A day in our lives.....

This is probably not going to be a pretty post to write or even think about.  Our house is total chaos in the morning.  Our kids are early risers, and there are days that we just do not want to get up early.  Most of the time Joe and I are up late working.  After 10 pm is usually the quietest time in our house.   It is not uncommon for me to still be working at 2 am, typing blog posts or organizing notes on my laptop.  Joe, especially recently, has been either staying up most of the night working or he goes to bed for a short time and then wakes up at midnight to do whatever maintenance needs to be performed for work.

Needless to say, mornings drag.  I also try to cram a workout in during the early morning hours.  I try to get up around 5:30 am to jog.  Some days are more successful than others...lol.  But usually Joey has us up before 5:30.  An un-medicated Joey is very loud, rude, hyper and unable to control emotions or actions.  I have be awaken to him sneaking food out of the kitchen that he knows he should not be eating, either because of food allergies or because he knows that candy is not eaten that early.  He has stood directly over me and screamed in my face.  Or he will run up and down the hallway beating on the wall and screaming.

So first thing in our house is to get his meds in him..because it's going to take an hour for a more mellow Joey to appear.  Usually by then Lydia is up and so is Brayden.  So generally 3 out of 4 are up before 6 am.  That makes for a very long day.  We get breakfast around.  That usually ranges anything from cereal, yogurt and toast or pancakes.  Usually a couple days a week, I cook us all the same breakfast.  Other days we put out a buffet and let each one choose from a couple options.

After everyone has eaten, we encourage them to change for the day.  And then we given them some quiet time while I pack workboxes.  The boys try to sneak in video game time during that hour.  But we have had to get pretty strict about that.  We allow PBS TV during that time.  I cannot stand to let them watch commericalized TV in the am .

We try to start school by 9 am.  I mix it up.  Some days we start with group projects, and other days we do individual workboxes first and group projects after lunch.

We have lunch around noon.  And they get free play time until 1 pm.  We try to finish the rest of our work then between 1 and 3.  Depending on appointments that day, though we may take the morning off and work in the afternoon and into the evening after dinner.  It is not uncommon for us to be doing science in the evening after dinner.

Each minute of our day is a challenge and I never know what to expect.  Some days I am able to actually plan out and have everything run smoothly.  But those days are very few.  We experience extreme distraction due to the ADD and surprise errands that can be thrown our way.   There's tears and screaming (and that's from me and the kids).  Most days I have to get a feel for attention and attitudes and then go from there.  Lydia sometimes works on her phonics at 7 am during breakfast, because she seems to be alert and ready for listening at that time.

We pretty much take each day one minute at a time.  I am working at making a daily list of what we need to accomplish each day.  I type it out on Saturday and include our meal plan and any appointments or sports activities that the kids may have.  I can then check off on my paper throughout the week.  So far it has helped me the last couple weeks, so I am going to keep doing it.  It only takes a few extra minutes to do it, so whatever makes it easier for me...I'm all for it!

How do your days go?