Let's do a day in the life of a normal school day in 2026 for all of us. It's my third year teaching kindergarten. Leo is in first grade. Fletcher is in fifth grade and Olive is in eighth grade. I can happily say that we are navigating life with two parents working full time well. We do a lot on the weekends (gas, groceries, meal prep and plan, cleaning and errands) so that we don't have a lot of extras to do during the school week.
5:30am My alarm goes off and I get myself ready for the day. This involves greeting all the cats and trying hard not to hit snooze until 5:40.
6:00am Olive is up and getting herself ready. I do all the things to help us all get out the door. Fill 8 water bottles, assemble 4 lunch boxes and set everything out on our kitchen table.
6:20am Fletcher gets up and does his best to get Leo up with him.
6:30am Olive off to school.
6:35am Drink an ice coffee, check my inbox and texts, chat with the boys, tidy up the house and get the boys dressed and ready to go.
7:00am Leave with the boys to head to school together. We listen to all of our favorite songs on our commute to school. The boys help me wake up my classroom - change helpers of the day, pass out papers, and get stuff ready for the day.
7:30am Everyone heads to their classes to start the day
Kevin heads into work at whatever time he needs to for a day of meetings and classes.
8:00am The tardy bell rings and we go nonstop all day long managing 22 kindergarteners. I look forward to my morning plan time and try to get as much school work done at school as possible during recess and plan. I bump into the boys when I'm out and about throughout the day. It's my favorite part of the day.
11:00am My class heads to lunch and I get to see Leo and Fletcher in or around the cafeteria.
11:30-3pm We are busy in Kindergarten land - Bible, Math, Science, Recess and some brain breaks. Restroom breaks, bandaids, recess and probably a few tears. Plus a lot of parent messages and emails. Hand off my class to their parents.
3:15pm Grab Leo from his teacher. Meet up with Fletcher. Zoom to my room to close down my classroom and head home.
3:45pm Arrive back home to say hello to Olive and Kevin if he's home already. Make snacks for everyone. Unpack all the backpacks, lunchboxes and water bottles. Do some dishes. Do some laundry. Make some more snacks because everyone is hungry. The boys play video games or go fishing. I drink an iced coffee, the kids have been making iced PSLs at home and enjoy a moment of quiet since it feels like I haven't had a quiet moment since 5:30am. Get dinner started. Either cook something that can be warmed up easily in a couple of hours or pick up something easy for Kevin to pop in the oven after football.
4:40pm Get Leo ready to go for flag football. Change clothes. Make new water bottle. Lace up the cleats. Go! We'll have dinner when we get home.
5:00pm Flag football time! I sit with the moms and chat while Leo practices his heart out. I also do a little check in for my email, socials and texts from throughout the day.
6:30pm Arrive back home. Tag team the rest of the evening with Kevin. Eat a quick dinner. Homework. Showers. Snack. Pjs. Pack four lunches for tomorrow. Dishes. Change over laundry. Take care of cats.
7:30pm The kids head to bed. Start the going to bed process. Devotions. Prayers. Chats. Read alouds. Chat with each of the kids before bed.
8:30pm Go downstairs and lay out everything we'll need for tomorrow. 3 backpacks. Pack my school bag. 4 lunch boxes and 8 water bottles. Lay out breakfast for everyone. Plug in computer for school. Lay out the must have items for school tomorrow.
9:00pm Check my email (personal and work), blog, do my hair, tidy up the house, eat a snack and watch a show (currently Ted Lasso) with Kevin. Make a to do list for home and for school for the following day.
10:00pm Head to bed. Set alarms. Repeat again tomorrow :)
