A month ago I posed the question, “Will it be easier to hustle in the morning?” Many of the blog posts and books I read say 5:00 a.m. is a magical time of flowing coffee fountains in a mysterious quiet land with a rising sun bringing glory to your productive morning. So Daniel and I decided to visit this mysterious land at 6:00 a.m., because 5:00 a.m. would be too much of a shock to our delicate systems.
We programmed the coffee maker, set our harp sounding alarms, made plans of attack, and tossed and turned in bed until we fell asleep at an early-ish hour. The alarms went off and with groans and eye-rubbing we moved our butts into our work chairs and tried to wake up.
We did this for four days and then gave up.
Daniel and I found that we both work better at night. In the mornings I have a mental timer counting down until the kids wake up, but at night I have an enormous block of kid-free time. Even though we are sometimes tired at night we found that we aren’t alert upon rising either.
Changes in Work Schedule
I used to have a strict no working between the hours of 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. rule, because I wanted help with the kids during dinner and bedtimes. Our kids are getting older and I don’t need as much help as I used to. Daniel now works in the evening hours until he gets to a good stopping point. He likes not having a set off-duty time, because he is free start new tasks after 4:00 p.m. without worrying if he will finish the task in time.
Daniel also goes right back to work after the kids are in bed. I am completely okay with late night work hours, because I usually need to get some of my own work done at the same time.
We are hustling and Daniel is working an average of 10 hours a day. We take time on the weekends to hang out together and recharge. I am grateful that he is home while he works and can take little breaks here and there. The kids still get to see Daddy.
The answer to my question “Will it be easier to hustle in the morning?” is no. It is not easier for us to hustle in the morning. We are truly night owls at heart.
Daniel and the kids did an off-site homeschool day at Taco Taco Cafe
Homeschool Update
Last month we got back into the swing of things with homeschool. Here is an update on everyone.
Me (Amanda) – Even though I am still learning the “how to” of homeschool I still love it. I now know that even if travel wasn’t in the plans I would still homeschool my kids. I need to find some other homeschool moms so I can ask questions and get ideas. I am learning to chill out, because it is only Kindergarten and Preschool. I have started going to a Wednesday morning Bible study and my kids don’t homeschool on Wednesdays. One of the best things about homeschooling is going at our own pace. I need to remember that.
Daniel – He loves to homeschool the kids when he gets a chance. One morning I had a meeting at Zander’s school with Zander. While I was in the meeting Daniel took the big kids to eat breakfast tacos and do their school work. They all had a great time.
Annabelle – (Age 5) She is beginning to be unmotivated to complete her school work. I think I need to get back in a routine instead of beginning homeschool when I feel like it. She will get upset when I interrupt whatever she is doing and ask her to get started on school with me. I think a routine will help set her expectations. Overall, she is doing great with her reading, handwriting, and math. In the reading curriculum the visual training wheels are coming off and it is so much fun to see her read paragraphs in Times New Roman.
Roman – (Age 3, almost 4) My goodness. This child is blowing me away. I had been talking up reading lessons like I used to talk up potty training. Then one day he decided that he was ready to start reading lessons again. Now I have to stop him from doing several lessons in a day. He is ⅓ of the way through Annabelle’s reading curriculum. He loves math and I have begun to supplement his preschool work with extra addition problems. I will most likely start him in Kindergarten this Summer.
Zander – (Age 1, almost 2) When he isn’t terrorizing the other two during school, he learning to hold a crayon or a pencil. He is Hard of Hearing and in the 5th percentile for language for his age. It is good that he is even on the chart. To help him we read and talk to him often to feed him language.
Overall, I am pleased with our homeschool progress. I am excited to keep going this Spring. I am beginning to research 1st grade curriculum that will work for Annabelle while traveling and that I can apply to Roman’s school work. It is really fun to consider all the homeschooling possibilities and add more history and science to their work.
– Photo courtesy of gwilli [Creative Commons]
Yeah, it’s hard for me to shake feeling guilty for NOT getting up at 5am to work on my goals. I simply just work so much better mid-day and at night. I am making great headway on my goals, so as long as that’s happening, I think it’s all good ….
Indeed, it is all good! You just have to be intentional not to waste time during the day. It’s hard, but so worth it!