We moms wear many hats. When I was a full-time working mom of four, I thought I had a lot of hats to wear, but since I returned to being a stay-at-home mom and now also a home schooling mom, I realize that my hats are still ever changing. What I am about to share with you is our somewhat typical day at Mosley Academy with me as the home schooling mom.

Our family consists of myself, hubby Ken, and our beautiful MESS (Matthew, age 12;

Elisabeth, 10; Samuel, 7; and Sarah, 2). Oh, and we have a dog named Snickers who is always someone’s constant companion.

Day in the Life: Home Schooling Mom

3 a.m. – The first of three, yes three, alarms begin to go off. Ken finally shuts them off after I have nudged him THREE separate times! Hat number one: Keeper of the Clock. Ken gets up and leaves the room to get ready for work, and he will return about thirty minutes later. We chat, pray, and then kiss goodbye. I blissfully nod back off to sleep, only to be interrupted by the sound of little feet (Sarah) coming down the hall for at least the second time in the night. Well, I’m not getting up again, so she will be joining me under the covers. Hat number two: Best Snuggler in the World! Maybe I will get back to sleep?

5:15 a.m. – After tossing and turning, I give up and oh so carefully slink out of bed. I might enjoy some quiet time if I don’t wake Sarah. I proceed to make my cup of tea and enjoy some serious devotional time. I dig out my Bible, devotional book, and get down to business. The dog has now joined me. Hat number three: Doggie Mommy. Not what I had planned. The things we do for our kids!

7 a.m. – Sarah is now awake and demanding her cup of milk, potty trip, and Sprout shows.

Hat number 4: Maid. If you’ve ever told your kids you are not their maid, think again. You are. You just don’t want to admit it, or don’t want them to know.

9 a.m. – I have actually managed to shower and get dressed by this point. All the other kids are up and foraging for food like bears coming out of hibernation. I occasionally feel like Martha Stewart and make breakfast instead of feeding them cereal. Hat 5: Cook. Whether spontaneously or planned, I do actually enjoy cooking. We also have begun having semi-regular morning smoothies with fruit, and with veggies that are only revealed after the kids have consumed the drinks!

9-10 a.m. – School starts. Hat 6: Teacher. I was a Kindergarten assistant for several years, and so teaching has always been a part of my life. I just never had any intentions of doing it in my own home! God had other plans. He’s funny like that! We try to be faithful to having morning Bible time. Sam calls it “Jesus time.” The older two kids, Matt and Ella, get their assignments and head to their rooms to work. Sam gets set up on the computer to practice his sight words while I wrangle the shortest one, Sarah. The hardest part of my day is keeping her busy because she wants to do school work, too. I am often trying to entertain her while giving directions to another child. We’re going through lots of Play-Doh these days.  Meanwhile, I’m going to start a load of laundry, load the dishwasher, and take the dog to the backyard to go potty. Turns out we moms are magicians. Look at all we can do at the same time!

12 p.m. – The natives are starving again! Again I cook, or if the day’s menu is fairly easy the big kids will make lunch for everyone. By this point in my day, I have already been awake nine hours. I should’ve had a workout, or at least I feel like I did because I’m already tired! Questions start coming out of me like a machine gun. Did you finish everything? Did you read your book? How could you possibly be done already?

1 p.m. – Sarah goes down for a nap. I now have about two hours to hopefully do all the one-on-one work with Sam that I possibly can. If it were Wednesday, we would be out of luck. That’s our gym day and we’re on the go most of the day. That’s the day I wear Hat 7: Chauffeur.

3 p.m. – They want to eat AGAIN! I really didn’t think about my food budget when we

decided to make me a home schooling mom. Oh, and toilet paper. We won’t even go there! Most of our school work has actually been completed and I’m attempting to grade work and run Sarah to the potty. Sam is ready for a movie, and the two older kids are anxiously waiting for the neighbor kids to get home from school so they can escape the confines of our four walls. I will soon put on Hat 8: Doorman.

3:30 p.m. – Today we have a 4H meeting at the library, so we have to run out the door as neighbor kids are knocking. Everyone is bummed, but as a home school family we have to seek out our own activities more aggressively since my children are terribly unsocialized due to home schooling. Note the sarcasm. It’s a question I get often. Usually by people who assume kids in regular school have lots of free time in their school day. Trust me, they don’t. Once we get there I take on a new role of secretary (Hat 9). The best part is that I get to talk to grown ups while I’m there! Oh, and we make another trip to the potty for Sarah.

6 p.m. – We have made it back home intact. The chauffeur did not lose her mind in all the chaos of back and forth. We also had to make a quick stop at the grocery store to grab a last-minute item for dinner. Ken is now home and we will be eating. AGAIN. We eat, talk about the day’s events, and the kids help clean up dinner while I transfer that forgotten load of laundry from this morning into the dryer, take Sarah potty, and direct kids to pj’s, or showers, or both!

8 p.m. – Ken is getting his coffee and lunch ready for the next day. I’m seriously ready for pj’s and still have lots to do. I never really mentioned that my first set of hats are actually wife and mother. Not to mention I’m a daughter, friend, Christian, runner, photographer, writer, etc. The list really could go on.

11 p.m. – I’ve been up for nearly twenty hours. I’m tired, but I know my work is never done. I just keep reminding myself that I really can wear all these hats. God called me to be a stay-at-home mom who is also a home schooling mom of four wild and hungry kiddos. It’s the best hat ever!

What does your schedule look like as a home schooling mom?

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Category: Moms

Tags: Christian