Our Weekday Quarantine Schedule

Numerous people have sent messages to me on Instagram asking if we have a solid schedule for our days in quarantine yet, and my answer up until now has honestly been no??  But now that we have two weeks under our belts, I feel like we’ve at least gotten into a rhythm.  Would I call it a perfect, organized schedule?  No.  But I do feel about as comfortable as I can possibly feel considering I was suddenly forced into homeschooling a third grader (whose math I can’t even do) and a kindergartener (who misses school more than anything) without any warning. 

Since so many people have asked, I thought I’d try to write out the way our days have been looking, but please understand that we are not sticking to this like clockwork, nor does everything run smoothly each day.  This is just a basic overview of our day and the times are only approximate.  Things do differ from day-to-day. 

7:15 AM – I wake, shower, and get ready while listening to my favorite morning show.  Most days I am still putting on a little bit of makeup and doing something with my hair because I’ve found I feel more human and I feel better on the days that I do this.  Brian wakes and comes in to get ready shortly after I wake.

8:00 AM – I grab the kids (sometimes having to wake Olivia if she’s still asleep) and the three of us go down and have breakfast.  Brian, who has already started his day working from home, steps out of his office to join us for breakfast.  The kids typically have one of the following – freezer waffles, scrambled eggs that I whip up fast in the microwave, Cheerios, or oatmeal and they sometimes request microwaveable turkey sausage or a fruit pouch with it.  We clean up and try to remember to take our vitamins for the day at this time.

8:30 AM – Brian retreats to his office for a long day of work, and the kids and I head to the formal dining room where we’ve set up a makeshift classroom.  We start our school day with our morning prayer Zoom video from our principals.  They do one every single morning and I’m loving that they are going above and beyond to keep us all connected during this weird time in our lives.  Our lower school principal changes the background on her video each day to make it look like she’s in a different city/country, and she’s letting the kids email her to guess where she is. 

8:45 AM – The next few hours are spent doing schoolwork.  As y’all know, Jacob is in third grade and Olivia is in kindergarten so each of them has a completely different curriculum and completely different assignments.  All of their teachers are providing all of the lectures and assignments for us, so I just have to keep the kids on track.  I spend the next three hours being a third grade teacher and a kindergarten teacher, walking back and forth between the two kids, helping them set up their Zoom lectures, helping them locate specific assignments, and answering any questions they may have.  Obviously, Jacob is much more independent at this age, so he doesn’t require as much of my attention, but Olivia still needs a good bit of assistance.  There are many things that I have to actively teach and discuss with her, and she also has to do a good bit of reading, so we spend a lot more time having one-on-one engagement.  Occasionally, I’ll have a moment where both kids are watching videos at the same time, and I’ll use those moments to make some tea or pay a bill or respond to an email.  Those moments are few and far between, though.

11:45 AM – Prepare, eat, and clean up lunch.  Brian usually comes out of his office to join us, and then he goes back to his office for more work.

12:30 PM – Most days, we are done with schoolwork before lunch, but on the days we are not, the kids go right back to the “classroom” after lunch to finish up.  If they are already done with school for the day, I send them upstairs after lunch to get dressed and ready for the day, and then we usually spend a few minutes tidying up, doing chores, or doing any other odds and ends that need to be done. 

1:00 PM – I send the kids outside for some fresh air and physical activity.  Some days they play with outdoor toys, some days we all play baseball together, some days they do sidewalk chalk, and some days we all go walk around the neighborhood together.  It just depends on the day and how everyone is feeling. 

2:00 PM – I set the kids up with a YouTube yoga video in the living room and I use the time to catch up on family administration stuff… paying bills, checking off items from the to-do list in my planner, going through the mail, etc.

2:30 PM – The kids turn on Disney+, Netflix, or a DVD (whichever they prefer) and I go upstairs to work.  This is the time that I work on blog posts (which is not nearly enough time to keep it running the way I would like!) and I also use this time to meditate and do my quiet time.  I really should move meditation and quiet time to first-thing in the morning, but that means I’ll have to wake up earlier and I don’t like mornings.

4:30 PM – I head downstairs and start making dinner.  I turn on the diffuser to get some happy scents going, I usually turn on jazz or old standards because they make me happy, some evenings (a lot more frequently these days, I tell ya) I’ll pour a glass of wine, and I spend the next 45 minutes to an hour cooking and unloading the dishwasher from the previous day.  While I cook, the kids usually draw or color or do some kind of craft.  Some days they play outside.  Some days they build forts.  It’s basically a free-for-all at this point.  While all of this is happening, B is wrapping up his workday in his office. 

5:30 PM – We all sit down for dinner, eat, talk about our day (which really there’s no point in discussing these days since we’re all on top of each other 100% of the time), and then we clean up.

6:00 PM – B and I finish cleaning up while the kids go outside.  We wipe down countertops, clean off the table, and load the dishwasher.  After the kitchen is clean, B and I join the kids outside.  Some evenings we go for a family walk around the neighborhood just to get out of our own little bubble, and other evenings B works with Jacob on his baseball skills while Olivia and I blow bubbles.

6:45 PM – Everyone comes inside and cleans up any messes that are leftover from the day.  Kids are instructed to clean up their rooms, the playroom, the stairs (everyone leaves stuff on there constantly and it drives me nuts), and any other rooms that they’ve left messy.

7:00 PM – Jacob and Olivia start their bedtime routine.  Olivia pretty much always showers first and then Jacob gets in when she’s done.  They potty and brush their teeth and put on jammies, and then if there’s time, we read. 

8:00 PM – The kids say their bedtime prayers and we tuck them in and then B and I collapse on the couch with Netflix and Publix frozen yogurt. 

10:00 PM – B and I head upstairs, get ready for bed, and get in the bed.  We both do some phone scrolling, and some nights I read a book, and then it’s lights out for both of us around 10:45 PM. 

One thing I can say about this quarantine is that we are all getting a ton of sleep each night now.  B and I are averaging at least 8 hours (in non-quarantine times it’s typically around 7 hours) and the kids are getting 11-12.  The kids pretty much always get that amount of sleep, though.  Jacob still wakes up each morning around the same time he normally would if we had school (he’s an early riser) but Olivia has been averaging slightly more as she’s been waking up 30 minutes to an hour later each morning.

As for exercise for me, I’m just fitting it in at random times – sometimes while the kids are outside, sometimes while they’re showering, sometimes after they’ve gone to bed, and a lot of the time, not at all.  I hate that things are the way they are right now, but there’s nothing I can do about it, so I’m giving myself grace and doing the best that I can.

I also haven’t had much time to read blogs lately, but I’m hoping to get caught up next week while we’re on spring break and then I’m hoping to figure out how to incorporate it into my day again.  I miss knowing what’s going on in blogland!! 

I hope this helps for all of you who have been asking about our daily routine.  And like I said, this isn’t exactly how our days look every day, but it’s the basic idea.  Some days have more school time, some days have more screen time, some days have more outdoor time, and some days are just a hot freaking mess.  It is what it is at this point, y’all.

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