I know. The burning question in your mind is "What does a typical day look like for Kim's family?"
And yes, I'm going to answer that question.
Here's how my Tuesday went:
5:50 am Dan's alarm clock goes off, which in turn wakes me up. I stay in bed until approximately 6:10, when Dan gets out of the shower and gets dressed.
6:15 am I stumble out to the kitchen and pour myself a bowl of Apple Jacks. Yes, I still eat kids' cereal. In fact, that's the only kind of cereal I eat. Peanut Butter Captain Crunch is still my favorite. While I eat, Dan make Chesney some toast (she has stumbled out and landed on the sofa), and I read a book. Or maybe I looked at the latest edition of Entertainment Weekly.
6:25 am I pop open my first soda of the day. Pepsi One. At some point, I remember to take my daily medications.
6:40 am Until now, Brady has been laying on the loveseat, and Mykiah has been in the bathroom. At approximately 6:40 am, Brady says goodbye, and if I'm lucky I'll see Mykiah on her way out the door. More likely however...
6:45 am I'm in the bathroom, preparing to take my shower. It is at this point that the school bus usually picks up the big kids. I'm usually puttering in the bedroom/bathroom area and miss seeing Mykiah completely in the morning.
7 am I'm out of the shower and Chesney has installed herself in my bedroom to watch "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch." I sit on the sofa, with the Today show on the TV, while I check my email.
7:25 am Chesney's show is over and she comes out for her final inspection. I usually have to remind her to brush her hair and/or teeth. Then she takes up her spot by the kitchen window. She is deathly afraid to miss the bus, so she starts watching early. If it is a day when I have an early meeting, this is the time when I start putting the finishing touch on myself -- makeup, perfume, jewelry, shoes.
7:50 am Chesney's bus arrives and I yell "Have a good day" while she climbs on. If I have an early meeting, I'm in the van and pulling out right behind the bus. If not, I go back in and play on the laptop until I feel like going to work. That could be any time between 8 and 8:45 am.
8:50 am Bell rings and school starts for the day.
11:40 am Morning class is dismissed. I have approximately 90 minutes to eat lunch, work on paperwork, help plan for the following week, take care of any emails that need to be answered, etc.
1:10 pm Afternoon class starts.
3:10 pm I anxiously await the check-in call from the big kids to tell me they got home OK. If I don't get this 30 second call, I start to worry that they've locked themselves out or missed the bus or something catastrophic. More often than not, they just forgot to call.
4 pm Afternoon class dismissed. Last minute check of emails, taking care of anything that needs to be done before I go home for the night.
4:30 pm Home to 3 kids asking about snacks, dinner and homework. Sign Chesney's planner and book. Read any papers she brought home (funny how the big kids don't have many papers for me to read). I change clothes and sit down with my laptop to check personal emails, ,etc.
Somewhere between 5 and 5:30 pm. Dinner with the kids. I usually try to make something Dan can reheat later. I even have cute little divided plates so I can save him an entire meal in one container. Over dinner, the kids and I all sit at the table and discuss our day. Sometimes I make them laugh by telling them stories about my day. Sometimes they make me laugh by telling me stories about their day. Last night, Brady made me laugh by jumping up from the table and running screaming from the room. A few minutes later, I processed that he had seen a wasp and had screamed "run for your life." At this point, I got a fly swatter, opened the back door and attempted to persuade the wasp to go back outside. This did not work, so I ended up swatting it on the wings, picking it up with the swatter and throwing it out the back door.
6 to 7 pm The kids play outside if the weather is nice. I take a walk if I have the energy. Except last night the kids saw the disabled wasp and freaked out so they wouldn't play outside. The girls played DS (they love to Pictochat, even thought they're sitting within a few feet of each other) and Brady had a friend over to play PS2. Sometimes during this time we'll play Rock Band on the Wii. Or watch Friends together.
7 pm Usually the kids have something they like to watch. I've started getting back into watching TV. Last night, I watched NCIS. Brady decided to join me at 7:10, so I had to rewatch the first 10 minutes. The girls wanted to watch TV in my bedroom, but I made them go in their own room, where they decided to read instead.
8:30 pm Somewhere in the last 90 minutes, all 3 kids have showered and changed into PJs. At 8:30, I tuck them into bed. I know it sounds early, but the two oldest get up at 5:30 to be on the bus at 6:45. So they are tired by 8:30. Chesney needs a lot of sleep in order to function, so she's off to bed early, too.
I'll spend the next 30 to 90 minutes on the laptop, or catching up on my DVR, or reading (when I'm in the mood). I'm usually in bed no later than 10 pm, and sometimes as early as 9 pm. If I'm tired, I don't fight it. Sleep comes pretty high on my priority list. There's very little I find important enough for me to miss sleep. A night with the Jam Doctors will do it, but that's about it.
I don't clean during the week, and sometimes I'll do a load of laundry before work, but Dan has today off, so I didn't bother with that. He can do laundry while he's home.
And there, dear readers, is a day in the life of our family, as it exists at this moment. I may have to do this every year, just to see how our routine changes. Have a fun Wednesday!
Ummmm, P.S. This too ---
