A Late Spring Morning With Lala Earth
My name is Lauren and I live on a 1.5 acre homestead in Southern Vermont. My husband and I have two boys (June & Winnie) that are 5 and 2. We also have a flock of chickens, a very energetic Austrian Shepherd and two cats. My husband works in solar energy while I run my herbal business, Lala Earth, from home. I make and sell wildcrafted skincare products and herbal immune tonics. It is one of the greatest joys of my life that I can work from home with my kids – but don’t get me wrong – it has its challenges!
8:30am: My husband is at work by this time, so I wake my sleepyheads up to start breakfast. I’d like to get them on a better bedtime routine so we can wake up a little earlier – but it just hasn’t happened yet. We’ve been too busy learning to ride bikes, too dirty not to take a bath, and have too many books to read. All good problems to have if you ask me. Winter in Vermont is very long, so once spring hits, it is hard to keep these kids inside.
As I start to prepare breakfast, I usually send Junie out to the chicken coop to grab as many eggs as he can carry.
9:00am: After breakfast, it is time to layer up. Spring and early summers are deceptively chilly in the morning. We usually start with merino layer base layers, and then top with a cozy sweater. During this season, the final layer is always our Fairechild gear. Junie can almost always be seen in his rain pants, while Winnie switches between the onesie rainsuit and his brother’s old dungaree rain pants (they are going on year 3 and have many more years of life left). We love our Fairechild gear because it keeps us warm from the chilly wind, protects us from getting wet and dirty, and also helps with tick prevention. Vermont is notoriously overrun with ticks – my husband and I have both had Lyme and anaplasmosis in the last year alone. Catching ticks before they attach is imperative. I love that the rain pants and onesie have elastic cuffs which helps keep ticks away. I also find them easier to spot when they crawl over the smooth fabric – I personally dress my kids in lighter colors so they are easier to spot!
9:20am: It’s time to let the chickens out. This is when we give them water, fill up their food, and watch them happily forage for a few minutes. My kiddos usually take turns trying to hold their favorite birds, and they are only sometimes successful. From here we head to our herb garden by the sandbox. We have a few gardens on our land but the herb garden is my oldest’s favorite. He loves to chomp down on fresh chives, walking onions, and the wood sorrel that has volunteered to pop up all over. (If you haven’t tried it, it tastes like lemon and it’s delicious)!
While I water the garden and pull a few weeds, the kids collect a bucket of slugs and snails to interact with for a few hours. I grew up being afraid of bugs, but my son June has helped me get over that fear (don’t get me wrong – I still won’t touch them). I know if Junie read this he’d want me to clarify that slugs and snails are not insects because they don’t have 6 legs – they are gastropods!
10:20: Now that we have spent about an hour outside, we usually come in, strip off our outer layers (and do a tick check!), and head to the kitchen table for homeschool. I use the word homeschool loosely because my kiddos are young, and the bucket at the table filled with gastropods (and plants for them to enjoy) may be educational enough. Still, I love to set aside some intentional time for Junie to work on some workbooks. He is very eager to read and I’m just going with it. While he works on writing out his letters, Winnie can be found drawing with the fresh set of markers I put out. If there is one thing I’ve learned about siblings, is that if one person is doing something, the other has to do it as well!
June will usually transition into coloring with Winnie, and I sneak a few feet away to the kitchen counter to label some products or strain out my latest batch of herb-infused oil. My secret to working around kids is to seize any opportunity I can to just do the next step. I try not to get overwhelmed by my long list of to-dos, and instead focus on simply the next task ahead.
11:20: I prepare a basket of snacks to bring outside (usually some sharp cheddar, honey crisp apple slices, some hummus and crackers) and get the kids dressed up in their gear again. I don’t take off any base layers when we come in so we just have to throw our Fairechild back on. Next up is our creek. Here we will spend about an hour looking for frogs and salamanders. The kids will get absolutely drenched but remain dry underneath their rain gear. In between assisting the kiddos turning over heavier rocks, I take time to put my nose in a good book of my own.
12:30: It’s time to head in, warm up, and play quietly while I do a little work at the kitchen counter. Our morning filled with outdoor adventures usually leads to happy kids excited to play with their toys. I often take this time to do a bit more work, tidy up the house, and mentally prepare myself for the next outdoor adventure that is bound to happen soon.
I’ve loved sharing our morning routine with you all. I’m living the life I have always dreamed of and I’m so lucky I get to spend so much time with my children. Nothing is more important to me than watching them grow. People always say the years go by fast, and being home with them is my small attempt to try and stretch those years out and keep them as slow as possible. I know a simple day like this will be all that I dream about someday, I just hope that day doesn’t come for a very long time.
- Lala Earth