A Day In Our Life

 Many people have expressed curiosity about what my "typical" day looks like.  They say things like "I don't know HOW you get it all done!"  First of all, I don't get it all done.  Not even close.  Second of all,  I have a rather serious chocolate addiction that helps get me through the day. But if you really want the gory details,  then read on. 

6:30am - wake up to sounds of baby babbling through monitor next to my head. Alternately listen to him and attempt to continue sleeping for next 45 minutes.

7:15am - realize that happy babbling has turned to strong whining.  Stumble quickly downstairs to kitchen to get coffee brewing before baby gets serious with cries of hunger.

7:20am - get baby up and nurse him while other children slowly emerge from the depths of sleep and begin immediately demanding breakfast.   Reassure children that they can wait another 15 minutes for breakfast and will not die.

7:40am - turn house upside down helping husband look for his keys for work.  Notice they are hanging from his belt.

7:45am - put baby in bouncy seat and get other kids breakfast.  Continue with emailing/blog reading/facebooking/bill paying, stopping periodically to smile and talk to baby who rewards me with sounds of happiness. 

8:15am - get more coffee and get kids second round of breakfast. Put in load of laundry. Talk and smile more at baby.  Bask in what an attentive mother I am.

8:30am - yell at ask children politely to get dressed because school WILL be starting in half an hour!  Get dressed, pick up some random things that are annoying me, clean up breakfast mess in kitchen.

9:00am - put baby down for a nap and pray that he falls asleep on his own. Switch laundry, pick up more random things around house that are annoying me.  Tell first grader to get ready for his school work.

9:15am - get baby up after it becomes clear that he isn't going to put himself to sleep.  Hold and rock him while looking at lesson plans and calendar for the day.

9:30am - tell first grader that now it really IS time for school.  Get third grader started on independent work and sit down to work one-on-one with first grader.  Preschooler plays nearby or sits and does his own "schoolwork", "reading",  etc...

10:30am - finish working with first grader, look over third grader's work and answer/discuss any questions. 

10:30am - nurse baby while first grader reads aloud to me.  Next have third grader sit next to me and work on English.  Put baby on gym mat to kick and play happily.  Play math games.

11:30/12:00 - give third grader reading assignment and make lunch.  Have third grader answer reading questions.  Put baby down for another nap.  Sit on couch and eat my own lunch/check email/attempt some quiet time.

12:30pm - thank God that baby is sleeping, switch laundry around, fold clothes, pick up more random things around the house that are annoying me and clean up lunch mess in kitchen.  Finish up schoolwork with children.

1:30pm - get baby up and nurse him while fantasizing about beautiful sewing/craft room I will one day have as my own personal retreat.  Let the kids play the Wii Fit if they've finished all their work and can't play outside. 

2:00pm - grocery shopping/Scout meeting/play date/art class/gym class/errand running/library/doctor appointment excursion. Otherwise, time for everyone to do their own thing.

2:30pm - return phone call from friend who left me a voice mail many days ago. She happens to be out and about and would love to stop by.

2:31pm - panic.  Then begin frantically scooping up piles of things strewn about and shoving them into nearby closet while simultaneously yelling at children to please pick up their toys!

2:45pm - have lovely visit with friend and her little boy despite embarrassment at state of my house.

3:30pm - put baby down for nap. Feel guilty about lack of time spent with four year old and attempt to  make it up to him. 

4:00pm - more laundry/random housework. Begin thinking about dinner as children declare that they are "STARving."

4:15pm - get interrupted by friend calling to discuss Cub Scouts.  Make mental note to check email to see what the heck she's talking about.  Enjoy laughing with her anyway.

4:30pm - get baby up from nap, feed him and begin more seriously considering dinner options.

5:00pm - yell at politely ask children to unload dishwasher and feed dog. Big brothers then play with baby while I attempt dinner preparations.

6:00pm - dinner.  Baby begins demanding attention simply to keep me from ever having a hot meal.

6:30pm - dinner cleanup, reload dishwasher with dishes that have been piling up in sink all day.  More laundry. More random housework.

7:00pm - nurse baby and warn children that they have half an hour to play. 

7:30pm - change baby into jammies and put him to bed for the night. Pray he goes to sleep. Yell at politely ask children to start getting ready for bed.  Try to remember the last time each of them was cleaned and either tell one of them to get in the shower or get a bath ready for the younger ones.

7:50pm - finish helping kids with jammies/teeth brushing/potty-going. Read story. Or put them to bed without a story because I'm tired and ready to be done for the day.  Feel immense guilt.

8:15 - Tuck the two younger ones into bed. Give them 15 minutes to read quietly. Older one reads quietly in his room.

8:30pm - husband gets home. Curse his timing.  Spend time relaxing together on couch.  Tell him about my day.  News Hour is on in the background but I'm pretty sure he's listening to every word of what I'm saying.  Realize he isn't and go take a shower.

9:00pm - remember that oldest child is still up reading and go give him his tuck.  Collapse on couch and watch tv/do computer stuff/talk with husband.

10:30pm - retreat to bedroom, grabbing baby on the way. Nurse baby while reading, then put him back to bed.

11:00pm - head hits pillow.


Of course,  not every day looks exactly like this, but most of it is pretty typical.  My husband rarely works the same hours more than a couple of days in a row. We tend to spend his days off just doing whatever we all feel like doing and he'll often do something science or history-related with the boys, too. And of course we have our sick days and special project days and mommy needs a break days.  But, well, you get the idea.  We enjoy the flexibility that homeschooling gives us.  We also enjoy that it allows us more time together as a family.

So that's it.  A day in our life.   I hope you enjoyed it.

~ Dori

Abandoning the Golden Rule

I would like to rant write about what I refer to as "common decency" or The Golden Rule.  That is, treating others as you yourself would like to be treated.  Pretty simple concept.  You would think. 

decency [ˈdiːs^ənsɪ]

n pl -cies

1. (Sociology) conformity to the prevailing standards of propriety, morality, modesty, etc.

2. the quality of being decent

 

I had an experience this week that was a reminder to me of how we should all treat people - with  courtesy and respect.  I will not go into the details of what happened, let's just say that I was surprised by the rather un-Christian-like attitude demonstrated by some members of a group I belong to.  But, really, all it takes is a trip to Walmart to find examples of how not to treat people.

Now, I am as imperfect as the next person, but sometimes I am struck by the lack of common decency exhibited by people.    Honking at the car in front of you because it hasn't started to move a millisecond after the light turns green. Letting the door slam closed rather than taking the time to just turn around and check if someone is entering close behind you (like a mom and her four children perhaps).  My parents raised me to not only say "please" and "thank you" but to show compassion and thought for others. And now it is my challenge to pass that lesson on to my own children.  

We still have some work to do on our "pleases" and "thank yous" around here, but as I watch each of the boys interacting with the people and world around them I see kind, thoughtful moments that lead me to believe that they are on the right track.  I hope that they will always treat others with respect and kindness.  

 

I suppose it's also encouraging that they will point out examples of people treating others poorly whenever they see it.  They'll witness another kid mouthing off to their mom and just look at me like "Wow. There's no way I would ever talk to you like that." In order to know how to act towards one another it's just as important to know how NOT to act.  A basic concept that on most days my kids seem to get.  Which is, unfortunately, more than I can say for a lot of grown-ups out there. 

  It's very easy to get caught up in believing that we are right and therefore, everyone else who has something even slightly different to say than us is wrong.  But most of the time it's not about being right or wrong, it's about each of us being unique and therefore thinking and acting differently from one another.  And isn't it just easier and better to assume that most people have good intentions?  That whatever they have to say is worthy of at least being listened to?  I am naive to a fault.  My husband says it's endearing.  I say I simply refuse to be bitter and cynical whenever possible.  Perhaps God puts people in our path like the ones I encountered this week simply to challenge us on what we believe and how we act.  And to provide us with lessons and learning experiences for our children.

That is the end of my rant.  If you're still with me then thank you for listening.  I challenge all of us to not honk our horns, to hold the door for people and to simply smile and say please and thank you.  Also to listen to someone who might have something to say and to be as visible as we can with setting these examples for our children.

 Coming soon....a post about some things that the boys have been up to: Star Lab (anyone else remember that from elementary school?),  Tae Kwon Do,  art projects, a tour of a seminary and an upcoming birthday.  Also "Homeschooling Part 2" wherein I will attempt to describe the reasons why we home school.  I know you're giddy with anticipation. 

~ Dori

Homeschooling Part One: When I Lost My Mind

I thought that I would do a series of posts related to our homeschooling.  Many of you have expressed an interest in the whys and hows of our education choice ("why do we do it?" "how do we do it?" "how much of a drinking habit have I developed because of this choice?" etc...).  Since it is a very broad subject and I don't want to risk completely boring you by writing one super long post about it, I've decided to break things up into smaller posts.  So...where to start? How about the beginning.

If you had asked me years ago if I would consider homeschooling my children I would have laughed. Hard. Really hard.  Why on earth would I do that when I could send them away for most of the day and make it someone else's problem to educate my child? Even before I had kids, I could see the merit in one day having them spend time in school. Peace! Quiet! "Me" time!  Then one day I found myself the mother of a school-age child and suddenly the decision wasn't so easy.  As with many aspects of motherhood, how I thought I'd do things and how I've actually ended up doing them has often been very different.

 One day my mom invited me to attend a Catholic Homeschooling Conference with her. We sat and listened to a couple of different speakers relay their experiences with homeschooling.  We also browsed the huge room filled with every educational book vendor imaginable.  But I was skeptical.  My mind was fairly closed when it came to this homeschooling business. I pictured denim skirt wearing, passenger van driving, country living families who never left the house and had only enough social skills to attend a yearly conference.  SO not me.  Not that there's anything wrong with denim skirts.  Or vans.  I have both.  Also, a house in the country sounds really nice.  But I digress...

A seed was planted that day.  During the three years or so after that conference I thought a lot about homeschooling.  It was an idea that crept in and out of my mind until I decided I needed to learn more about it.  So I read various books and articles and talked with whoever I could find that had experience with it.  I also attended another conference on my own during the year that my oldest would start kindergarten.  The most important thing I did, however, was pray.  My prayers mostly sounded something like, "really, God? HOME schooling? I don't know about that..."

Like I said, I was skeptical.  It went against the "norm."  The idea of being responsible for my children's education was scary, to say the least.  But through all of my reading, research and prayer one thing became clear - I AM responsible for the education of my children.  The choice to send school-age children outside the home for their education doesn't absolve us of our responsibility as parents.  WE are the primary educators of our children.    And through the graces that come with the Sacrament of Marriage, we are given what we need to follow through with this.  Now, that doesn't mean everyone has to home school their children.  But really, we all do - it's only a matter of to what extent.  The day we become parents is the day that we start teaching our children.  It starts with things like learning the difference between day and night to using silverware to sharing with others.  Whether it's through concerted effort or purely from our example, our children are always learning from us.

So after MUCH prayer, research etc... I decided to do it.  I home schooled my oldest for kindergarten, then after a year in public school began homeschooling again for second grade. I currently home school all of them - third grade, first grade and preschool/kindergarten.  Is it easy? No. Is it the right thing for our family at this time in our lives? Absolutely. Will I continue through high school? No idea.

That's the fairly long-winded answer to the question of when I arrived at a decision to home school.  As for the "why?" and "how?" - you'll have to stay tuned for future posts to find out my answers to that!

Thanks again for reading and, as always, I appreciate your comments!  I hope you're all having a great week!

~ Dori

Time Flies

Baby Benjamin is three months old today. He is, as you can tell, the world's happiest baby.  I'm pretty sure that a lot of his demeanor has to do with being constantly surrounded by the loving, attentive big brothers he has - they are really sweet with him.  Baby Ben's big accomplishments this week are sleeping through the night (thank you God) and reaching out and grabbing things!

See? Always smiling.  Happiest. Baby. Ever.  But as much as I enjoy watching all of the boys grow and change I also periodically get the urge to yell "wait, slow down time - you are going WAY too fast!"  Every mom I know feels that way. Our oldest turns nine in about a month. Nine!  YEARS old! First of all, that makes me older than I could possibly be, and second of all - didn't we just bring him home from the hospital?! 

That's him with one of his latest Lego creations. He got the idea in his head that he wanted to make an R2D2 (that's from Star Wars for those of you who live in a hole) and so he did.  Here's a closer look:

He just made that up.  It's not a set or anything.  I can't believe most of the things they each build on any given day.

 Matthew's creation. Um - he's four. 

Those are Kinex, not Legos.  But still.  Amazes me. 

This was also a Cub Scout meeting week and Thomas and Michael worked on building a bird feeder.  I got to help the group of little boys hammer things into place with a baby strapped to the front of me.  He slept through the whole thing. 

So those were some of the highlights of our week.  Did you have a good week? Anything exciting planned for the weekend?  Our weekends are a little less exciting now that the Colts are out of the playoffs - we have a Sunday afternoon football ritual around here.  Not that we still won't be watching, I'm sure.

I hope you all had a great week! Thanks again for reading and taking the time to comment. If you didn't get a chance to read it yet, I wrote a previous post explaining how you can "follow" my blog and also "subscribe" to receive email notification of new posts, if you're interested.  The first option just lets me and other readers know that you like the blog and the second option is pretty self-explanatory.  So, if you've taken the time to do either of those things (or both!) then thank you! 

Until next time...


~ Dori

Follow Me! Subscribe! Like Me! Please?

First off, thanks for reading!  I thought I'd take a moment to explain "following" and "subscribing" for those of you unfamiliar with what they mean.  As you can see to the right over there --> there is a "follow" button and underneath it are the people who are already following my blog (thanks guys!). If you would like to follow my blog (and really, why wouldn't you) then click on that button OR the word "follow" at the very top of the page and sign up.  All it really does is let other readers know that you like this blog and it makes me feel special. Also, if you follow many blogs then it will be added to your list and you can then "manage" those blogs and see the latest posts from them all in one spot.  Basically, it's quick and painless and will make me feel loved and special.  So just do it already. 

I have also placed a "subscribe" button over there --> so that you can sign up for email alerts.  I'm rather proud of that button, since I did it all by myself and it required learning about things like "feeds" and whatnot.  So please use it.  If you are already receiving emails alerting you to the fact that there's a new post (such as for this one) then I had previously added your email to a list of people to be notified (presumptuous, I know).  If not, then please use the button that I spent an afternoon agonizing over installing to sign up.  It's also quick, painless and will ensure that a) I feel loved and special and 2) you find out practically the instant I have published a new post to this blog.  And why wouldn't you want either of those things.  Really. 

So, I hope that helps explain some things, namely, how you, my readers, can help me to feel loved and special.  If you have any questions, please ask away. I will then search the depths of Google until I find the answer and get back to you! 

Thanks again for reading and for taking the time to comment - I appreciate knowing you're out there and what you think!

And stay tuned - I'll have a brand new post in just a few days.  The anticipation is killing you, I know. 

~ Dori

Joys of Motherhood

Always believe a child who tells you they need to throw up. Stop whatever you are in the middle of and get them to the most cleanable area you can. I speak from experience here.  My first Monday of the new year found me juggling two vomiting children and a nursing baby. I should mention that everyone is just fine - it didn't last long.

 

 I think a day like this presents only two options; deal with the situation while grumbling and cursing (silently, of course) and letting it put you in a fowl mood, or deal with the situation while finding the humor in it. Miraculously, I was able to do the latter on this occasion. I could hear the sounds of the other sick child whimpering loudly on the couch and the baby growing increasingly impatient waiting to eat, yet as I stood there in the bathroom wiping vomit off my sweet child's face I shook my head and laughed. And all I could think was how lucky I am (I know, right?!). Lucky to be a mom to these children - even though it sometimes means spending a fair amount of time scrubbing things with Lysol after unspeakably messy things happen. I was just glad that in this particular instance, the children made it to the bathroom. I mean, it probably needed a good cleaning anyway. 

I am happy to report that the rest of our week has not been nearly as dramatic as Monday was.  There are still some children not feeling 100% well - but the bathroom has been spared any more onslaughts. We somehow managed to still begin our first official week back to school - and it went surprisingly well!  We've had an extended break from it due to the birth of baby number four, but now it's time to get back to work.  Honestly our day goes much better when we hit the ground running with our schoolwork.  The challenge is fitting it into life with a new baby.  Or fitting the new baby into our homeschooling life - however you want to look at it I suppose.  Having all the boys home during this time of getting to know Benjamin has been such a blessing, though.  

What's that? You're wondering about all the pictures with the large green fuzzy thing? That's Android - a gift from Chris and Sue (thank you Chris and Sue!).  As for the intended recipient...

Although clearly there are many family members enjoying him.  

He's even showing signs of compatibility with Mac iOS.  

Hope that your new year is off to a good start and that your week has been vomit-free.


~ Dori

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Hard to believe that yet another year has gone by - how was your 2010? Are you ready to welcome whatever 2011 has to offer?

A new year is always an exciting prospect to me, although I gave up on making any formal "resolutions" a long time ago. Instead, I've tried to adopt a "clean slate" attitude that will hopefully carry through in all aspects of my life. In other words, no dwelling on the less-than-pleasant things in the past, only thoughts of what I can do to keep the future bright for me and my family. Easier said than done, I know. I find it all too easy to fall into a "coulda, woulda, shoulda" kind of mentality, but I don't think that's a terribly healthy way to move forward in life. So my "resolution", if you will, is to harness my inner optimist (I know she's in there somewhere!) as I welcome whatever this new year brings for our family.

I'd like to take a moment to look back at our 2010. Some of you already know the details of our past year, others of you have no idea and some of you may not care. Understandable. I will try to keep it brief.



This was our first year living in Cleveland and it's been a great move for our family. Yes, Cleveland does, in fact, rock. Of course we were moving from the Detroit area, so they could have sent us to (insert name of horrible, God-forsaken place here) and we would have viewed it as a step up in life. I say "they", referring, of course, to my husband's employer. And "they" didn't really "send" us to Cleveland so much as ask politely if Kevin would be interested in running the Cleveland store to which we replied "when can the moving van get here?" And we knew it was the right move when our new neighbors came outside to introduce themselves bearing a plate of cookies. That pretty much sums up how Clevelanders are - nice. We lived next to the same people for two years in Michigan and never knew their names.


We've enjoyed our first year in Cleveland and are looking forward to many more. My husband is happier than he's ever been with his job and I thank God every day that he's gainfully employed. The boys and I have enjoyed our adventures in homeschooling (more on that in an upcoming post). We immediately found a wonderful church that is five minutes away from our house (three if the lights are all green - not that I'm ever running late or anything). I've also been fortunate enough to find a wonderful and welcoming network of homeschoolers - a truly encouraging group of supermoms. Some highlights of the year include our oldest celebrating his First Communion, Matthew and I taking a road trip to Connecticut and Michael and Thomas enjoying camping and football games with daddy.

But there is a decidedly "best" part of 2010 for us.



The birth of our fourth son, Benjamin. Let's just say that he wasn't exactly, um, "planned." He's a reminder to me that God knows what He's doing, especially when I don't have a clue. Also, that He has a sense of humor. I mean FOUR boys?! Pretty hilarious.

That about sums up our year. We are thankful for each and every one of you that were a part of it and look forward to the people and places that 2011 will bring.

~ Dori