Schedule sample #2

Daily Schedule by Mrs. Sharon White

Visit the White's websites: www.wccornerstore.com and www.thepuritanlight.com

We own and operate a country store in rural Vermont . We are a homeschooling family with five children (Rachel 18; Nicole 17; Matthew 13; Amy Beth 11; and John 9). Two of the children have graduated and one is in college. My parents live with us in an in-law apartment. They are a tremendous help in all the work we do, in business and also with the children. We own a large 100 year old house which is directly across the street from our store. In addition to operating the store, I have a small daycare in my home. We currently only have one baby to take care of and another one enrolling soon. (More than that has been too much work for us!). We also have a writing ministry. We publish books and two magazines. My daughter Amy and I operate a sewing shop and have a small website. We hand sew clothing just for little girls. During tax season, our schedule is a little different. I am an accountant and will stay up until one a.m. doing tax returns for much of the winter months. When this happens, I sleep much later and give up on most other business endeavors for a time.

Here is our normal schedule:

4am - Wake up, Make sure all doors are locked. My husband Jim has left to work in our store. It is dark and quiet. I contemplate going back to bed but decide I'd rather stay awake and get some work done. This is my ideal - to stay awake at this time until the children wake up later so I can work in our home office on the first floor of our home. It is something I struggle with and, sadly, going back to bed seems to always win out!

5:30 am- Get up, get ready for the day. Exercise for 30 minutes, then shower. Head downstairs to the computer to do some writing, check e-mails, work on websites, etc.

6:30 am - Do bookkeeping for the store. Handle any bank deposits, bills, process inventory slips to file.

7:00 am - Call my oldest daughter Rachel to see if she is awake (she lives a few hours away from us). She is getting ready to head to work at her part time job and then will spend the rest of the day at school. (She is in a one year college program and will graduate early in 2007.) She tells me any news she has. I give her motherly advice about being a lady and eating properly (she is too thin! -smiles)

7:30 am- Get Amy up out of bed. She gets herself dressed and ready for the day. Then she starts doing her schoolwork. Nicole is up by this time. We talk for a few minutes.

8:00 am - Our daycare baby arrives. He is 20 months old. We have been taking care of him since he was 4 months old and we love him like he was our own! At this point, all of the children are awake and dressed. I make breakfast. We talk at the table and plan some things for the day.

8:30 am - though we try to be consistent and fail every now and then, this is our time for Bible studies. We read Scripture - the children taking turns with me. We read between 3 and 7 chapters at one time, sing a hymn, and say a prayer.

9:00 am - I say goodbye to Matthew. He heads over to the store to help his father work in our store. I separate Amy and John for school time. I work with them individually on some harder subjects and then they work on their own. I take care of the baby while the children study. Unless Nicole is available, then most of the time, she takes the baby. Very often Jim will call me from the store with questions about a delivery, or could I send over a check? Etc. If there is ever a problem, I put Nicole in charge of everyone and run over to the store for a minute, or else Nicole will go. But this is rare. I usually talk to Nana on the phone at this time, or she will come up to visit us.

10:00 am - The baby is ready for his nap. I lay down too and get a break. The children are still studying or doing something educational.

11:00 am . There is a switch in shifts at our store. Nicole leaves to work at the store with Uncle Billy (Jim's brother) [The men run the take-out restaurant, do all the cooking, stock shelves, unload trucks etc. Nicole runs the register.]. Matthew and Jim come home. I talk to Jim for awhile. Then start lunch. Matthew does some project or helps Grandpa outside with yard work. By this time, the baby is awake and we are eating lunch.

12:30 pm . I am cleaning up the kitchen, doing housework and then will take the children outside to play.

1:00 pm. Matthew starts his homework. He does his schooling in the afternoons. The rest of the children are finished with school for the day. I usually read a book or some articles at this time, while the children are playing.

2:00 pm . The baby takes his afternoon nap. I lay down and take a break. The children read quietly or do some craft project at the kitchen table. Sometime later, I will talk to Jim for awhile. We go over plans or problems with the store. He tells me about his day. Then he takes a nap.

4:00 pm . We go back outside again with all the children. I often take a book with me. We have two acres of land and a large fenced in playground that the children love. After a while we go back inside.

5:00 pm . I start dinner and do some housework while Amy minds the baby. She often reads to John and the baby or tells them stories while they play.

5:30pm. The baby goes home. I quickly clean up the house with the help of the children and then they take a break while I do some computer work, process any ministry orders that came in, do some writing, or organize our bookkeeping for the store.

6:00 pm. Jim heads back to the store and Nicole comes home. Nicole goes directly to Nana and Grandpa's section of the house. She often eats dinner with them and enjoys a nice visit. The children and I read the Bible again (same as in the morning). Then Nicole and I talk about her day, her plans, her dreams, her goals etc until it is time for the rest of us to go help Dad (Jim) at the store.

7:00 pm . The children and I head over to the store for an hour to help Jim with the store. I bring a hand-sewing project to work on. I am currently making a dress. It is almost finished. (I do most of the sewing while at the store, or when I'm at the dentist's office waiting for one of the children to have their appointment, etc. When people visit me, I sew while we chat.) I also bring a book to the store. We work for one hour and then head back home.

8:00 pm The children have baths. I clean up some more. I do a little bookkeeping or organizing paperwork for our store.

8:30 pm . I get the children into bed. I read a story to them and a few verses in the Bible. We say a prayer and then I tuck them in. John normally goes to sleep quickly. The older ones stay in bed reading for quite awhile. Nicole is up in her room, doing a project or watching a movie at this time.

9:00 pm . I look across the street and see the lights go out at our store, which means Jim has just closed the store for the day. He should be home soon. I call Rachel or she calls me and we talk about her day. She tells me all the news. I laugh with her, sometimes give advice, and we make plans for her to come home or for us to go visit her.

9:30 pm . By this time, Jim is home. He hands me paperwork and things for me to do from the store. I handle the "drawer" and get it ready for the next day. This takes me about 45 minutes, because I have to figure out what checks need to be written and mailed or given to Jim for the next day. We might talk for a few minutes.

10:30pm. I go back to my office and do some work on the computer, check emails, process any orders that came in, etc.

11:00pm. I visit Nicole in her room. We talk for awhile, make plans, or just watch a movie together. I finish any housework or laundry that needs to be done.

Between 11:30pm and 12:00am Time for bed!

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