A Day in the Life of a Virtual School Mom

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How is year 2 of the COVID going for everyone so far?

Anyone else still virtual schooling? I know almost everyone in our area is. There are days I wish I had jumped on the private school bandwagon fast enough to get one of those spots. However, other days I remind myself I need to try to enjoy this extra time I have been gifted with my children.

Sometimes the boys’ character flaws cause extra stress, things like not turning on the camera when they know they are supposed to or just giving up instead of asking for help. ….Or partying in the kitchen because they see a brother having recess when they in fact should be sitting in class.

The non-synchronous recesses are an actual problem in a house of four different kids with four different schedules.

But other times it is just my own character flaws: impatience, laziness, refusing to take a computer class in college….etc, causing my own problems.

You’ve all heard enough of me whining about the struggle. Today I want to document a day to remember this experience by.

7:00 Hit snooze. Chastise Midnight April for reading the internet last night instead of going to sleep. Since when do you follow politics? Vow to go to sleep earlier tonight.

7:30 Stumble out of bed and wake the oldest boys.

7:45 Arrive downstairs for coffee. Microwave it because I slept so late.

7:50 Stare out the window and drink coffee. Relish in the silence.

8:00 Check some apps on my phone. Scold self for wasting time on the phone when I could be reading my Bible and praying for the day ahead.

8:10 Read Bible and pray.

8:40 Feed Daniel and JD breakfast. Today was pancakes: Wegman’s frozen pancakes with Log Cabin syrup. We are not fancy.

Make my to do list for the day.

9:00 Realize boys are running late for class. Boot up and sign on to their computers for them. Sleeping late is a domino effect of this sort of thing.

9:00 All boys are in class. Phew. Remind them to turn on their cameras.

Go upstairs to get dressed. Alan is in my room on a virtual meeting with like 100 people at the Pentagon. He has a stand up desk using the top of my dresser. Make sure his camera is off before I get dressed. Ha! 2021 problems.

Put in earrings which makes me feel better about myself.

Spot my nail stickers on the counter. Hope to find time to fix my nails later. It has been about a year since I have found time to do that.

Carry the laundry hamper downstairs.

9:20 Come downstairs and do the dishes.

9:25 Help JD figure out the special instructions for reading class today because his teacher is in a meeting and can’t be in class. Check email to find the instructions. Help JD find the worksheet and a sharpened pencil, glue stick, and scissors. He so rarely uses the glue and scissors.

9:35 Try to figure out what Daniel is doing. Help Daniel with username and password for social studies activity. Make him turn his camera on. Feel accomplished and happy that we did that successfully today.

9:47 Head down to laundry room to start the day’s laundry. I pretty much have to wash one or two loads a day. Yesterday was sheets day, so I am finishing up that.

Fold fitted sheets. Seriously consider making a How to Fold a fitted sheet video. Maybe one day. Alan’s Aunt Janet taught me how to do it. I’m still not as good as she, but I do all right.

10:15 Check on everyone. Check things off on my to do list. Make sure everyone has everything they need so I can leave the house for 17 minutes for a walk.

Call Rosie. Huh, she didn’t come.

Call Rosie again. I hear her scratching. That means she is in someone’s room and is waiting to be let out to run to me. So cute. Alan lets her out of our room, and she comes bounding excitedly down the stairs.

I heard it was cold and windy today, so I put a sweater on the dog, plenty of winter gear on myself, and we head out.

10:23 Short walk. What a life giving ritual. So glad I made the time to do that.

10:40 Check on everyone again. Start the robo-vacuum in the living room.

Sit down to work on the blog. Check Facebook instead.

Suddenly, everyone in the house is up and hanging around me. Some are on break, and others are not. Alan is eating lunch and talking to everyone. He tries to help Daniel with a music assignment which was hilarious. Daniel finishes on his own, and then I helped him upload and submit his work.

I hear John David answering a subtraction question in math class. Very happy with how well he is paying attention in class today.

Clean the hair out of the robot vacuum cleaner so it will get back to work.

11:15 Cycle the laundry. Find a boy not taking notes during a math lesson, and make him take notes.

11:20 Haul a Christmas bin upstairs and begin taking down decorations. Clean out the robot vac again. It cannot handle the rugs.

11:35 Help JD photograph and submit his math quiz.

11:40 Make peanut butter sandwiches and Ramen noodles for lunch. I told you we are not fancy, but in my defense, I did serve them turkey, strawberries, and crackers yesterday. We do try to cover the food groups.

Get hair off the robot vac brushes again. Gracious, this thing. Two long red hairs and some black thread and it just can’t possibly go on.

12:00 Do more Christmas un-decorating. Find Daniel’s Halloween pillowcase full of candy in the corner of the office. Dig out a couple of pieces, and rake the rest of it into the trashcan. Feel impressed that one or two of my children actually refrained from eating all of his candy. I never could.

Loose strands of plastic garland are everywhere. The whole house will need to be cleaned up from the Christmas clean up.

12:15 Talk a child into trying Ramen noodles again. Hurray! He ate them!

12:30 My Lunch: Greek yogurt and kettle chips while I read the book I am almost finished with. I love this book. Fascinating!

1:05 Realize I’m five minutes late. Oops! Head downstairs to make sure everyone is in class. Make them sit up and listen, etc., again.

Make Daniel another bowl of Ramen noodles.

Watch in dismay as JD runs free style science projects because he has a few spare minutes…

1:25 Clean up all the lunch dishes. Restart the robo-vac again.

1:35 Work on laundry. Take down another bin full of Christmas decorations. Have the boys carry the bins down to the basement.

2:00 Help JD with a library quiz. Trap the robo-vac into a corner and beg it to clean it.

2:10 Help Daniel with math.

2:15 Drink a mini coke. Log JD into writing class. Sharpen 10 pencils.

2:30 Sit down and work on blog. Resist the urge to take a stress nap because energy just left the building.

250 Help JD submit more work. Desperately wish to collapse on sofa. I have not been sleeping well lately, which is unusual for me. Then remember I promised Caleb I would take him to Target

3:30 Headed to Target with Caleb so he can buy the Millenium Falcon Lego set with his Christmas money. Pick up a few groceries too. Wander around in there a little because I love that place.

4:45 Pick up Burger King on the way home. Oh well, nutrition took a hit today. There is always tomorrow.

5:15 Read emails from teachers. Print out work for the next day. Have kids find missing assignments.

6:30 Lose all track of taking notes for the “day in the life.” This was only a few days ago, but I cannot remember anything else that happened.

Daniel and I finished reading The Prince and the Pauper together this week.

But that’s the basic gyst of what the days look like. Of course, each day is a little different.

I go back and forth between being thankful for the extra time we all have together, and yearning for more head space. It is hard to find a spare minute alone with this current schedule, but then that is how I lived for ages, birthing four kids in seven years.

Oh, and by the way, I finally gave up on the robot vacuum cleaner. My new upright man-powered vacuum works much better, though I do have to power it myself.

Are your days anything like this? It is fun to me to hear about the different ways people are doing virtual school or home school. We would love to read about your experiences in the comments below.