson, Jem is patiently waiting
• Bass now plays with number blocks and Bella is back climbing the table again squealing loudly (reading lessons aren’t often this chaotic, it’s beginning to have crazy morning look)
• Refocus Jem on lesson, he’s taking it well
• JB finishes copywork and joins teenagers in the study(in the next room to us) we can hear the girls singing whilst Princess works on her maths, she assures me she can do both simultaneously
• JB is now continuing with handwriting and asking for input on ‘which letter looks the best’ as she writes out several letters, I select letters and have quick discussion on the importance of writing cursive letters on the same angle
• JJ is back, he has finished his book
• He annoys Bass and Bella by spraying them with water in a spray bottle. They begin getting upset. Ask JJ to stop so I can finish reading lesson with Jem. Bass in tears, I’m trying to hold my temper with JJ, if he’d just let Jem finish his reading lesson. argh!! Finish and impress upon JJ how annoying his behaviour was. Deep breath….

10:15AM 

• Jem works on his maths in study
• JB finishes up her handwriting
• Discuss with JJ his reading book
• Begin an English lesson with JJ on the correct form of address, JB is interested in our lesson and joins in the discussion
• Bass now wetting Bella with the spray bottle, she begins to really like it but is now drenched,
• JJ is distracted, focus his attention back to his English lesson
• Review capital letter rules with JJ (and JB) then analyse a passage as to what rules apply to each capital
• JB reviews her spelling words then ‘tests herself’, certain it’s not effective but let it go as I’m eager to move some children along!

10:30AM

• Bella has climbed back onto table and is biting off and eating eraser pieces
• Princess walks past and I ask her to change Bella out of her drenched clothes, JB goes with her
• Refocus on JJ but now his book is ‘missing’ he is sitting on it (note to self: no Tim Tams ever again!!)
• ‘Finds’ his book, on the floor (keep calm, deep breaths..)
• Discuss plurals and singular ie mouse, mice, sheep, sheep
• Ask JJ to do his copywork which he finally does, with his eyes closed, sigh..I supervise to be sure he is starting correctly (once eyes are opened)
• Bass draws with crayons at small table, he then interrupts to show me his drawing
• JB waiting for her English lesson
• JJ finishes, oh yes!!

10:40AM 

• Jem finishes maths, I send him to play
• Michelangelo still at maths!! He focused on his Science the last couple of days, so working on maths in one big sweep today
• Princess is also working on maths as she has also focused on other subjects the last couple of days. Our teens tend to prefer this approach
• Work with JB on her English lesson.  She begins with an oral presentation, on ‘how to swim’ she talks for a couple of minutes.  Needs a little polish but she does well
• Jem is on rowing machine in the next room, the noise is distracting as he lets the seat thump
• Bass and Bella playing farm animals again, Jem joins and there’s a few adjustment tears. sigh..
• Princess interrupts looking for her ‘work expectation’ sheet
• Work with JB on comprehension question, looking at a passage about Burke and Wills, stop to talk about who Burke and Wills are (Early Australian explorers) as we haven’t reached this part in our history studies yet.  Some excellent questions.  Use the dictionary to answer the vocab questions.
• JJ listens in
• Younger children playing on verandah, Bass comes in crying, he fell off his bike and face planted, give him a cuddle

11:00AM 

• JB is playing around on my computer changing my photos setting
• I print off a mega map of Australia, a small map for JB and a mega one for JJ
• JB tapes one sheet to her bedroom window and traces out Australia
• JJ and I tape 9 sheets of paper to the window in the Great Hall, takes a while to be precise and then add the architecture sheet over it

11:30AM 

• Make certain JJ understands what he is to do and leave him to trace
• Begin a spelling lesson with Princess
• Younger boys drift in to watch JJ
• Bella comes for cuddle and breastfeed
• Test Princess with very difficult words, she is to review misspelt words and I’ll retest tomorrow
• JB finishes tracing, I then set him to colouring and labeling the oceans and seas around Australia
• Smaller boys keep interrupting

12:00AM 

• Bass is obsessing about food (common occurrence) I ask Anna Maria to make the younger boys lunch and Jem feeds Bella too
• JJ deeply engrossed in map work:)!! Bass helps colour oceans
• JB colours her map, we discuss how only 1/3 of the world is land. JB wants to discuss the heat of earth vs the sun, could a space ship survive a trip to the sun or would it melt?
• Continue giving Princess her spelling words around all the interruptions!
• JB starts labeling the oceans and seas
• JJ finishes colouring all the oceans in and wants us all to come and see what he has done, so many interruptions…..then he wants to draw in the state boundaries. I ask him to wait till I finish spelling with Princess so I can explain how to translate the smaller borders of the book to the bigger borders of his mega map.  He won’t wait, Princess is fed up with the interruptions, finishes her last word and leaves upset… argh!

12:30PM 

• Anna Maria is heading into town, I quickly print out a shopping list for the green grocers, check the fridge, and mark the quantities for what fruit and vegies are needed, she’ll shop for me, a big help:)
• JJ completely engrossed in mapwork, using a map he is correctly drawing in state lines, I should of had more faith in his ability
• I feed Bella in our room where it is quiet and she goes down for a sleep
• Michelangelo makes the younger children lunch (yes their second lunch) older children also have lunch
• Princess reading in her room

1:00PM

• Princess begins work on her mega map, she has choosen North America
• Boys play a maths game on computer, then a minecraft game
• I have lunch
• I take the opportunity to have a rest and read a book, I’m all frazzled

2:30PM 

• Rest time over, make sure the children are off all screens
• I try to work on a blog post, I prefer to work in the study when quiet, but having trouble making that happen. The children keep interrupting me for food, I feed them afternoon snacks. They’re a bit aimless, the aftermath of too much computer, I can’t decide when is the best time to allow computer time…can’t settle on a solution

3:30PM 

• Michelangelo is reading and sleeping in his room
• Girls tracing mega maps again
• I try to write blog post again and once again interrupted by aimless boys, I try to organise a nature treasure hunt, they reject my idea
• However they are taken with the idea of treasure hunts and JJ begins to write out an elaborate treasure map with clues and crosses, they are happy with that

4:00PM

• Boys play on verandah whilst JJ finishes map then they set off on an adventure:)
• Princess cleaning her ‘area job’ (bathroom this week) and singing whilst doing so
• I finally finish writing and polishing, and publish post. Listen to a podcast as part of research in preparation for being interviewed in a podcast myself the following day.
• The girls and I begin/continue cleaning up our ‘area jobs’ (we divide the house into ‘areas’ and everybody from the age of 5 is responsible for keeping their area clean, jobs change fortnightly)
• Boys still on their grand treasure hunt

4:30PM 

• I’m still cleaning, we’d been remiss the last few days so the house was rather a mess.  Some of the children are still cleaning, others have finished
• Boys had cleaned their area (of a sort) and are back on the treasure hunt

5:30PM 

• I stop cleaning for a break and give Bella a feed

6PM 

• I begin cooking tea(dinner)
• JB(10) on kitchen clean up today, and she does an amazing job! Packs the dishwasher and washes up all the dishes.  Each child is responsible for the total clean up of the kitchen one day a week

6:30PM

• PC arrives home
• Children are watching Hogan’s Heroes whilst waiting for tea
• We set the table and sit down to eat. (Tuna Mornay)

7:30PM 

• We finish tea and begin clean up
• PC and Michelangelo spend some time on the computer
• Other children finish watching Hogan’s Hero
• I shower Bella and put her to bed
• Princess baths Bass and puts him to bed. It works really well if we can stagger the boys’ bedtimes, they go to sleep much faster when they aren’t together

8:30PM 

• I prepare Jack Jack and Jem for bed, put Jem in my bed and he is asleep in minutes
• JJ is in bed in the boys room
• JJ finally falls asleep after half an hour

9:30PM

• PC and I are very tired, we go to bed early.
• The girls and Michelangelo are still awake, we remind Jelly Bean she should really be in bed
• We read for awhile, then hear some of older children going to bed