by Andria Chappell
Ok, so now I am in the home stretch of finally finishing my B.S. in Social Psychology. Four more classes to go!
Psychology was not my first pick of degree plans. I’m science geek at heart, but I have to make do with what I have and I am determined to make the best of it. Sometimes I sit and think, do I really want to know why societies as individuals do the things that they do? We don’t have the sanest people living within
our communities. Just watch the news…or YouTube.
Anyway, my degree plan requires A LOT of writing and I haven’t even gotten to the actual psychology writing courses yet. All this writing and assignments draws time away from my husband, our son and the dishes. The dishes I don’t mind so much.
With almost two years of school under my belt and having a family at the same time, I still haven’t got the balancing act down packed. My solution was to do homework while everyone in the house is sleeping. Fail. Reason being, I wouldn’t get enough sleep throughout the night in order to function properly during the next day. I tried doing school work during naptime. Fail…again. Reason being, by the time I did a little housework and then got a little headway on my schoolwork, naptime was over. In two hours I felt like I had accomplished nothing. Doing schoolwork throughout the day has become my final option. ‘
But downfalls ensue. Sitting at the computer or with my face in a book most of the day has sometimes caused me to unintentionally neglect QT with my two year old and with my husband who works from home, who is a student too. Homework study dates at the dinner table! Keeping the romance alive!
I am still learning to balance my duties as a wife, mother and student. Some days are harder than others. Other days, I want to pull my hair out. Huh, maybe that was really why I chopped all of my hair off. (Naturalista here!)
When I am having one stressed out moment, I take a break and play sidekick to my son’s Super Why? adventures. Imagine a grown woman with a pillow case cape running around her dining room table hollering “Super Reader to the rescue!” Don’t judge me, I will do anything for my little man. After spending QT I always feel better and more relaxed and ready to take on that weekly assignment.
My hubby understands my dedication to school. But that does not give me an excuse to leave him out of my daily routine. And by routine, I mean I really don’t have one. Just playing a quick game of Phase 10 means a lot to us. Balancing schoolwork, being married and being a mother is not always about having a strict daily routine. It is all about finding what works for you and your household.
How do you balance your school, wife and mother-load?
Andria blogs at A Diva’s Inspiration.
Hang in there, girl…I know exactly how it feels. I’m married, with an almost 2 year old, I work full time, and teach college courses part time, blog, and a whole bunch of other stuff that makes me tired just thinking about it! What works for me is getting work done (reading, writing, lesson planning) OUTSIDE of the house. I go to the library at my alma mater (where my husband is also a full time student, so I use his parking pass) to do what I need to do. There are too many distractions at home, so at the library, I’m much more productive. It’s great that you have support from your husband (I also have my mother in law, who is a Godsend).
Keep pressing on! You can do it!
I just love Super Reader!