What do you do?

The question I kid asked a lot these days. What do I do now that the kids are in school?




The first week, I would walk upstairs make a bed, fold laundry then come back down to the kitchen stand there for 5 minutes- thinking " what next?"
I could think of a hundred things to be doing when I was teaching 4th grade Math, but here I was alone in my house at 10 am on a Tuesday and my mind was going blank.

* Exercise :
Not as much as I could/should. But I have managed to do 30 minutes of exercise on a semi-regular basis.  If it warms up outside, I plan on spending more time walking or riding. However it is Michigan and this might not happen before the kids get out of school.

* House stuff- meal planning/cleaning
I am a little surprised myself that the house is not spotless.  I think for me it comes down to motivation. Just because I have the time doesn't mean I will use it to clean.  Yes right now the house stays tidier and getting dinner on the table is less stressful.
 Free time for me is just that, free and I am using it.  Which of course leads me to guilt, the favorite companion of many women. I choose to let it go and not rule my life.  A pinned recipe, a read book,  a like on Facebook, a cup of tea all these things might happen today before I scrub a floor and I will not let it ruin my day with guilt.

*Bible Reading
This sounds spiritual but right now it is practical.  In January Nathan and I entered a 90 day Bible Reading plan. Reading an average of 15 chapters a day. This is a lot easier if I don't have to teach 5 subjects to two kids. I might have fallen behind if I was still homeschooling.

*A little lonely.
 I miss having the kids around.
I have not took a test to determine  if I am an introvert or and Extrovert.
 I can be alone, I do enjoy my own space and my own time. I can be happy reading a book on  a bench or comfy chair for an hour, I like solace.  But I have a limit, at some point I need to have other people around me.  I am guessing I lean on the extrovert side, everything is more fun if you have someone with you -Shopping, eating, traveling etc..  When the kids were at home all the time I was trying to carve out my alone time, now they are gone I am trying to carve out my people time.  Made a little more difficult by the fact a majority of my people time was with other homeschoolers. I can't ask those moms over for Coffee they are teaching their kids.


This season has been given to me and I want to be purposeful in how I spend my days.
Somedays it is easy to exercise, practice Spanish, clean, study the Bible all by 2:45.
Other days 2:45 rolls around ( the time I have to leave to pick up the kids from school) and the greatest accomplishment was getting my teeth brushed. It is life- right?

 I am thankful, blessed and try not to take for granted the life I have been given.