"Staying at home with Faith: a day in the...

Yes, I copied Faith, Painted's article title. And I am copying her idea as well. I know she won't mind because I am not taking anything away from her!

Why? My daughter is Faith (no, not Painted) and she is now 2 1/2 months old. I stay at home with her and my other three children. It is time for an update:

My mornings start at about 5:00am. Faith wakes up around then (give or take an hour) so I feed her. At 5:30, I get up with hubby to prepare his lunch (typically sandwich, chips and a snack or two - granola bar, almonds) then his breakfast (Kashi Go Lean cereal and a bagel with strawberry preserves). Once I see him out the door, I take a bit of Gather time and also check my emails. That is around 6-6:30. An hour later, I wake my daughter up. While she dresses, makes up her bed and brushes her hair, I shower. She starts her violin lessons at 8:00am, and I prepare the kids' breakfast. We eat at 8:30, then she starts school in earnest by 9:00.

This then becomes the juggling act. I have to supervise her, while trying to keep the boys occupied and out of trouble. They want to play near us for fear of missing something, but they are too noisy and cause distraction from school. And of course, by this time, Faith is awake and ready to eat again. I settle in by the computer to Gather a bit more while nursing her. The boys run off to play in their room (I hope that's where they are at!) and I monitor Charis with schooling. At 10:00, we take another break/snack which takes about 10 minutes. Stepping into the hallway shows exactly what the boys have been up to: toys scattered from the toy box in their room out to the hallway.

We resume school and finish up around 11:00am. She writes down a review of what she has learned for the day; basically to practice penmanship and help in her Scripture memorization. And the boys get to clean up the mess they have made before eating lunch, which is at noon.

Lunch over, it is naptime - for the kids, that is. I get to clean up the mess of the boys "cleaning up." They are still learning! After that is complete, I have a bit of time to myself (more Gather time) until Faith is ready to eat (1 or 2pm). She lays down and the kids wake up! House cleaning time. I spread the chores out through the week, but have them help me pick up while I vacuum, fold laundry, wipe counters while I clean the bathrooms, etc. If there's not much to do (or too much to do, if I have let things slack), I send them outside to play for a bit.

Then it is supper time. I try to get things prepared for the most part before hubby gets home from work. He likes to grill, so I take care of the rest of the meal if he wants to grill out when he gets home. Or I have everything ready to eat by 5pm, or no later than 6pm. Guess who is usually hungry when we are ready to eat? Faith! So, she gets to eat and then it's my turn. Once supper is done, I clean up the kitchen and we are free for some family time. Hubby heads out the door to walk a few laps around the neighborhood for exercise while the kids ready for bed. (If I have time here, I Gather again) When he returns around 8:30-9:00pm, we all sit down for family devotions and Faith's bedtime feeding time. Then it's off to bed we go. Faith sleeps through the night, so I don't hear anymore from her until about 5am the next morning.

Now you have spent a day in the life of a SAHM!

**Details subject to vary by day as schedules sometimes change due to violin lessons, grocery shopping, etc.**