Read our Journal (Lake Superior Colonies)

By Jane O'Brien 

Child on a school day:

It’s Friday, the last day of school for the week! I woke up at seven today and did some chores. I’m homeschooled, so I didn’t have to rush to get to school. I helped Mom out with our big garden and helped her make breakfast. After breakfast, I did some homework. Ugh! Math is sooo hard! After lunch, my siblings and I headed out to go play with some of the other kids. We usually get to play for about a half hour after lunch, sometimes an hour, but then Mom calls us in to finish our homework. I finished my homework and started on my chores. Once I was finished, I played with my little siblings. My best friend goes to school, and gets back at around 3:30, so I went over at 4:30 to see if she could play. We played games until I had to go home for dinner. Dad came home from his carpentry workshop, where he makes a lot of cool things and sells them. He made each of us kids something from the workshop! He made me a small wooden box! After dinner, we had a bonfire outside. I can’t wait for Sunday! We’re going to a neighborhood potluck!

Child on a Sunday:

I slept in til 8:30 today. My family had breakfast and headed to church at 10:00. After church, I played with some of my friends, while our parents chatted. When we went home, we had a big lunch. After lunch, Dad took us on a bike ride. When we got back, I joined our neighbors who were playing “Capture the flag.” My team won both games! It was getting really hot outside, so I went back inside and helped Mom make a tater tot hotdish for the potluck tonight. I read a book for a while and relaxed at home with my family before heading to the potluck. After we all ate, the kids went off and played games. Once it got dark, we played night games like “Ghost in the Graveyard.” We couldn’t stay too late though, because it’s a school night. Today was so fun!

A father on a workday:

I woke up early this morning to tend the garden. Most families in the Superior Colonies are given, if they ask for one, plots of land, varying in sizes, that they can use to farm or raise animals. It hasn’t rained in a while, so I did what I could, watering as much as I could, even though our plot is far too big to water by hand. I headed to the workshop early this morning to get as much as I could done before I head to the market to sell my products. At around noon, I drove to the market and set up my things. It wasn’t very busy today, so I had some time to finish working on a few surprises I’d been working on for my kids. I’m very proud of how the last one turned out. It’s a small, wooden box for my eldest daughter. I sold a good amount at the market and headed home for supper. I surprised my kids with the gifts and they enjoyed them even more than I had hoped for! After supper, I built a bonfire for my family. It was such a peaceful evening!