Morning Mayhem

Some people might imagine that because I work from home, teaching my children and trying to scratch out another income by writing, that my morning routine is easy. After all I'm not having to dress up in work clothes while simultaneously trying to get my children out the door. I don't have a commute to deal with.

Noo...but my mornings still tend to be chaotic. Because the kids and I are home more often than the average family, our house gets messy faster. Also I make almost all of our meals at home, including homemade bread and yogurt. And with the exception of my youngest, my kids are not morning people.

Mornings around here usually go something like this.

5:30 am - My hubby's alarm goes off for the first time. He hits snooze and snores on.

5:45 am - The alarm goes off again. He fumbles for the snooze button.

6:00 am - The blaring starts again. I sigh loudly, and elbow him in the ribs until he gets up and turns it off.

6:30 am - I'm jolted awake by the sound of my hubby working out on the heavy bag. The bag hangs in the unfinished part of the basement, right under our bedroom.

7:00 am - I remove the pillow from my ears, when I smell coffee brewing. I get up and prepare BadDad's lunch while he showers and gets ready for work.

7:30 am - By now I've probably either started some yogurt in the crock pot or some bread in the bread machine. I go down the hall to give K-boy his first wake up call of the morning. BadDad leaves for work.

7:45 am - I've gulped down coffee, while checking the weather. If  D-boy is awake (he's my early bird) I have a brief cuddle with him while we watch Martha Speaks. I go to give K-boy his second call.

8:00 am - By now I've thrown in the day's first load of laundry, gotten breakfast for myself and at least one child, and possibly started dinner in the crock pot (if it's not a yogurt day). I go to give M-girl her first wake up call and give K-boy his last, GET UP NOW, call.

8:30 am - I've gotten breakfast for all three kids by now. Usually I'll remind them to finish getting ready for class, while I sneak in a few minutes to get myself dressed. Then I head upstairs to set up K-boy's online math lesson for the day.

11:30 am - By late morning we've put in some serious hours in the classroom, and we're all hungry for lunch. I'll get everyone settled with their meal, and rush around dealing with laundry, food prep, clean up, and possibly have time to check my email before it's time to start schoolwork again.

So, that's our typical morning around here. Relaxing? No. It usually brings a glow of accomplishment though. Sometime I'll write about our afternoons....hmm...Midday Marathon? Afternoon Anguish? I need to work on the title first!