What’s the timeline of my day?
Okay, which day? We have soccer on Saturdays and volunteer work on Tuesdays and co-op on Thursdays, and weekends are unpredictable.
Every weekday in general goes something like this:
7:00 a.m. – My alarm goes off and most of the time I hit the snooze button at least twice.
7:30 – 9 a.m. – I enjoy alone time. I write, read, whatever.
9:10 a.m. – Jackson shuffles into the living room in his PJs and asks for breakfast. Sometimes his eyes are still closed. He’s also holding his boy parts because he by-passes the bathroom on the way to ask for breakfast.
9:30 a.m. – Both boys are awake and rejecting the notion of school work.
9:35 a.m. – School work has begun, begrudgingly.
9:35 – Noon-ish – The boys work on school while I edit photos, write, or help them with lessons. We’re all in the same room. Sometimes we listen to an audio book, sometimes I play music. Sometimes it’s completely silent.
12:30 p.m. – Lunch time, give or take.
1 – 5 p.m. – The boys finish up school work and then they scatter to different activities, like basketball, reading, educational websites on the computer, whatever. This is often when I exercise, or we may go to the library, or I’ve scheduled doctor’s appointments, or we have regularly scheduled activities like weekly volunteering, our homeschool co-op, and so on. Afternoons look different depending on the day. Our activities also depend on whether Chuck is home, whether Major is being a nutcase, and whether or not I have had enough.
5:30 – 6:30 p.m. – On days Jeremy doesn’t have soccer and I don’t have meetings, this is our dinner time. I cook most of the time, and while we eat we also play Blokus. 
We were introduced to Blokus at Thanksgiving in Chicago last year, loved it right away, bought our own game on Black Friday, and we have played nearly every night at dinner since then. It helps us slow down and enjoy each other’s company. It’s one of my favorite things to do as a family.
7 p.m. onward – Sometimes we watch a movie together, sometimes we retreat to our own spaces. It depends on who needs to introvert and who needs times together. Sometimes there’s an after-dinner basketball game between Chuck and ten neighborhood kids.
9:30 p.m. – Bedtime for little boys on weekdays! On the weekends, they can stay up until 10 p.m.
11 p.m. – This should be bedtime, but so often it’s not. Sometimes we’re watching Jimmy Kimmel, sometimes I’m on my own and engrossed in writing, reading, or watching trash TV. This is the time of a day that I struggle with the most. Should I go to bed? Yes. Do I need the sleep? Yes. But if I go to sleep, then I miss out on that quiet time, and as soon I go to sleep, the next day is already arriving and the routine will start all over again. And that’s not always what I want.
Weekends are a toss-up. Some are super busy, others are super lazy. Much of our daily life depends on Chuck’s travel schedule, whether or not I have photo shoots or interviews, whether or not we have company, whether or not Jeremy has soccer, and whether or not the weather is cooperative.
But that’s life, right?