Our Quarantine Routine

If I’m being honest, this social distancing/quarantine life isn’t too hard for me.  I love being home and I have everything I need.  I feel very blessed that Michael and I can both work from home (though Michael does go into the office a few times a week) and still get a paycheck.  I know not everyone is so lucky and they are in our prayers.  I’ve always had a routine for the kids on Saturdays and a similar one in the summers.  So, it wasn’t too hard to adapt to this new “homeschool” routine.  

I have what I call a “hook” system.  I had planned on using something other than paper clips and magnets, but I never changed it and now we’ve been using it for years and it works.  The idea is, they come up to their list and mentally check off that they did everything in that category and when they are done, they hang the paper clip on the hook.

This is what they look like in the morning before they start

This is what they look like with their hooks are done

I change the list based on whether they are in school or it’s the summer.  The pictures above show my new list for this Covid-19/quarantine time. 

Our usual schedule on Saturdays and summers looks like this:

7-9am Media time, once red hook is done and hung up

9am-1pm  Work on hooks, play games, go outside, etc.

1pm Media time again, and the rest of the day depends on what we have planned

Now, our schedule looks like this:

7-9am Media time, once red hook is done and hung up

9am-3pm  No media unless it’s school-related, exercise, read, etc. (see pictures above)

3-5pm Media time again

5-7pm Dinner, clean up, read scriptures as a family, etc.

7pm-bedtime Watch movies or TV together, play games, etc.

At 9am, we have what I call a “staff meeting.”  The kids always laugh when I call it that.  We talk about what everyone has planned for the day, like Zoom meetings, etc.  It makes the day go more smoothly.

At 2:45pm, we sometimes need to take a few minutes for cleanup

On Saturdays, they only have to read for their yellow hook, unless they are behind on schoolwork.  We also start media time at 1pm on Saturdays.

On Sundays, there is no media time and no yellow hook.  We do sometimes watch Disney animated movies together.

Hooks:

Red: this is their morning routine, and it needs to be finished before they get on media in the morning.  They are not allowed on any media before 7am.  If they want to eat breakfast later, that’s fine but they need to be dressed and brush their hair, etc.

Yellow:  Everyone needs to read, exercise, and write in their journal every day.  They are also responsible for checking for assignments from their teachers and managing their own schoolwork.  There are a few things I check in with them about, but mostly they are pretty good about handling it themselves.  They all play an instrument, and they manage their own practice schedule. 

Jonathan and Daniel were not taught cursive in school, so I bought each of them a cursive workbook and they have to do two pages a day. 

Green: these are their daily chores and piano practice

Blue: read scriptures.  I’ve gone back and forth on making this seem like a “chore,” but I like making it a habit for them.

My routine:

I make sure I’m up by 7:30am.  I ride my stationary bike while I read my scriptures.  I get dressed and do my hair and makeup.  I often listen to podcasts or church talks while I get ready.  I also do a few Duolingo lessons every day to learn Spanish.  In the afternoons or with dinner, I often make green smoothies for the kids.  They are really good.  My goal is to get them all to eat more fruits and vegetables.  I also write in my journal every night. 

I have a lot of other goals for the kids and things I’m trying to teach them:

Adulting skills: Andrew loves string cheese sticks.  One day, he found a package of cheese sticks that had a stick missing from the packaging.  I told him he should contact the company to let them know.  They didn’t have a phone number, but he looked them up online and we filled out their questionnaire together. 

I've also been trying to find other ways for the kids to learn new skills.  For instance, I needed to renew the registration for one of our cars, so I gathered all the kids (and Michael, who helped me) and taught them about how we register our cars when we buy them and renew them yearly.  We also talked about the importance of knowing where your registration and insurance card are in your glove compartment (we also had a little side lesson on why it's called a "glove compartment," lol) and how to exchange information in the event of an accident.  Our teenage drivers know this, but the other boys are growing up fast so we taught them as well.  

Cooking: each kid has a night to cook.  I ask them a week ahead of time what they want to make and we figure out what I need to add to my grocery order so they have all the ingredients.  Sometimes they just heat up easy stuff from the freezer, but I’m also trying to teach them how to follow a recipe.  We also have done more baking.  We’ve made up our own recipe for “Jell-o Fluff.”  It’s just Jell-o mixed with Cool Whip, but it’s really good.  I use 2 cups of boiling water but only 1 ½ cups of cold water instead of 2 cups for a 6oz box, and then I stir in a whole container of Cool Whip and refrigerate it like normal.

Laundry: each of the kids does their own laundry.  I wash my clothes and Michael’s on Monday, and I also wash the whites for everyone, but the kids do everything else themselves.  They wash, dry, fold, and put away their own clothes.  I used to tell them when it was time to do their laundry, but a few weeks ago I told them they need to be responsible for that on their own.  They usually do laundry on Saturday.  Today was the first day that I didn’t remind anyone.  Emily likes to do hers first, and the boys took it upon themselves to do their own.  Parenting win!

Cleaning chores: each kid has a weekly cleaning chore.  They have until Saturday afternoon to get them done.  These are things like: wipe down bathroom counters and clean toilets, empty small trash cans, wash/dry/fold towels, dust certain areas of the house, etc. 

I’m so proud of the kids for taking the initiative to handle their own schoolwork!  I get constant emails and reminders from their teachers, and almost every time I ask the kids about it, they say, “Oh, I already did that, Mom.”

Here are their little study areas:

Emily loves to do her schoolwork at the dining room table.  The other boys sometimes use it, too.

Andrew has a great set-up on our puzzle/game table in the playroom. 

Daniel likes to get his exercising and reading done at the same time. 

Jonathan and Daniel share this desktop, and they also have a laptop they can use.

Nathaniel works wherever he can have some quiet.  He is doing some work to support our sales team at Wisdom.  He goes into the office occasionally, but he can also do quite a bit from home. 

Well, that’s about it.  We’re doing the best we can to stay positive and get along and enjoy this time together.  I personally love it.  I never get bored.  I always have a list of projects I would love to do.  I’m a bit of a homebody anyway and I’m grateful that we have a big house to spread out in.  I’m so glad to have Nathaniel home!!