So many have asked, How do you do it? How do you work, homeschool, entertain, stay healthy, and keep a clean house? Well, let’s get real No one I repeat no one can do all of those things perfectly. I, for one, am not doing all of the above. Since the pandemic started, there have been weeks I’ve been able to manage all of the above, but, honestly, I wake up and do as much as I can.
In regards to homeschooling and working, I have to start my day exceptionally early. I wake up at 5:45 am every morning, pop an Adderall, Take a shower, and wake up my two little ones. Yes, You heard correctly I take Adderall. For those of you that do not know, Adderall is a stimulant and a scheduled II controlled substance, which means I have to get it from a doctor. I have ADD (Attention deficient disorder. For me, it can be a blessing and a curse when you have children, but that’s a story for another time.
My husband and I have been able to come up with a routine that works for us. He has to start work daily from 7 am-5 pm. Which means we have to get the babies out of the house by precisely 7 am. We get the babies up, and we each take on the responsibility of feeding and getting that child ready for the day. This routine can sometimes be challenging when one of them doesn’t want to eat until its time to leave or when they both decide to take a poop right when we are about to leave. After we get them out of the house, I drop them off at their grandparent’s house.
As for the older kids and me, I work four days a week, and my schedule consists of providing about 4-5 hours of therapy. Therefore, depending on the day, when I get home from dropping off the little ones, we either start homework, and I work at 12 pm-4 or I go to work from 9am-1pm. When I’m done with work, I usually try to get as many things done around the house before I have to get the babies.
It doesn’t happen every day, but, with Adderall, it gives me the energy and the focus to get a lot done. Therefore by the time I’m done with work and helping the big kids, I try to cook dinner or clean up at least one thing per day. This cleaning routine does not usually involve me doing the laundry I HATE laundry. As I’m writing this, I have a room full of clean clothes but, instead, I’m writing a blog post. Anyway, my family and I have learned to adjust to this new way of life, although it’s been hard we have managed. There are days that they don’t want to do their homework, and I understand entirely I mean we as adults don’t always want to go to work. On days Like this, I get the kids out of the house by going to my parent’s house to play dirt bikes and spend the night or going to the dollar store to spend their allowance.
On the weekends, we have been trying to start projects such as gardening and allowing our children’s cousins to come over so that they aren’t entirely isolated and having family game nights. Our family before this was extremely busy on weekends; we would have big family dinners, basketball practices, lake trips, Movies, and continuously be on the go. This pandemic has caused us to slow down and find other ways to engage besides spending money. For us, our main priority is making sure our family is safe and that we are protecting our children’s mental health. As for being healthy and eating right, I’m still struggling with that momentarily, mainly because I live in a house full of boys and full of snacks.
Here’s some Pictures of the things we did while Social distancing.
RaisingWoodham 