What do you do all day?

This is the question a well meaning neighbor asked me one evening in S. Texas. She was curious about some of my alternative life choices.

My husband and I were a military family when we first married. Very soon after marrying, we had a baby and then decided to adopt two Ethiopian boys. In the process of adopting I had a suprise pregnancy and had baby number two before our Ethiopian children moved in. We went from one child to four children in a period of four months! A month after our adoption was final, we moved from our duty station in Germany back home to South Texas. Two more children came in fast succession and we (really my husband) built two homes in a very rural area over the next four years. My husband is the ultimate do-it-yourselfer and did all of the work of building virtually alone on his days off as a firefighter.

I have been a homeschooling mom through all of this, which is the context my neighbor asked her question. How do you answer a question like this? I mean really, do people honestly think that homeschooling moms are at a loss of finding something to do? Is there really a picture in the people's minds that we homeschooling moms sit around sipping coffee all day while doing little to nothing but baking and cooking and painting our nails? No, I don't think my neighbor really thought this way. I think that she honestly has no concept of what homeschooling actually is and she just didn't know how to word her question. She was not being disrespectful. After talking with her, I believe that what she really wanted to know was this: "What is a day in your home like?" She really just didn't have a clue and wanted to know.

So, here it goes. The day in the life of this homeschooling family...

I wake up anywhere between 5:30am and 7:00am. The goal is closer to 5:30am, but it seldom happens. I make and drink my coffee. This is key to beginning a good day in a good mood. Laundry is thrown in the machine and this is the first of two loads a day. (We have a lot of kids.) A breakfast shake is made by either myself or a kid. We do clean up chores for breakfast, quick cleaning in rooms, teeth brushed, get dressed, etc. Then it is time for devotions (Teaching Hearts Training Minds) and then school begins. From about 8am to noon we have school. Two middle children need lots of attention right now. They are 6 & 7 years old and are not yet working independently. One of them has reading struggles. Then Monday,Wednesday and Friday Nana comes to teach the 4 year old to read. This is a huge help since I'm so busy with the 6 & 7 year olds. The two year old makes messes and distractions throughout the day. I'm trying to figure out how to keep him occupied in a good way so he doesn't drive me nuts during school time. The two oldest are independent and fluent readers, so they work independently and I check on them to make sure everything gets done. Around noon school is done and we make lunch, eat and cleanup. Then we do chores and I do prep for supper if necessary (sometimes supper prep begins in the morning if I have to soak beans, rice, etc.). Kids play. Any undone school work gets done now. Supper is started around 4:30-5:00 depending on the meal. Eat supper at 5:30-6:30 depending on our schedule. Cleanup after supper, clean rooms, etc. We do baths, devotion and bedtime around 8:30pm in the winter and 9:00 pm in the summer. If the kids are being extra wild and are driving me nuts, I may make 8:00 pm bedtime to keep my sanity.