A day in the life (meme from aryanhwy)
My day usually starts around 6:00am. We don't set an alarm as Cameron will wake us. This morning he was in our bed so at 6am he woke and headed off to his bedroom to check that his clock said six and came back to tell us it six. He isn't allowed up before 6am. I remember recently being woken by him yelling at his clock "say six". It was about 5:30am. Over the holidays he sometimes slept until after 6:30.
At this point one of us gets up and goes down stairs to make milo (warm chocolate milk) for the kids, turn on the TV, and get Sam and Beth up (who are usually chatting away quietly in their cots - unless Beth is in our bed in which case she wakes at about 5:45-6:00am and gets up at 6:00, and Sam may sleep later until about 7:00am). The other sleeps a bit longer. Now that school has started again I will need to get up no later than 7:00am on a school day. On the weekend the sleeping one is allowed until 9am before they risk having the children sent up to wake them. Breakfast is made. French toast, pikelets or popcorn usually on the weekend. Yoghurt and cereal or toast during the week. Every second day I fit a shower in somewhere.
Then I pack the kids in the car and get away by 7:30 to work. I really should get away by 7:15 to be sure of getting to work on time. It's about a 15 minute drive if there is no traffic, but takes 30-50 minutes at the time I travel. I drop the children at their daycare and head the 3-5 minutes down the road to school (depending when I catch the lights).
School starts with meetings on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8:15. Form period starts at 8:35, and is filled with administration. Taking the roll, reading the notices, chasing up unexplained absences. The bell rings at 8:55 and period 1 starts by 9am. The bell for period 2 rings at 10am and the bell for interval at 11am. I may go up to the staff room for a chat with colleagues during interval, but often I am preparing for the next lesson. The first bell rings at 11:20 and period 3 starts at 11:25 on the second bell. The bell rings for lunch at 12:25. Lunchtime is taken up with detentions if I have given any to my students, eating lunch, doing duty on a Wednesday, preparing for afternoon lessons. It varies a lot. Sometimes I will have eaten lunch during period 3 if it is a non-contact or will eat it during period 4 if it is. The first bell rings at 1:05 and period 4 starts at 1:10. The bell rings for period 5 at 2:10 and the school day ends at 3:10. Then I usually do school work until about 4pm, pack up any work I need to do in the evening and head off to pick up the children from daycare.
One day a week (at the present Tuesday) I stay at school until about 6:00 (which is when they lock up) and catch up on work. Then I pick up some takeaways and go to someone's house for roleplaying. Every 3 months the night and house can change. At the moment this means I go to my friend Lisa's house who has 3 year old twin boys (and 2 older children of her own and 2 older step children as well). We get to catch up a bit before the game starts which is nice.
We get home sometime between 4:30 and 5:00 and I cook dinner for 5:30. Every 2-3 nights it's bath night and the girls are in the bath by 6:30. They are dressed for bed by 7:00 and have a milo and stories, then teeth brushing and bed by 7:15-7:30.
Cameron will usually have his bath while the girls are heading for bed on a bath night, and then will have milo, get into PJs, toilet, teeth, and a few stories then bed. At the moment he does not want to go to sleep by himself as he is scared of bad dreams, and some nights I will stay with him until he falls asleep, which can be anytime from 8:30-11:00pm depending on whether he has slept during the day. Bedtime duties alternate more or less, in the same way as morning duties. He is also waking after a bad dream during the night more often than not at the moment and either comes in with us, or more often one of us (usually me) goes and sleeps on a mattress on the floor in his room. Looking forward to this phase passing!
I then come down stairs and watch some TV and potter on the computer. Facebook, Treasures forums, LJ, Scrabble, and Heraldry fill the next few hours. Usually about 10:30 I consider bed, but the time I go to bed varies between 10:30 and midnight. I then read until I feel drowsy which tends to happen around midnight.
At some point during the night many nights (it has only been recently that it stopped being every night) Beth will wake and only settle if she comes into our bed. As we can't fit both Cameron and Beth, and it is uncomfortably hot and humid at night at present if she has woken before Cameron does then definitely I will go to Cameron's room when he wakes.
Weekends are a mixture of chores (shopping etc), swimming lessons, social engagements etc.
At this point one of us gets up and goes down stairs to make milo (warm chocolate milk) for the kids, turn on the TV, and get Sam and Beth up (who are usually chatting away quietly in their cots - unless Beth is in our bed in which case she wakes at about 5:45-6:00am and gets up at 6:00, and Sam may sleep later until about 7:00am). The other sleeps a bit longer. Now that school has started again I will need to get up no later than 7:00am on a school day. On the weekend the sleeping one is allowed until 9am before they risk having the children sent up to wake them. Breakfast is made. French toast, pikelets or popcorn usually on the weekend. Yoghurt and cereal or toast during the week. Every second day I fit a shower in somewhere.
Then I pack the kids in the car and get away by 7:30 to work. I really should get away by 7:15 to be sure of getting to work on time. It's about a 15 minute drive if there is no traffic, but takes 30-50 minutes at the time I travel. I drop the children at their daycare and head the 3-5 minutes down the road to school (depending when I catch the lights).
School starts with meetings on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8:15. Form period starts at 8:35, and is filled with administration. Taking the roll, reading the notices, chasing up unexplained absences. The bell rings at 8:55 and period 1 starts by 9am. The bell for period 2 rings at 10am and the bell for interval at 11am. I may go up to the staff room for a chat with colleagues during interval, but often I am preparing for the next lesson. The first bell rings at 11:20 and period 3 starts at 11:25 on the second bell. The bell rings for lunch at 12:25. Lunchtime is taken up with detentions if I have given any to my students, eating lunch, doing duty on a Wednesday, preparing for afternoon lessons. It varies a lot. Sometimes I will have eaten lunch during period 3 if it is a non-contact or will eat it during period 4 if it is. The first bell rings at 1:05 and period 4 starts at 1:10. The bell rings for period 5 at 2:10 and the school day ends at 3:10. Then I usually do school work until about 4pm, pack up any work I need to do in the evening and head off to pick up the children from daycare.
One day a week (at the present Tuesday) I stay at school until about 6:00 (which is when they lock up) and catch up on work. Then I pick up some takeaways and go to someone's house for roleplaying. Every 3 months the night and house can change. At the moment this means I go to my friend Lisa's house who has 3 year old twin boys (and 2 older children of her own and 2 older step children as well). We get to catch up a bit before the game starts which is nice.
We get home sometime between 4:30 and 5:00 and I cook dinner for 5:30. Every 2-3 nights it's bath night and the girls are in the bath by 6:30. They are dressed for bed by 7:00 and have a milo and stories, then teeth brushing and bed by 7:15-7:30.
Cameron will usually have his bath while the girls are heading for bed on a bath night, and then will have milo, get into PJs, toilet, teeth, and a few stories then bed. At the moment he does not want to go to sleep by himself as he is scared of bad dreams, and some nights I will stay with him until he falls asleep, which can be anytime from 8:30-11:00pm depending on whether he has slept during the day. Bedtime duties alternate more or less, in the same way as morning duties. He is also waking after a bad dream during the night more often than not at the moment and either comes in with us, or more often one of us (usually me) goes and sleeps on a mattress on the floor in his room. Looking forward to this phase passing!
I then come down stairs and watch some TV and potter on the computer. Facebook, Treasures forums, LJ, Scrabble, and Heraldry fill the next few hours. Usually about 10:30 I consider bed, but the time I go to bed varies between 10:30 and midnight. I then read until I feel drowsy which tends to happen around midnight.
At some point during the night many nights (it has only been recently that it stopped being every night) Beth will wake and only settle if she comes into our bed. As we can't fit both Cameron and Beth, and it is uncomfortably hot and humid at night at present if she has woken before Cameron does then definitely I will go to Cameron's room when he wakes.
Weekends are a mixture of chores (shopping etc), swimming lessons, social engagements etc.