Our first "typical" day

For 2 1/2 weeks, I've been living a very surreal life....a life of 'homeschool bliss.' It's been nice. Today, a little bit of reality set in. The reality is that we will most likely NOT spend every day at home, uninterrupted. There will be things that come up from time to time. Sometimes, those things will be school related, and sometimes they won't.
Last night was a pretty late night for all of us. Mike's parents were here and came to David's practice. We went out to a late dinner with them, and then Grandma came over while the boys went grocery shopping for their fishing trip this weekend. The kids were SO excited to see Grandma that I just didn't have the heart to make them go to bed. Needless to say, I turned off our "7:30 alarm", and let everybody sleep. I got up at about 9:00, about 10 or 15 minutes after the kids. It was so quiet in the house....I came out to the livingroom and found them both reading quietly.
.....again, the conflict....I have a friend who swears she NEVER interrupts her kids if they are reading. However, I really want to get on with our day. We have so many interruptions today! Still, it's good to see them wake up and grab a book first thing in the morning. So, I decide to just let them read. Besides, I'm getting a nasty cold, my throat is sore, and it would hurt too much to tell them to stop.
...20, 30, 40 minutes pass. They are getting hungry, and I'm getting cranky as I watch them. How can they continue to be so unaware of the events of the day? "By any chance," I ask "Has anybody brushed their teeth, gotten dressed, or made their bed this morning?" "what?" is the reply? They act as though they've never heard of such a thing. "Uh, you know....the SAME THING WE DO EVERY SINGLE MORNING?" By now I realize that, although Greta is reading something from our 'reading basked' for school, David is reading Star Wars....again. Honestly, I don't know if he really is even reading it anymore. He just loves it. So, I call him on that. By now, it's after 10:00...kids aren't ready for the day, a little whiny, a little bickering, and saying they "really don't want to go for a walk." Against my better judgment, I agree and by now I'm downright cranky...."CAN WE PLEASE GET ON WITH THE DAY!!!"
Unfortunately, we only have about 1 1/2 hours before we need to go. We have a lunch planned with our former youth leader, and piano lessons immediately after. We decide to do as much as they can before we go...handwriting, math drills, Spanish, typing instructor. And then they gather their piano stuff....."OH! MY THEORY ISN'T DONE!!" ugh.
Lunch at 12:30, piano at 1:30-2:30. Forgot book at the restaurant...back to get it. Ran another errand, car out of gas, need groceries, etc., etc....just regular life stuff. It's almost 5:00 by the time we get back to school. The neighbors stop by to play and are sent away. The kids get down to business. Their schedules have been designed to be 4 day weeks. Friday is set aside for gym/Academy/possible playdates or making up work not done during the week. They have been looking forward to their 'day off.' They take a brief break for a snack and a bath, then back to it. They bring the remainder of their work with them to church, since I have a meeting to attend at 7:00.
What did I learn? Well....WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING making my children do school (or related activities) from 9:00-9:00???? They had NO free time today. None. Not all because they were doing school, but because they had an interrupted day filled with other 'life stuff.' They never finished their schedules today. They'll have to do that tomorrow, and it's not their fault at all. I think this means that I'm asking a bit much in a typical day, but I haven't yet learned how to fix that. Everything we do seems really important! Oh well....I'll figure it out, I'm sure. Meanwhile, I'm amazed at how they hang in there with me through all my screw-ups. I'm truly blessed.