For this season I’ve identified 4 priorities: my personal walk with God, help with our West African Bible Translation, teach French to my girls, and cooking. Reading Redeeming Your Time helped me order my days around how to best make those priorities happen, rather than just hoping there would be times when the girls entertain themselves so I could do them.
I finally had a good schedule when Eden went from 2 naps to 1. So after some trial and error (I’m sure you moms of littles can relate!) we’ve landed on a new rhythm that works for our bilingual days:
6-6:45 I still wake naturally at 6 although the girls are still asleep. Usually I just lie in bed and enjoy having nothing to do yet though in realizing I could make better use of this time I’ve started keeping my glasses and kindle near bed so I can just grab them and relaxingly read.
6:45-9 By now both girls are up. They eat granola and then we often do a stroller ride (while listening to French music). Once home I make breakfast for me and the girls have 2nd breakfast, hobbit style. We’ll play more outside or with blocks, all while I try to give instructions in both English and French.
9-12 We’re blessed to have an American Nanny for this season. She plays with Jubilee (painting or reading or things that are harder to do with a little sister tagging along) while our House-Helper watches Eden & does dishes.
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This gives me time to walk across the yard to our office to work for 2.5 hrs on the Old Testament Summary with our National Translator.
12-12:45 “Going to work” feels worth it if only to have the girls so happy to see me when I come home! As long as I’ve meal planned & prepped ahead of time our Nanny has a basic lunch ready when I arrive.
12:45-2 During Eden’s new nap window our Nanny is with our teammate’s kids. I tried having Jubilee play on her own so I could do devotions but I either wasn’t getting enough uninterrupted time or ran into the problem of this being when I am the most tired/hot here in West Africa so I'm reevaluating this part of our day (I’ve also found writing these “Day in a Life” posts and comparing our real vs. ideal days helps in fine-tuning our schedule).
I'm taking Jamie Martin’s screen time advice and letting Jubilee watch something in French so I get a good hour window to rest or do a Bible Project Classroom. This necessary break helps me be at my best for my girls the rest of the day (also inspired by Jamie Martin's book Introverted Mom).
2-3 With Eden still napping we start “French School,” though we still don’t do anything formal during this time. We tried tracing letter worksheets but she just isn’t quite ready yet and since I’m following a “better late than early” homeschool philosophy I’m totally ok with that! We read French picture books and watch French language learning shows together SO THAT French naturally infuses our play time too.
3-6 Somewhere around 3 Eden wakes up, we snack, and play together outside. Around 4, I send Eden to our House-Helper since she loves being outside with her and gets good exposure to the local language while our Nanny comes back to play with Jubilee. This is when I do computer work/meetings and make dinner.
6-7:30 We eat dinner as a family and then its bathes and a dance party, play with dad, or read before bed.
7:30-9:30 My husband and I share about our days and discuss his plans/priorities for the Fruit Tree Farm. We usually watch an episode in French because I’ve realized it’s important to get enjoyable exposure for myself as I strive to provide enough exposure for the girls.
How My Days Have Changed
In comparing our current bilingual days to last years I'm amazed by Jubilee’s progress. With my efforts to give more consistent French input, somewhere in the past year she went from just knowing basic vocab to being able to speak full French sentences! You can read more in my Don’t Miss the Boat post.
Feb 2024 Brittany’s Bilingual French Day (with a 3.5 yr old & 7 month old)
Sept 2024 Brittany’s “Redeeming Your Time” Bilingual French Day (with a 4 & 1 yr old)
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