A Day In My Life

On Thursdays, I teach from 9:00 until 2:00. 5 measly hours with 45 minutes for lunch even. And yet these 5 hours take me at least 10 to accomplish. That does not include the time during the week that I spend grading, lesson planning, and answering e-mails.

Last Night -
Pack diaper bag and place in car
Pack 4 lunches (I bribed Dave to watch the kids by offering to pack his lunch in exchange. He normally makes it himself)
Set out 4 outfits (I actually do pick Dave's clothes every day but Saturday).
Pack up all my school stuff and place in car (I have a whole rolling crate full of books)
Pick out some toys, books, and movies for Caleb and place in car (Our babysitter, Annette, has a one year old, so I try to pack some age appropriate toys for Caleb
Figure out what I need to bring to swap with Molly and place in car (I know this doesn't really have to do with work, but this is often the only day we see each other besides Sunday and we always seem to have stuff to give each other)

This morning -
Get up at 6:15 (Why in the world do I have to get up 2 hours and 45 minutes before school starts to get there on time?)
Get myself ready and fed before 7:00
Get the kids' breakfast ready and fill milk cups for the car
Wake two sleepy, grumpy kids up around 7:00 and get them changed, dressed, and in the car (Dave has already left for school by this point, so he is no help)
Leave the house between 7:15 and 7:20
Drive to Annette's house while attempting to feed both kids breakfast, figuring out which CD Caleb wants to listen to, and checking out the Publix ad and coupons from the Thursday paper at stop lights
Arrive to Annette's house shortly after 8:00 (what would normally take me just over half and hour takes about 45-50 minutes)
Take all the multitude of kid stuff from the car into Annette's house, try to convince Caleb to eat the breakfast that he wouldn't eat in the car, laugh at Alexa who ate every crumb of her breakfast in the car but is now eating breakfast again because everyone else is eating
Set up double jogging stroller for Annette to take the kids to the playground
Say goodbye to the kids who, except for Annette's on Tiny V, do not say goodbye or even seem to notice or care that I am leaving
Arrive to school around 8:30
Drag my crate full of stuff into my classroom, rearrange everything that got moved, set out all my books.

Teach for 5 hours

This afternoon-
Pack up all my books
Leave school around 2:15
Arrive at Annette's house and pack up all the kids' stuff
Collapse double jogger stroller and load back in the van
Sit around reading or talking to Annette for awhile while kids sleep
Get up one sleepy child and wake up other sleepy child
Get kids and stuff in the car and feed them snacks while we drive
Listen to the same exciting kids' CD that we already listened to that morning, twice
Run any errands that are nearby or on the way home (the only other time that we are in this area is on Sunday for church, so I try to sneak in errands if I need to to cut down on gas)
Arrive home around 4:00
Get stuff out of van
Empty lunch boxes and diaper bag
Put away jogger, school books, toys, books, etc.
Wait for Daddy to get home to beg him to take us out for dinner :)

Yawn! As I mentioned yesterday, I really do love teaching. And I know my kids are in good hands while I am gone. But just thinking about Thursdays makes me tired and reminds me that I am so very blessed to be able to stay home with my children the other 6 days of the week. Now it's off to bed for me.