Homeschool (and life) sanity saver... Tuesday Tea Time

A couple years ago, we started the tradition of Sunday Tea, where we'd eat finger foods and drink tea for Sunday dinner.  We did that through the fall and winters, and changed to Sunday BBQ in the warmer times.  That's when the boys first started liking tea.  We'd serve it hot with lots of milk but now they just drink it straight up.

But now almost once a week, the punks and I have tea time.  It started as a trial, and idea suggested by a blogger and homeschool writing curriculum author, Julie from Brave Writer.

At Julie's suggestion, we started doing a mid-day tea on Tuesdays.  Tuesdays were the days we were home all day, and around here, for some reason, Tuesdays are also the days that are usually the hardest.  A friend and I have a hashtag for Tuesdays, #suckyTuesday.    So I started making Tuesday Tea a priority, to give us something to look forward to on those long Tuesdays. We either do it at 10am or at 3pm, depending on how crazy I'm getting that day.  If we need an early break, we'll take an early break.

As Julie suggests, we usually read poetry aloud, or look at art books and discuss.  At first the boys almost mocked the art/poetry part of the deal, but they really enjoy it now. I usually gather a bunch of picture books from the kids section for art and random poetry (Shel Silverstein!) and we all just find one that we like and read it or show it to everyone.  It's very low key, and doesn't take longer of 15 min or so to pick up all our moods.

When we realized this was going to be a THING, I searched for a fancy teapot and found a set on Walmart.com.  This one was $20 and came with the caddy!  The teacups are tiny, but fun. And for $20 bucks, it is pretty high quality (though small...we usually fill the teapot twice, but no one seems to mind).  

Someday I'm hoping to find a fancy-schmancy old fashioned silver tea set at an estate sale or on Craigslist, then we'll be pinky-out formal for sure!

Oh, and my youngest son learned to make light as air scones to accompany our teas.  Can't beat that!

Ryan's Tea Time Scones

(recipe originally from My Father's World Exploration to 1850 curriculum)

Preheat oven to 425.

2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbs baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Mix together in a big bowl.  Then cut in

5 Tbs COLD butter

until it resembles coarse crumbs.  In a smaller bowl, mix

1 egg

1/2 cup cream

and add to flour/butter mixture.  Mix until just mixed, trying to work the dough as little as possible.  Pat into a thick circle (scones will rise quite a bit while baking) and cut into 8 wedges.  Sprinkle sugar on top if desired.  Place wedges (with space between each one) on baking sheet and bake for 15 min or until golden.

Serve hot with whip cream and jam.