My family is huge. There can be six of us in the house at any given time, along with a guest—a family member or friend—staying with us. With my grandma, mom, dad, brother, sister, and me, our mornings can get hectic.
Morning Chaos
In the summer, coexisting is easier because we all have our own schedules. But when the school year comes around, everyone in the house has somewhere to go, whether it is a job or school.
In the morning, my brother and I compete for the bathroom. It takes me 15 minutes to brush my teeth, get dressed, wash my face, and do other things. It takes my brother twice as long. After I am ready, I move into the kitchen, which is the hot spot for all of our activity.
Depending on who packed their lunch the night before, there could be anywhere from two to five of us in the kitchen at one time. In the morning, my mom makes her tea, my sister packs snacks for her lunch, my dad cooks food, and my brother stands around in the kitchen.
Eating breakfast is usually the last thing we all do before leaving the house. When everyone is done, my dad is out the door first, around 6:30 a.m. My mom leaves with my brother, who is always scrambling out the door after finding his backpack with his breakfast in his hand, around 7 a.m. My grandma and sister leave around 7:20 a.m., and I start biking to school at 7:35 a.m.
The Hectic Family Morning Routine
The afternoon is a little bit calmer. I get home first around 3 p.m., and I’m able to finish most of my homework before anyone else arrives. My grandma brings my sister home at 5 p.m. and begins to cook dinner. My dad and brother get back at 5:30 p.m., and my mom arrives at 7 p.m.
Half of the time, we eat dinner together. When my brother takes too long on his homework, I have to do all the household chores—washing dishes, taking out the trash, cleaning our pool and bathrooms, and vacuuming and sweeping the floors in our house.
My brother takes hour-long showers and wastes a lot of time. I believe our disorganization is a result of his lack of independence, which is something he could work on. We could also all do more things the day before so not all of us have ten different things to do in the morning.
Eventually, the chaos becomes predictable and we settle into a pattern. But this year, I would like to be able to have more free time for myself so I can practice my guitar, work on my drawing skills, and do more coding outside of school.
