Blog #3

BLOG #3
Recently I turned 26 years old. I have a little boy and his name is Dominic, my grandfather calls him Demonic. Dominic is a two and one half year old little boy. He is full of possibilities, adventure, and terror as most two year olds are. Dominic is enrolled in early head start here at the Rumford center. Once a week we have his teacher come to visit with us here at home. Dominic demands our every attention, and being a full time college student this can be hard. Playing and running around from one appointment to the next, baby sitter to baby sitter, one class to another, it can be tiring. By the end of the night when Dominic goes to bed, I am ready myself for bed. Everyday is always a long day, so by the time I get to relax at night, the last thing I want to do is homework. I want sleep! It makes it even harder knowing that at 2 Dominic is still having a really hard time sleeping through the night.
If anyone knows what it is like being a full time mother, full time college student, full time multi-tasker than you know how we feel. Over the last few years it has been really hard. At first it was almost like a walk in the park, because I did not have any kids. Then I found out I was pregnant, I was excited, scared, and curious to see how things were going to turn out. As I was approaching the end of a semester, and looking at my last semester towards my Associates degree, I went into labor. It was in December, the week of finals. Oh my god I was a wreck, and did not know what to do. I went into labor on a day that I had off from school, thank god. But I could have been studying for a math final; we all know how much we “love” math! 2:30 in the afternoon was when I started feeling contractions. 1:17 in the morning was when my son was born. They made me stay in the hospital all that day, and the next morning I was released at noon time, I went home and got settled in with my first baby. After arriving at home and settling down, I left to go to school, and take my last final, less then 48 hours after giving birth. I PASSED!!!! We had about 3 weeks off from school, and then my final semester began. I finished. I made the deans list both semester’s, and have never been so proud in all my life. I had this wonderful bundle of joy, family, friends, and the dean’s list. What else could you ask for?
Starting school again for my bachelor’s degree became harder. My mother was unable to babysit as often for me. I needed to come up with a schedule and quick. I couldn’t have my mother around all the time when I was home so I could do homework, and then when I was gone to school. Most people are able to put their children in day care while they go to school. If this is the case then that is great. Make all your classes so you are able to go while they are there. Always leave yourself enough time within that time span to be able to do homework. Sometimes, you could be in situations like mine, not able to afford a day care cause you are already going to school full time and raising a child full time, with little income. I was thankful my mother was there.
I made a schedule, on days where I had a seven am class, when I got home was the time Dominic was usually sleeping, so I would go and take a nap myself, because I was so tired from the night before then having to get up with him for 5, and then class at 7. If I did not have a rough night, and did not have a morning class, then I would take these two hours of free time, and use it to get some homework done. I also worked part time here at the University, so I found that this was like a free time for me. If I had nothing to do, then I would use this time also to get some studying done, or some homework done. Another thing I found useful was that Dominic was on such a good schedule, it made it easier for me to be on that schedule, I new what I did and did not have for time, so I used what I had and I went with it. Dominic would be in bed by 8 every night, so I would do homework until 9 or 10 every night, and then I would go to bed.
I guess the moral of me telling you all of this is that it is not impossible to raise a family, be a multi-tasking mother, and a full time student. The most important thing for us to do is to make a schedule that works for you and stick by it. Remember what I said last week, what may work for me may not be so convenient for a mother of three. Find those support systems that work the best for you and use them to better your lives. Life is grand, and we should all try making something better with them. If not for ourselves than do it for your children, or even the children you may wish to have in the future. Smile, be happy, and stay focused on living and leading a healthier life.