On Sundays I wish we went to the farmers market. In reality we go about once a month. Mostly we try to stay home and rest but sometimes we get invited to events. (Like camping.) Some weeks I blissfully get about four hours off. Oh! Shanna has asked that Sunday breakfast go on her list of chores as a six year old responsibility. Along with emptying the dishwasher, cleaning up her toys, and clearing the table (which she almost never does–sigh).

On Mondays I usually have babysitting time, but not for two weeks in June because my babysitter is on vacation. Either two or four hours depending on how fierce her school schedule is. I clean on Mondays and mostly try to not clean much the rest of the week. During the summer I will try to squeeze in an Aqua Adventure trip in the afternoon. Not sure I can do 11am when our friends want to be there. Monday nights are hit or miss. Lots of different things happen.

Tuesdays every other week are therapy days. They are also park days. I mostly go to park days but I miss one or two a month. Depends on how far away they are and how guilty I feel for dumping my kids on K for babysitting then whisking them away to the park immediately. Tuesday nights are usually (but of course, not always) my night off. I get two to four hours of free time where I am not supervising the kids.

Wednesday is more hit or miss. Often unscheduled. We frequently go somewhere. During the summer it will be a definite Aqua Adventure trip. Also, once it is summer and the school lets out we will be using the parking lot to practice bike riding every Wednesday. Shanna still sucks at riding bikes. She would prefer to run. It feels safer. She doesn’t fall as often. D has been coming over on Wednesday nights more often than not for a bit. She cancels when her family needs her for something but we probably see her 3/4 weeks a month on average.

Thursdays start with three hours of babysitting. I found a local stay at home mom to do trades with. Every other week I have her kids and every other week she has my kids. I asked originally out of desperation for finishing the book and it turns out she has a lot of work she needs to do and six hours a month is probably enough alone time for it. I’m in a similar boat so this is working out. Later on Thursdays we go somewhere to get out of the house. Thursday night is Noah’s night off so on a regular basis we don’t get home till almost bed time. This is the only night of the week when I habitually am ok with staying out kind of late.

Fridays are frequently unscheduled. Once or twice a month we have something on a Friday. A friend coming over to play. Tea parties for the home school group go then when I host them. (Need to schedule another one. I’m almost physically over the last one.) During the summer I want to squeeze in an Aqua Adventure trip. I really need them to get more proficient at swimming. Friday nights are usually family nights. Frequently we go out to dinner–sometimes we walk. Those nights are my favorite.

Saturday mornings I try to get up and run. Anywhere between 30 minutes and and three hours depending on how far I’m going. Then Noah gets a bunch of the day off. His timing is flexible around whatever else we have scheduled. Sometimes I take the kids out of the house to a park or some-such just to give him space and quiet. Saturday afternoon/evenings have parties once to three times a month depending on the month.

Going to the grocery store, other errands, and people visiting disrupt my schedule all the gosh darn time. But people are wonderful. Sometimes I feel like I live just because I want to see people.

Sometimes I feel lonely. Then I look at my schedule and notice that I couldn’t shoehorn in a lot more stuff. Like… when do I garden on that schedule? When do the kids take other classes? When do we “officially” home school? Oh man. All the time. We are never not-home schooling. We home school all the forking time.

I love unschooling. This lifestyle works for me. I’m so grateful that my schedule comes and goes with the seasons and my kids learn with me. Frequently I feel taken aback by just how educated my kids are. They pay attention when I talk. Which shocks the shit out of me because I don’t remember paying attention to adults. I didn’t respect adults much. My kids respect me and like me. My kids know that when I fuck up I apologize profusely and otherwise I’m pretty reliable for my information. So they listen.

It’s crazy.

That is as close as I am to a frame. That does not reflect writing time. Or painting time. This is why my schedule gets tossed topsy turvy constantly. I want to do so many things that are full time jobs that I can’t settle on a schedule. But this is kinda sorta where I am now.

Busy. Lots of people. Lots of love. I really shouldn’t complain about my life. I am very lucky.