Day in the life

Birds chirping, rays of gentle sunshine warming my face, the smell of gourmet coffee filling the air, gentle breeze blowing through the trees and flowers... drool oozing down my cheek.... wait drool...what?    "SLAP... Momma wake up, you're sleeping, wake up!"

I awake to a demanding toddler, dreams of drinking a cup of coffee while lounging in the morning sun and listening to birds sing... quickly vanish. Back to reality, to my REAL life. Sounds much like your life you say? Maybe, especially if you are a mom or dad. I've received feedback on Facebook that wanted to know more about what life my life is like on a typical day. I don't have typical days, but I am more than happy to try and oblige.

Day in the Life:        I am a Fulltime RV Road Schooling Gypsy Mom

830am: Alarm goes off. One eye opens with raised eyebrow. Snooze button hit.

835am: Snooze expires, Alarm goes off again. I place pillow over my head. Snooze hit again.

845am: Alarm sounds...again. This time, before eyebrow raising, Que is up. He does his morning routine in what many would consider record time.

858am: Que leaves for his morning commute. Wait is a walk across the park a commute? What about just com since it's so short...?...Mute better? No, oh well, I tried.

900am Que is at work. I lay in the bed, wide awake.

930am Lay in the bed and beg sleep to return. Wait for it. Wait for it.

935am A little head pops up. A dialogue ensues:
Kaeden: "Momma. Momma. Momma. Ma. Ma."
Me:        "What?"
 Kaeden: "I gotta go potty"

9:36am: Potty; This is the last potty break on the timeline, WAY too many to post.

9:40am: Breakfast. I'd like to say that every day we eat some awesome culinary creation, but mostly its just eggs, turkey bacon, cereal, oatmeal, fruit, bagels/toast, or something similarly simple on rotation. Today it is Pancake and Sausage muffins( but only bc I found the idea on pinterest, made a bunch and froze them for homemade convenience food).

10:00am Clean up both breakfast and bodies. Pretty typical brushing teeth, washing hands and dishes.

10:17am School is in session. But not really. I grab my basket and we head outside. First, I let Kaeden get some energy out and free play with outside toys. There is no point in trying to force a toddler to sit when they are so full of kinetic energy.

10:42am School is in session, for real this time. I run inside quickly, grab a juice box and raisins, put water on low setting stove for experiment, then I get my book for the morning, Today we are reading Listen to the Rain by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault. Usually it doesn't take much to get his attention. I open the book and begin to "read" to myself and laugh out loud. OR it could be the allure of juice and fruit. Either way, I got the spark I needed, he notices and comes over curious. I introduce the book and ask if he'd like to sit down and read it. He agrees. Score! We read the book, taking time to play with the language of the rain sounds.{Sometimes he plays another 10, 15, 20, 30 mins. At some point he gets thirsty, hungry, tired...whatever, but I wait until he is ready to abandon his toys and sit. Once he wants to sit, I can keep his attention way better than had I ended his play time myself.}
Book time ends with my question, "Where does rain come from?" Answer: "Oh, rain? Ummm, rain in the sky." Well at least I have direction. We do a quick nod to the scientific method that I prepared. The sheet is a picture representation of the question posed. I pre-selected three pictures(to glue) as possible answers, a cloud, a bird and a house. He says no to all three. Perhaps because the picture of the cloud is not in the sky? But this is still an acceptable hypothesis. I ask him if he wants to draw a sky he says yes. I give him crayons and he scribbles draws something, that we call and label "sky".

11:08am Science time! Our wonderful book inspired Kaeden and I to find out exactly where rain comes from. Ok, really I just manipulated  guided it by having the experiment ready and cool looking. Had I fumbled around for more than a minute with just the promise of something cool, I would have lost him again to toys, running and/or mud. So I dash in for the boiling water, grab some ice from the freezer and carefully bring it out. We do the rain in a bottle experiment. { Note: I wrapped the inside of the bottle(where the ice goes) with white paper to make visual "clouds".}  I explain how the water gets hot, becomes water vapor aka clouds, cools then turns into rain. I throw out the word condensation and precipitation and he repeats both. Score! I pull the our hypothesis out and ask if we were right. Yes, rain comes from clouds in the sky. Should you be curious where this unit takes a two yo next, here is the link for tomorrow's science. Feel free to email a request for the lesson plan, book lists or other resources used for the water and wind unit(or any other) I am always happy to share;)

11:29 Extension play time/Math! I give Kaeden a magic bottle and tell him that he can make it rain. I provide him with a wagon full of water(to refill his bottle) and some measuring cups, funnels and bowls. He looks at me as if I just made him king of the world and goes at it begins work. Off for more play experimentation. I observe while I check my fb and blog do important things on my computer.

12:23 Oops, lunch prep time is a little late! Darn  fb  work. We leave the water outside and head back in our RV to begin lunch prep. Kaeden was not ready to leave the play, but when I mentioned food, food won. Simple chicken salad sandwiches for today. Kaeden enjoys helping so we mix the ingredients together so he helps there, but loses interest when sandwich assembly begins. Luckily, starting at 12 Calliou is on for an hour on Sprout. I turn it on and hide my face in shame. I also finish my lunch prep, wash dishes used, and cut some watermelon and wrap some portions for snacks. Kaeden? Still glued to Calliou. *hangs head

1:05 Dad is home from work and joins the family for lunch. Silence, save the occasional crunch of a chip.

1:20 Dad and Kaeden lay down to watch tv take a nap. Dad chooses the science channel. Kaeden falls into sleep within minutes. I explain to dad that he must take notes today, including times, when I go to work. He agrees. I go through my notes and add little details(before I forget).

2:13 Kaeden pops up. I ask Dad if he wants to take on a lesson or two. He agrees. They go outside to work shape sorting puzzles. I watch some tv.

2:26 Dad peeks back in. Dad: "What's next?" Me: "Wanna do art?" Dad: "Sure. What's art?" Me: "Oh, um it's mud painting." Dad: "-_-"

2:30 Dad and Kaeden made a bowl of mud. Dad gets out the paper. 10 big sheets wasn't enough. Fail. So Dad puts remaining mud into the wagon. Kaeden likes Dads idea and engages.

3:40 Dad and I look at our son and shake our heads. We give each other the look, you know the silent long pause look that confirms "MY BAD".

4:00 Impromptu midday shower. After Kaeden's mud bath painting I helped him shower off.

4:34 We finish showering just in time to see the reptile show. Kaeden feeds Iggy the iguana, Stinky the moniker, Scooby Doo the blue tongue skink. He also plays with Lucy the boa constrictor, King Caesar the giant tortoise and his tortoise buddies.

4:55 While Kaeden is still with Dad and the reptiles, I run home to put away our shower things.

5:00 Time for me to go to work. I remind Dad about notes, he nods.Dad and Kaeden ride the train.

6:00ish Dad and Kaeden go for a nature walk. They see 2 rabbits, 1 grasshopper, and lots of birds, butterflies and other flying insects.

6:45ish Dad allows Kaeden to play with his bestie, Colton(who is also two).

7:00 ish The boys share snacks and waters...quickly,

8:02 I return home from work. Kaeden and Colton are still playing outside. Hugs and kisses from the two best two year olds.

8:05 Dinner is working. We are having meatballs and rice. I cooked the meatballs in advance and froze, so really only the rice is cooking. We sit outside and share another book, this time Rain Drop Splash by Alvin Tresselt. Dads turn to read!

8:25 Dinner begins. Followed by our nite time routine. It's nothing uber fancy like a song and dance that magically takes kiddos away to dream land, just typical bed time stuff: brush your teeth, use the potty, make sure you got all the worms, all of them, that one yes, read a book, fall asleep. You know, the usual.

9:45 Kaeden sound asleep. PARTY TIME!

9:46 Grown up bed time routine. Clean up, mess with my hair groom, watch tv, read.

11:45 Power down.

4:49 Rudely awakened by uber bright lights and a crash.

6:55 "I didn't do it"

9:13 Slap! "Momma, wake up!"


I hope this glance into our day gives you some perspective of what it is like being a fulltime RV road schooling mom. I have found that when I share this detail of my lifestyle in conversation most people have very different (and sometimes absurd) images that come to mind. While this lifestyle is not for every one, I hope that somewhere, someone is inspired.  I feel very fortunate that our family can share this life and experience with eachother and moreso to share our ins and outs with you.



If you have questions regarding our day that you find still unanswered PLEASE feel free to comment below. Thanks!