April 18, 2012

A Day

Just for the fun of it, I thought I would record the activity of a day in my life, a mommy of 4 in Madagascar. Perhaps you will be surprised at how boring this is. I'm not really sure. It was interesting for me though, to reflect back on a full day and see how much time was spent doing what... perhaps I need to look at time-management? :)



This was my day on Monday:


5:50 am                Woke up 10 minutes before my alarm. Did hair, make-up, put coffee on, and started my quiet time and Bible study. Checked a blog or two; checked Facebook.
7:00 am                Kids are up. Made and ate breakfast.
7:20 am                Said Goodbye to Daddy
7:30 am                My helper arrived. Gave her some instructions for the morning and our day ahead. Prepared myself to leave for the Monday morning MAF prayer meeting at the Hangar. Set up a tv show for the kids.
8:00 am                Drove to MAF Prayer Meeting at the Hangar.
8:45 am                Returned home. Organized our day’s school work for Faith to start. While the kids finished their show, I stripped my bed, quickly straightened girls’ room and Wesley’s room, with Calvin in-tow.
9:00 am               Received a call from Josh (our neighbor) asking me to check on his house next door because his wife had to leave suddenly with their helper, and they have plumbers over fixing their kitchen. He wanted me to help make sure the workers stayed in the kitchen. These same workers will also fix leak damage in my house later. Found out their helper is having complications with her pregnancy. Praying.
9:15 am               Scribbled a grocery list and quick dinner plan for the week. Took meat out of the freezer to thaw for dinner.
9:20 am               Started school with Faith and occupied the other kids. Math, Social Studies, Science. Joyanne peed on the floor...
9:45 am               I had some pineapple to eat J Contemplated eating the kids’ Easter bunnies – stopped myself.
10:30 am             Spelling with Faith
11:00 am             Sent Faith upstairs to build Lego with Wesley. Worker arrived at our house to fix the damage from the severe leak in Wesley’s bedroom. Gave Calvin his bottle.  Quickly emailed our mailing address to friends and family. Quickly checked Facebook again.
11:10 am             Put Joyanne and Calvin in the stroller and did a few laps around the compound while listening to “An Attitude of Gratitude” by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.
11:30 am             Sorted out payment to the worker on behalf of Josh. Made Calvin’s lunch and fed him.
11:45 am             Put Calvin in his nap, and made lunch for me and the other 3 kids.
12:10 pm             Lunch! P.B. & Jelly on buns, with puffed cheezies (for them). Leftover pulled BBQ chicken on my bun (from last night’s supper).
12:20 pm             While eating lunch I tried researching mercury levels in albacore tuna. Faith is apparently missing canned tuna. And I remember seeing albacore canned tuna in Shoprite the other day. We also enjoyed leftover cakes our guests brought us last night. Yum.
12:40 pm             Put kids in their quiet times; we also admired the repair job in Wesley’s room.
1:00 pm               Emailing, started writing the weekly newsshare for MAF. Drinking Coke, and playing piano!
1:30 pm                Worked on Ladies Bible Study homework. Enjoying the quiet moments of the afternoon while each child is in their rooms resting.
2:30 pm                Asked Wesley and Faith to clean up from their quiet times. Calvin woke up and wanted his bottle. Rob popped in to pick up a tool for work.
3:00 pm                Joyanne and Calvin went in the stroller for more laps around the compound with me.
3:15 pm                I asked Faith to read to me for a few minutes.
3:30 pm                I chopped some potatoes for dinner. Wesley still hasn’t cleaned up his room, therefore, he’s still in there.
4:00 pm                Talked with Jocelyn for a bit by the litchi tree about her helper who was taken to hospital today for pregnancy complications. Praying.
4:15 pm                Wesley is still in his room refusing to clean up. I am now praying hard to remain firm and consistent and not feel bad for him. The other children and I are spending time outside. Playing on the swings and riding in the stroller.
4:30 pm                Waiting for Rob to get home from work. Maybe he will be able to motivate Wesley a bit better. Wesley came downstairs to show me a car he built out of lego, rather than cleaning up. Oh well... back to his room. My helper left for the day now, making sure to say goodbye and hug each of the kids (that has become their routine, and they are really upset if they don't get to).
4:45 pm                Fanja (our neighbor's helper) came to ask if I would like to buy une poulet this week. I said yes, of course! So I paid her for that.
5:00 pm                Found out Rob will be working late. Wesley is still in his room refusing to clean up. I decide to finish making dinner. Our gardener knocked on the kitchen door asking for money to buy des medicament for my lawn which the crickets have almost destroyed. Gave it to him.
5:30 pm                Wesley has come down a couple of times and I have sent him back to his room to discover he still hasn’t put a single piece of lego in the box.
5:45 pm                Rob arrives home. He speaks with Wesley. Dinner is almost ready. One of the neighbor kids is in the house playing with Joyanne nicely.
6:00 pm                We are eating dinner, Wesley has joined us for dinner.
6:30 pm                I am clearing the table. Wesley is finally cleaning his room (with daddy’s verbal motivation :) )
7:00 pm                We are starting the bedtime routine. Calvin is drinking his bottle. I read Joyanne a book. Faith is in her bed reading her Bible. Wesley is playing cars downstairs. I am quickly checking Facebook.
7:20 pm                I put Calvin to bed.
7:30 pm                Daddy is putting the other kiddos to bed, and I am having a quick chat with my mother-in-law on Skype.
8:00 pm                Showered
8:30 pm                In bed drinking hot chocolate watching tv, oh yeah... and eating chips. Yikes! Surfing the web for cool printables for Faith to work on tomorrow.
9:20 pm                Curled my hair for bed.
10:00 pm              Lights Out. 

2 comments:

Michael Eckert said...

curled your hair before bed.. what way did you do that?
I bet it curls well in the humidity

The Barbers said...

I wrap it around a headband at night. Takes about 5 minutes and gives me great curls in the morning. The humidity tends to kill my hair by mid-afternoon... but it probably helps it initially :)