Saturday, July 13, 2013

Documenting My WAHMderful Day


If you've been following my blog, you would know that my hands are so full in the past months. I'm writing this post to document what I had been doing during those days when we didn't have maids and I had to do some chores in between/on top of WAHMing (working from home).
 
Here's how my typical day would go:
 

Oatmeal for my boys.

Read and meditate on the readings for the day. Read reflections from devotionals and inspiring posts from people I follow/look up to.
 
After saying my morning prayers, I cook breakfast. That's oatmeal most of the time because it's so quick to prepare aside from being healthy. If I don't have time to cook and the kids are already awake, we have cereals and fruits for breakfast.
Oh, this smile makes all the effort worth it!
 
 
Then, if I'm able to buy ingredients for homecooked meals, I cook a viand for lunch and dinner. I cook rice in the rice cooker also while cooking the viand. If I'm not able to go to the supermarket or too busy to cook, I just cook rice. We buy cooked viands or order food to be delivered to the house.
 
If the kids are still asleep by the time I'm done cooking, I do some work on my laptop. If the food I'm cooking takes a while, I try to do some work in my laptop while making sure I don't burn our food. haha
 
When the baby wakes up, I breastfeed him and feed him breakfast.
 
I play with the baby for some time and encourage him to play on his own.
 
After some time, my eldest should get up from bed. I will make sure that he eats his breakfast and says his morning prayers or lead his brother in praying their morning prayers.
 
I will let the kids play with each other.
 
While the kids are playing, I'll try to work again until around almost lunch time. Then, I'll heat our food and set the table. Ask the kids to pack away and wash their hands. Say grace and eat our lunch.
 
Cooking picadillo.
 
After eating, I bathe the baby and supervise my eldest son as he takes a bath on his own.
 
Once the kids are dressed, I would encourage my eldest to read a book or read to his baby brother or I read to them.
 
Then, it should be naptime for the kids. I breastfeed the baby until he falls asleep.
 
If my eldest doesn't sleep (which happens often lately), I ask him to read, practice writing or lie down only to rest while I try to do some work again or take a bath.
 
When the kids or the baby wakes up, I let them play again or I will play with them. I use my work breaks to play with my kids and to destress by asking for hugs and kisses. That's what we do until around evening when I will heat our food again and prepare for dinner.
 

If the laundry basket is already full or overflowing, I sort the laundry, count the pieces of clothing and list them in my notebook. When the kids are awake while I do this, they help me sort and count. It's amazing how even my little Mateo (one and half years old) can identify which clothes are mine and which are his Dad's). Then, I call the laundry shop to schedule pick up.

 
After dinner, I wash the dishes or my husband washes the dishes. Sometimes, I wash the dishes after every meal. But on very hectic days, I wash the dishes only after dinner or when we need to use them again.
 
After that I try to work while my husband spends time with the kids.
 
Then, we have some family talk time before night prayers and going to bed.
 
We homeschool our kids, too. But since homeschooling/learning has become our lifestyle, learning is integrated into our daily activities like the kids' pretend plays, playing music, reading, our conversations and the way we do things at home and as a family. Our main focus in our homeschooling is still values/character formation over academics.
 
The truth is it's tiring to live this kind of lifestyle especially when I'm swamped with work other than housework. The smiles, kisses and hugs, and witnessing my kids' childhood however make all the inconveniences and challenges tolerable.
 
At the end of the day, I thank the Lord for another day and all that happened in it. I thank Him for sustaining me and for watching over me and my family. Then, I ask for grace again to do all that I need to do the following day.
 
Are you also a WAHM? Feel free to share with me in the comments how similar or different your day is with mine. :) I would be happy to hear from other WAHMs especially those who also homeschool their kids.
 

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