Our mornings are intense. We try to cram a lot into that time before school so that after school can be a little more relaxed and we can concentrate on homework and other activities. Here's how my typical morning goes:
I wake up at 5:30 most mornings. (This morning unfortunately my bladder woke me up at 4:45 and I never went back to sleep). I do this so I can pray and read scriptures without interruption and distractions. But my body has adjusted to this and I am now incapable of sleeping in even if I wanted to. I think this might be related to getting older.
After personal study, I play hymns on the piano to get my children up to the living room so we can do our family scripture study. It's not exactly high quality but we are consistent. We try to start at 6:25.
After family scriptures and prayer, it's 6:40 and the kids do their jobs while I make breakfast and my husband helps Camille get dressed and make her bed. She should be able to do this by herself but she is very slow and needs a lot of encouragement.
The jobs are things like sweeping the floor, unloading the dishwasher, taking out the garbage, cleaning up the living room and family room, etc. It doesn't take them long but it really helps me.
After they do their jobs, they take showers, practice musical instruments, and eat breakfast. I would like to eat breakfast all together but we have too many things to coordinate. And there would be too much fighting over the comics in the newspaper. Today's breakfast is cooked oatmeal with milk and brown sugar, fruit, and toast. We have been enjoying fresh peaches on our oatmeal for the past few months but it looks like peach season is sadly over.
I also set out food and supplies for the kids to pack their own lunches: sandwiches, fruit, vegetables and today's snack is yogurt. The high schoolers don't always do it but most of the other kids do. I make my husband's lunch.
Camille comes down at 7:00 and I weigh her and take her temperature which is part of the kidney transplant regimen. I give her a vitamin and then we go to practice the piano.
Mindy is practicing the piano in the living room so Camille gets the digital piano in the toy room. We bought the digital piano when Mindy was born so more than one child could practice at a time in the morning.
Practicing the piano with Camille is really hard. Her progress is very slow; I'm not exactly sure why. But I really think it's helping her learn how to focus better and teach lots of other skills with her brain and her fingers so I'm continuing to do it. We practice 25 minutes.
After we practice, it's time for her kidney meds. They happen twice a day at 7:30am and 7:30pm: tacrolimus and Cellcept. First she has to chew and swallow her vitamin that's been in her mouth for the last 25 minutes. Do you love that face?
After her meds, I start her second feeding of the morning (the first was at family scriptures) and she does her job of emptying the silverware baskets from our two dishwashers. This can take a while depending on her motivation and focus level. I make her a lunch and make sure my two youngest have enough food for their breakfasts. They don't eat enough so this requires some vigilance.
The high schoolers have left about 7:30 on their bikes. Now my husband leaves about 7:40. He drives on Thursdays to pick up children from piano lessons on his way home. But he bikes the other days.
Talmage is practicing the piano now. He is in 7th grade which normally starts at 7:45 but we are homeschooling him for first period to give him more time to get his practicing done before school. And also because I think the elective choices for 7th graders are not that great.
I finally sit down to eat some breakfast about 7:45. I am the last one. After a few really frustrating mornings last month, I decided that I really needed to take time to eat a good breakfast and read the newspaper for a few minutes. This definitely helps me feel a little better about the morning.
After I eat, I go to help Mindy practice the violin. We practice together about 40 minutes and she does another 5 minutes on her own. When I first started doing this with her five years ago, it was incredibly frustrating with very slow progress. But I'm glad we have persevered. It's going better now and Mindy is getting better. This helps me when I am getting discouraged about Camille and the piano.
Shortly after 8:30 I go to the kitchen to clean up, give Camille another feeding. We have to do 3 in the morning before school so she gets enough liquid during the day. She has to have more than 8 cups of fluids as part of the kidney transplant regimen.
I also try to get Camille to eat more breakfast and to finish everything on her list--that yellow paper in front of her. This can be another painful part of the morning. Yesterday she was highly motivated and did almost everything by herself. Today she is not. Mindy still needs to finish her breakfast, drink her Pediasure to help her gain weight and get out lunch money.
Susanna also has her first period off from 8th grade. We are homeschooling her in English. She practices the violin and then does some English.
Talmage is finished with the piano and is now practicing the cello. Today I helped him for a few minutes. I don't often do this because I'm usually too busy with Camille. But if I do, it really helps.
I finally take Camille upstairs myself and get her to brush her teeth while I brush her hair and brush my own teeth. We are running late and it's obvious I'm going to have to walk her through her routine myself. I also want to clean the kitchen or at least get the food put away before I leave.
Finally we leave for school close to 9:00. It's a cold fall morning in the 30's and the wind is blowing so we are wearing warm coats. We're going to have to go quickly because we are late! I could drive them the half mile there but I really want them to get the exercise and learn this skill of self-reliance. I walk Camille to school because she would be really slow otherwise. Then I walk home and everyone is now gone. So I exercise and shower and get started on my list of things to do. After a busy morning, I have to admit that I really love my quiet time.
I wake up at 5:30 most mornings. (This morning unfortunately my bladder woke me up at 4:45 and I never went back to sleep). I do this so I can pray and read scriptures without interruption and distractions. But my body has adjusted to this and I am now incapable of sleeping in even if I wanted to. I think this might be related to getting older.
After personal study, I play hymns on the piano to get my children up to the living room so we can do our family scripture study. It's not exactly high quality but we are consistent. We try to start at 6:25.
After family scriptures and prayer, it's 6:40 and the kids do their jobs while I make breakfast and my husband helps Camille get dressed and make her bed. She should be able to do this by herself but she is very slow and needs a lot of encouragement.
The jobs are things like sweeping the floor, unloading the dishwasher, taking out the garbage, cleaning up the living room and family room, etc. It doesn't take them long but it really helps me.
After they do their jobs, they take showers, practice musical instruments, and eat breakfast. I would like to eat breakfast all together but we have too many things to coordinate. And there would be too much fighting over the comics in the newspaper. Today's breakfast is cooked oatmeal with milk and brown sugar, fruit, and toast. We have been enjoying fresh peaches on our oatmeal for the past few months but it looks like peach season is sadly over.
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| Look how Everett is enjoying having the comics and sports all to himself since he eats breakfast first before he takes a shower. |
I also set out food and supplies for the kids to pack their own lunches: sandwiches, fruit, vegetables and today's snack is yogurt. The high schoolers don't always do it but most of the other kids do. I make my husband's lunch.
Camille comes down at 7:00 and I weigh her and take her temperature which is part of the kidney transplant regimen. I give her a vitamin and then we go to practice the piano.
Mindy is practicing the piano in the living room so Camille gets the digital piano in the toy room. We bought the digital piano when Mindy was born so more than one child could practice at a time in the morning.
Practicing the piano with Camille is really hard. Her progress is very slow; I'm not exactly sure why. But I really think it's helping her learn how to focus better and teach lots of other skills with her brain and her fingers so I'm continuing to do it. We practice 25 minutes.
After we practice, it's time for her kidney meds. They happen twice a day at 7:30am and 7:30pm: tacrolimus and Cellcept. First she has to chew and swallow her vitamin that's been in her mouth for the last 25 minutes. Do you love that face?
After her meds, I start her second feeding of the morning (the first was at family scriptures) and she does her job of emptying the silverware baskets from our two dishwashers. This can take a while depending on her motivation and focus level. I make her a lunch and make sure my two youngest have enough food for their breakfasts. They don't eat enough so this requires some vigilance.
The high schoolers have left about 7:30 on their bikes. Now my husband leaves about 7:40. He drives on Thursdays to pick up children from piano lessons on his way home. But he bikes the other days.
Talmage is practicing the piano now. He is in 7th grade which normally starts at 7:45 but we are homeschooling him for first period to give him more time to get his practicing done before school. And also because I think the elective choices for 7th graders are not that great.
I finally sit down to eat some breakfast about 7:45. I am the last one. After a few really frustrating mornings last month, I decided that I really needed to take time to eat a good breakfast and read the newspaper for a few minutes. This definitely helps me feel a little better about the morning.
After I eat, I go to help Mindy practice the violin. We practice together about 40 minutes and she does another 5 minutes on her own. When I first started doing this with her five years ago, it was incredibly frustrating with very slow progress. But I'm glad we have persevered. It's going better now and Mindy is getting better. This helps me when I am getting discouraged about Camille and the piano.
Shortly after 8:30 I go to the kitchen to clean up, give Camille another feeding. We have to do 3 in the morning before school so she gets enough liquid during the day. She has to have more than 8 cups of fluids as part of the kidney transplant regimen.
I also try to get Camille to eat more breakfast and to finish everything on her list--that yellow paper in front of her. This can be another painful part of the morning. Yesterday she was highly motivated and did almost everything by herself. Today she is not. Mindy still needs to finish her breakfast, drink her Pediasure to help her gain weight and get out lunch money.
Susanna also has her first period off from 8th grade. We are homeschooling her in English. She practices the violin and then does some English.
Talmage is finished with the piano and is now practicing the cello. Today I helped him for a few minutes. I don't often do this because I'm usually too busy with Camille. But if I do, it really helps.
I finally take Camille upstairs myself and get her to brush her teeth while I brush her hair and brush my own teeth. We are running late and it's obvious I'm going to have to walk her through her routine myself. I also want to clean the kitchen or at least get the food put away before I leave.
Finally we leave for school close to 9:00. It's a cold fall morning in the 30's and the wind is blowing so we are wearing warm coats. We're going to have to go quickly because we are late! I could drive them the half mile there but I really want them to get the exercise and learn this skill of self-reliance. I walk Camille to school because she would be really slow otherwise. Then I walk home and everyone is now gone. So I exercise and shower and get started on my list of things to do. After a busy morning, I have to admit that I really love my quiet time.
I loved reading about your morning routine and seeing pics to go along with it. Your morning are especially busy!
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