This is my 5th year of participating in the fun Instagram hashtag #onedayhh, where you take and post a picture an hour of your ordinary day. Thankfully, my kids still think me taking a ton of pictures of them is really fun, and they were pretty patient with my mommy paparazzi (more than my husband Evan, who was happy to escape after breakfast to a photo-free work day.) However, I find captioning and posting them on the actual day is beyond me. So for a couple of years now, I’ve made blog posts out of the pictures, capturing the joy and minutia of an ordinary Fall day. (Here’s 2017‘s when Lily was six months old and last year’s 2020 post, but you could find the other years on Instagram). It’s amazing to me how slowly the details of our day change and stay the same. This year, the weather was extra lovely, and our fall foliage was still going strong. (A couple of days later it was cold and rainy.) Perhaps, my everyday is this beautiful and taking pictures just made me stop and notice. Or maybe it was an extra-beautiful day.
4:30 am. This is a pretty early wake up, but I haven’t fully gotten into daylight savings time. Yesterday, I woke up at 3:45, so this is an improvement. I take advantage of the quiet early morning to get some novel writing in. Honestly, it’s happened less this fall than I’d like, but the past week has been better. I’ve got to take what I can get, and know that I’ll have much more time next year when both kids are in school.
5:10 Evan is up. We start making the morning: unloading the dishwasher, making coffee, breakfast, Evan’s lunch to take to school.
5:20 Jackson is up. I set him up with a stack of Level 3 readers, mostly Young Cam Jansen, although this morning it was a series our librarian Miss Maria suggested: Hank the Pet Sitter.
5:40 Lily is up. I sit and nurse her and read my morning prayers and then a bit of another book . Evan and Jackson eat breakfast and when Evan’s done, he reads a bit of The Hobbit to Jackson.
This is my currently reading stack: Soul Keeping by John Ortberg, First Language Lessons by Jessie Wise, Sister Bernadette’s Barking Dog by Kitty Burns Florey, Prayer: Our Deepest Longing by Ronald Rolheiser, Light upon Light by Sarah Arthur, Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. I go with the Newbery that I’m in the middle of Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina.
7:15 Lily is going to be 3 1/2 at the end of the week, and therefore every transition is a challenge. This is me telling her to come to the table to eat breakfast…and her curling up into a ball.
Because Evan ate his breakfast while I was nursing Lily, he graciously offers to read to the kids (Mercy Watson to the Rescue by Kate DeCamillo) while I eat breakfast.
I even get four minutes to sip my coffee and do my sudoku of the day calendar. Obviously, I haven’t actually done one every day since I’m six months behind doing one for late April.
Jackson finishes his breakfast and comes over to help me. That boy loves numbers.
6:45 But soon it’s time for Evan to leave for work.
6:50 I help Lily finish her bites. Then it’s a little bit of homeschool time. Lily’s working on her letters and numbers with our favorite Montessori Letter Work and Montessori Number Work books.
Jackson is working on his drawing and writing by copying a picture and several sentences about a tractor from Draw Write Now.
Lily also uses some raisins and refrigerator letters to practice counting. We start with ten. She counts the 10 raisins, touching just underneath them so the raisins don’t move, finds the number 10 in the magnets, and then eats the raisin. Repeat with number 9.
7:30 I set a timer for the kids to race against and get dressed in the clothes I’ve laid out for them. This is new and the novelty hasn’t worn off. The kids get dressed about 10x faster than normal. Also we’re going to put together a bunk bed for the kids this weekend, so right now everyone’s mattresses are on the floor because all we got to last weekend was taking apart the pallet floor bed set up and cleaning up the massive amount of dust that had accumulated. So at least it’s a clean floor they’re sleeping on.
Jackson goes back to the couch to read while I clean up breakfast and get dressed.
Not to be left out, Lily reads a tiny blank notebook to her baby. Then I call her to brush her hair while she’s watching a little Daniel Tiger.
7:50 I decide if I’m going to be in selfies all day, I can put some makeup on. Usually, that’s only something I bother to do on Sundays.
8:30 We get out of the house bundled up in hats and coats and our nearly falling apart BOB double stroller.
The kids find some little library books in the bottom of the stroller to read.
Everyone wanted pictures as we walked away from the house. Lily’s hat makes her look like a teenager.
And Jackson’s front tooth gap is my favorite.
And I didn’t put on mascara for nothing: selfie #2.
8:45 About a half mile into the walk, they’re done with their books and want to run.
A little library stop.
Exchanged little library books for some fresh reading, and a stop at the grocery store to use the bathroom, hence throwing our masks on. Lily’s book is some early 1990s Sesame street book. Jackson’s new little library book is about the difference between animals, fish, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. So we have a conversation about the chart in the back and the different ways animals have babies.
9:30 Now we have made it over to the river walk, and it’s dry enough we can go on the dirt path right next to the river. This is one of my favorite parts of fall. The long grass and the ticks are gone, and we can go back onto the trails.
This little jutting-out bend in the river is right by some small rocky falls. We love to stop and sing a song with the brook to our Creator. Today, Jackson chooses Jonny Appleseed. 🙂
Lily found a giant sycamore leaf. We also saw some salmon going up the river, and I tried to get a picture but all you can see is muddy river. Since Jackson had his book about animal classification, we talk about how salmon as fish mean they are cold blooded and lay eggs in the water.
Today since we’re taking pictures, we stop to take pictures of the ancient willow trees.
The kids were happy to explore. I let them cut back onto the trail through the undergrowth.
Then Lily got eight burs in her hair. She was very unhappy about it, but let me pull them out and finger comb her hair. So much for her fancy pigtails.
Back into the stroller with more giant leaves, we’re almost to the park.
10:15 The kids are all about climbing and swinging these days. I partly love it, I know that all climbing and swinging is so good for their arm and shoulder development. And I partly find it challenging to negotiate kid traffic jams, daredevil moves, and a desire to have me watch the same “fancy thing” over and over when I’m trying to talk to another mom. I’m not sure how heavy duty mittens will affect this so perhaps it will pause for winter time, or they will find a different way to move.
I coax Lily to swing for a minute while Jackson has a chat with our other hardy-weather friend Kurt who brings a half-dozen day care kids to the park about the same time we do.
11:05 Since it’s already past 11, we keep the park brief and walk the trails at the back on our way out.
Then we make a brief stop at the labyrinth.
The kids love to follow the trail to the middle and play with the gravel there. Today they are “baking cakes.”
11:30 On the way out we stop to look at a lone pretty maple.
And to take in the bench by the pond.
On the way home, the kids stomp through leaf piles on the two blocks that don’t have a side walk.
This is probably the biggest leaf pile the kids have ever gotten to jump in.
11:45 On the way home is math time. Jackson and I do a mixture of talking about numbers, practicing various skills, skip counting and math tables, and working through frustration at getting something wrong. Today, he’s working on his 5’s times tables, and we talked about why 6+8=14 and 7+7=14 (the same answer), but 6×8=48 and 7×7=49 (not the same answer). This leads me to look up various number properties on my phone (like commutative, associative, identity, and distributive) and giving a basic run down of them. I’m not sure that answer was all that satisfying, but Jackson said it was a “good talk” so I guess it was. We usually also parse a simple sentence aloud since he just learned the parts of speech. Lily is usually happy to ride home while we walk and “do school.”
Also we discuss the cloud types, because he recently got into those and I miraculously recalled the five main kinds from freshmen high school earth science. (I could not, however, spell any of them correctly. That seems fairly on brand for me.) These are probably cirrocumulus (ie. high and tiny puffs).
12:00 pm Back home I take a picture of our yellow maples. Seriously, they are never this pretty in fall and I can’t get over how lovely our yard has suddenly become.
At home I make the kids what we have termed “molasses water” which is a little bit of molasses and Himalayan salt with water. It started out as a hack in the summer when we ran out of coconut water and I used maple syrup instead, and then I switched them to the healthier molasses. (Seriously, have you ever looked at the nutritional facts of molasses? It has a ton of minerals in it.) It dissolves better in hot water, so it’s kind of like gingerbread tea, especially if I put a little bit of powdered ginger in it. At first the kids didn’t like it, but now they don’t complain and I feel like it helps me know they are hydrated after our walk.
While they have their molasses water (and a coconut-flour cookie from Aldi) and watch reading rainbow on Amazon Prime (we have the PBS package), I’m making lunch. Today, I have to take a few minutes to blend up some Costco sweet kale salad which I add to my salad, along with steamed Brussel sprouts and apples. I listen to a podcast while I chop and prep.
The kids get Brussel sprouts, apples, avocados, and salmon in their bento boxes.
12:40 Then we sit down to lunch. If it’s early enough, I’ll just eat my lunch peacefully reading or watching something on youtube, but today it’s late. So we all eat together and between bites I read Arnold Lobel’s Mother Goose to them.
Some of the nursery rhymes are kind of dark, but the kids don’t seem to mind. (Also you can see cloud type names on our white board, a book of saints from All Saint’s Day, and Evan’s grandma’s memoir on our bookshelf.)
1:20 Then it’s a scramble to get everyone wiped off, pottied, and in clean enough clothes for naptime. A rowdy pre-naptime hug ensues.
Goodnight! Today I get lucky and both kids nap. Lily had been a super reliable napper before the time change, although she has surprised me by doing rest time fairly well. Jackson goes in spurts where he won’t nap all week, and then he’ll nap four days in a row.
2:00 I go and clean up the kitchen after lunch and do a load of laundry. While I was putting Lily down I missed a call from my college friend Emily. I call her back, but she’s picking up her daughter from preschool and she’s going to call me back in 20. I quick do my back exercises while I wait.
They are sixty second holds on a modified curl up, side planks, and dog-bird. I added a front plank and some push ups for good measure. Then I get to talk to Emily while I clean up before I have to wake the kids up so bed time is not crazy late.
3:05 Jackson wakes up snuggly and cheerful. Thankfully this is his usual post-naptime MO.
He’s happy to read quietly on the couch.
3:10 Lily wakes up crabby and not ready to be up. But I carry the fussing girl to the livingroom and let her nurse while she wakes up (or tries to fall back asleep, as is usually the case.)
I still get the majority of my reading done while nursing her. Not for much longer now.
Jackson finishes his reader and declares he wants to read “one of his favorites” the Big Book of Orange Beginner Books by Dr. Seuss. He thinks Marvin K Mooney Will You Please Go Now is hilarious.
3:50 After Lily is done, it’s time for music. Usually Tuesday afternoon is music with my mom (via WhatsApp on my phone) but she’s driving down to Arizona for the winter with my dad, so it’s just plain old music with mom today. Lily is a bit of a wild card in terms of how well she will play by herself and leave us to do music from Piano Adventures Level 1.
Today she does fairly well. Jackson is doing great at piano. He can get super frustrated and cry a lot when something is extra hard, or he doesn’t agree with my criticism. My mom was my piano teacher, and I have similar memories. But we keep making progress, and it’s a lot of opportunity for us both to work through big feelings.
Then Lily points to the recorders at the end of the lesson and wants to “play the horns” it sounds really dreadful and extremely loud. I can handle the jubilant cacophony for about sixty seconds, before I declare it’s time to go outside.
4:20 It’s unseasonably warm outside, so we don’t even need jackets.
Lily has a rope skip-it that she calls her “doggie.” His name, she informs me, is Bobo. Usually she pulls him around the yard on his “walk,” although today she is trying out tying him around her waist.
I play outside with the kids and run in to throw broccoli in the microwave and heat up left-overs for the dinner. Jackson would play soccer for hours and hours if we let him. He still wants me to pass the ball to him, but I’m quickly being overtaken in the soccer skills department. Gotta get that offseason work in.
5:30 We catch the lovely little sunset before the big event of the evening:
5:45 Daddy coming home!
Today he stopped at Whole Foods, and it happened that the first thing he brought in from the car was a little potted plant of indoor mums and some extra dark chocolate because Aldi had been out of it.
People are going to think I bring you flowers and chocolate everyday, he laughs.
Then he changes out of work clothes and takes the kids to the basement to play while I put away groceries, set the table, and heat up the rest of dinner while listening to a podcast.
6:15 I go downstairs to call them up for dinner, and they are playing Settlers. Lily has completely let Evan take over her hand, and Jackson is doing well, coached by Evan. They all have the same number of points. Essentially I think Evan is playing himself. But it’s one of his favorite games, so I don’t think he minds much.
Dinner is ham, sweet potatoes and broccoli tonight. Also Lily is counting her fingers, which is adorable because she is still surprised that there are five every time.
Tonight’s dinner reading is Marc Brown’s Arthur’s Really Helpful Bedtime Stories, which has classic fairytales retold with the Arthur characters. Jackson is a devoted fan of Arthur and has been very slow to want to read “scary” fairytales, so this has been the perfect introduction to fairytales. Jackson finishes before Lily, so he and Evan go downstairs to do Duolingo Spanish.
7:10 After dinner I clean up, and the kids play downstairs with Evan. I put the dishes into the dishwasher and set the timer. I marco polo my best friend Kelli while I fold laundry.
When I go down to get them for baths, Jackson is playing bananagrams with Evan. He does really well, until there is a big melt down over the fact that “nug” is not in fact a word. Evan consoles him by reminding spelling is hard, and that I would probably not have done much better. This is true, my spelling is terrible and don’t enjoy scrabble, bananagrams, or crosswords much because of it. Jackson sniffles and says “Really?” I assure him that it’s true. Then it’s time for bed. Baths and jammies follow.
8:10 We read a quick Bible story and prayers, and then it’s off to bed! (5-Minute Bible Stories which should probably more accurately be entitled 45-second Bible Stories, they are very very short. Really Woolly Bedtime Prayers, this is Lily’s favorites. They are simple and sweet and solid. The Classic Treasury of Children’s Prayers so far these have been really beautiful, but think old-fashioned poems rather than liturgical prayers.)
Closing Reflections: This season has all the joys and challenges of the moment right before a big transition. We’re about nine months out from both kids going to all day school with Evan. Some days I cannot wait, and other days I cannot imagine not spending the day with them. I try to remember that the friction of that tension, the ways that Jackson seems just a little too big for the stroller or for days at the park when Lily is the oldest kid there, that there will be good things about next year. The kids will be in a great school with kids their own age, and I’ll have so much more time to write. And when I’m sad about this season coming to close, I try to appreciate the last few months of this time, of beautiful mornings that we get to spend together, afternoon naps, spontaneity and flexibility, and lots of stories read together throughout the day.
What’s marking your ordinary Fall days right now?
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