A Day in Our Life

Every summer I always end up wishing we'd committed to fewer activities. I blather on about needing more downtime, less structure, time to relax. This year I think we've got it just right. Our days are going so smoothly, with lots of action and plenty of downtime.

Our schedule is smooth, sure--but so full I made a spreadsheet just to keep track of everything, and I find it helpful to make a daily to-do list at 15-minute increments so I don't lose track of anyone! Getting everyone where they need to be, with the right sports gear, is roughly equivalent to, like, planning and organizing a Space Shuttle launch. The only thing that makes it all possible is that everything we do is only about a mile away from everything else. This busy-ness has been great for everyone's organizational skills; each child has to think through what s/he will need for the next day (goggles, golf clubs in the car, etc.) and organize his/her own things at night before bedtime.

Still, I wish MPD didn't have to spend so much time in the van. He's happy as can be, though, and having a great time hanging out at the pool and the playground, watching DVDs as we drive back and forth to all the sports.

Join us for a sample day from this past week:

7a.m. Breakfast
7:30 Bill leaves to take WWD to Day Camp (more on that coming in another post)
8:30 KLD to tennis (Some days of the week we have golf instead of tennis)






8:45 MRD to swim team practice
9:30 Pick up KLD from tennis
9:45 JPD, KLD to swim team practice




10:00 MRD finishes dive class






10:30 MRD to tennis















10:45 KLD swim lesson


11:00 JPD, MPD swim lesson










11:30 Finish swim lessons
Picnic lunch @ tennis
12:00 MRD finishes tennis

12:30 Pick up WWD, downtown (MPD always fall asleep on the way home)










1:00 Home for more lunch, MPD's nap

Our afternoons are quiet; I make dinner (or collapse for a nap, depending on how late I stayed up the night before); the kids play, either on the computer, or read, or something else they dream up; or we do our homeschooling, which consists of either them working independently on their Singapore math books or us all working together on a literature/geography lesson. Some evenings we have more sports (WWD has basketball, MRD has gymnastics) and some evenings we go back to the pool, or go for a bike ride, or just fool around in the yard.

Also, so far this summer involves lots of ice cream and bubble gum. Sounds good, no?