A Day in the Life During These "Unprecedented Times" aka I Am So Tired

 

I really hemmed and hawed about doing a day-in-the-life post during whatever it is we're calling this dumpster fire of a year. But, I've really tried to do one for different parts of my life, whether when I first started blogging, had an infant, a toddler, whatever (see here, here, and here,). This is something I will want to look back on... eventually. The other day felt pretty "typical," so I kept notes and here we are:

6:10 AM- 6:50 AM I wake up at 6:10 and am able to throw on clothes and get out the door with Ellie to walk within ten minutes. I am NOT a morning person, despite over six years of basically sleeping in pat seven less than a dozen times, but I do appreciate out walks in the quiet morning now, when I can get in some exercise and listen to a podcast (today it was the Gustavo Dudamel episode of Smartless). 

6:50-7:30 I get back home and it's a mad rush around to get Sawyer and I breakfast and ready for our days to start. We have a good routine now, but I still hate it.

7:30-9:00 I had my prep period today so I worked on grading papers with Sawyer next to me working on language arts. His district has chosen to do a 45 minute Zoom each day at 9, while the rest of the content is delivered through several hours of high-quality (really, it's so good and he's learned a ton) video instruction. I am really strategic about what I do during this time so that I can be productive but also be available to help him. My husband comes out to supervise before his 9 am Zoom, which is when I head upstairs to my makeshift office (after yet another mad dash to take the dog out, make another cup of coffee, help Sawyer log on to Zoom, and put my work clothes on);

9:00-12:00 I teach this whole time, which is great and exhausting. We are finishing up The Catcher in the Rye and have been practicing really sharpening literary analysis skills. I always start class with a "guess this song" game and a question for the chat. I get a break for fifteen minutes, in which I am able to run to the restroom, run back downstairs to take the dog out, chat with Sawyer for a second, and head back up. 

12:00-1:00 Lunch! I make Sawyer lunch, take the dog out, get the dog food, gulp down something myself, and try to just... breathe. Sawyer usually needs to go through his newest ten-page comic that he has drawn pictures for, which is so sweet but often not exactly what I'm in the right headspace for (but I do, because I am in no way going to discourage this hobby). At 12:45 I banish him to his room for his "independent time" for eighty minutes (he is totally fine with it- he reads or plays with LEGOs).

1:00-2:30 I teach another class and have office hours (office hours is every day and is a time where kids can come to a Zoom meeting to chat 1:1 about questions they have- I really love it and have grown to really appreciate seeing the kids individually). Sawyer comes down at 2:15 or so and since I am not currently working with a student I help him get started on his math.

2:30-4:00 During this time I work on answering emails and grading, while I help Sawyer when he needs it on his math and science. Now that Ellie is getting so much exercise she sleep most of the afternoon, which is a lifesaver, since she was a total irritating maniac pre-walking time. 

4:00-4:30 Sawyer and I put work away and work on a Halloween art project for the outside of his bedroom door. I try really hard to do something non-school related with him every day, as hard as it can be for me sometimes. 

4:30-5:00 I run around the house and do laundry, set up some sprinklers outside, vacuum, and straighten up.

5:00-5:30 I give Ellie a bath, clean up the backyard artificial grass, and skim the pool 

5:30-6:00 Sawyer and I take Ellie for another walk. Sawyer and I have started this game where we start a story and trade off making parts for the duration of the walk. The stories are insanely ridiculous- today was about a family of bears who go to the beach and almost get eaten by sharks, so they end up going to an amusement park instead.

6:00-7:00 I make dinner (copy cat PF Chang's lettuce wraps and fried rice), clean up, wash dishes

7:00-7:20 I supervise Sawyer's shower, put away laundry, and then put away dishes (our dishwasher is broken... kill me now).

7:20-8:00 Sawyer watches a movie with my husband and I sit back down to do some work.

8:00-8:20 Bedtime for Sawyer- I help him get ready and then we read some Harry Potter 

8:20-9:00 I ran last night and am already at nearly 13,000 steps for the day, so I do some yoga and shower

9:00-9:45 I sit back on my computer to do a Screencastify review video for my students to review some instructions for an assignment they need to be doing but have had questions on. I also squeeze in a quick Marco Polo with a friend. 

9:45-10:15 FINALLY I get to read (On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous)

10:05-10:20 Take dog out again, shut windows, set alarm, check on Sawyer, etc... Panic that a warm spot on the tile is a slab leak.

10:20-11:10 Worry about possible slab leak, go downstairs to check it again (I think we are fine), check my bank account balance, obsess about a few other things I can't control. Eventually fall asleep so that I can wake up a few hours later when the pool pump kicks on so that I can worry that it sounds strange.