I’m a married mother of two (8-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son) who homeschools and works both out of the home (adjunct college professor) and from home (freelance writer). I have no typical day, but I do have seasons, peaks, valleys, and attempts at grounding rituals. Most days, it goes alright.
Morning
6:05 am: Alarm from the bedside table. Ugh. So early. Gently untangle my son from me. What time did he crawl in here? 3? Turn on shower and wait for water to heat up.
6:30 am: Husband does drop-offs on my teaching days, so we’re all dancing around each other. Feed the cats, put oatmeal in microwave for my daughter, who my husband is trying to coax out from under the covers, and put a plate of French toast sticks in front of my too-energetic-in-the-mornings son.
6:50 am: Pack breakfast (protein bar) and lunch (frozen burrito, an apple, some cashews) into work backpack and double check I’ve transferred wallet from diaper bag. Different days, different lives, different bags.
7:05 am: In car, listening to news.
7:30 am: Office hours start. One student comes by. Set up for class.
8:00 am: Teach first class. No one talks because it’s so early and they’re cold and exhausted by the end-of-semester madness. This is so hard. I have to be energetic enough for all of us.
9:30 am: Teach second class. More talkative but unfocused. New strategy. Switch up the plan. Get them back on track. Three students stay after class to ask questions and show me drafts.
Midday
11:00 am: Office hours start again. Trudge to shared cubicle in different building to find it’s occupied, so I sit out in the common room. Answer a few student emails. Check freelance site and see messages from ongoing client and new job from previous client. I can’t really fit that in right now, but I don’t want to lose this client. I look at calendar and start mentally rearranging.
12:00 pm: Office hours are over, but I stay and eat lunch. Write two blog posts for clients and grade a few reading responses.
2:15 pm: Third class for the day starts. Students are engaged and creative. Guide them through final stages of big research project.
Back Home
3:30 pm: Pick up daughter first. She’s hyper and doesn’t want to leave friend’s house. I’m so hungry and tired. Can we please just go home without a fight?
3:50 pm: Pick up my son. He’s carrying a bag full of dirty diapers to throw in the wash. So glad my husband does the laundry! He throws his arms around my neck and squeals in delight. Aw! So happy to get a warm welcome!
4:00 pm: All pile out of the car. Daughter climbs tree in the front yard, so son tries, too. I’m carrying the diapers, backpack, daughter’s forgotten art, and lunch box. I corral them through the front door and dump everything in a heap at the front door.
4:10 pm: Crash on the couch while the kids rip through the living room dragging out puppets and magnetic tiles and play clothes. How can they destroy a room so fast?
4:45 pm: Set daughter up to do math problems while I distract my son by reading his favorite book for the 557thtime. At least I know the difference between an excavator and a dump truck now.
5:15 pm: Daughter starts reading novel for homeschool co-op class. Son “helps” make dinner, which mostly means dragging all clean pans onto floor.
6:00 pm: Dinner done. Husband has meeting tonight, so kids and I eat together.
6:30 pm: Put a show on for kids while I answer emails and draft freelance work.
7:30 pm: Husband gets home and starts getting son ready for bed. Read chapter of Harry Potter aloud to daughter.
8:30 pm: Send daughter to bed just as husband emerges from son’s room. Whew! Bedtime success! Chat with husband about day while he eats dinner and I clean up kitchen.
10:30 pm: Grade papers and take a moment to make a list of tomorrow’s homeschool goals. We have the whole day alone while my son is in daycare. Gotta make tomorrow count!
11:00 pm: Bedtime!
