A balancing act

Last year when I choose to return to school via online college courses, I had a new baby just 3 months old, a 4 year old (who is often a handful due to developmental delays) and a 7 year old.   The baby was very easy going, the boys were at school during he day and getting school work done wasn't too hard.  Fast foward a year and a few months.  The boys are still at school during the day, but I now have a cranky, teething 16 month old at home who thinks its funny to smack the keys on my computer as I type and to color in my text books when I'm not looking.  Add to that the fact that she has reached that stage in toddlerhood where she climbs on furniture and gets into everything because she wants to see what it is.  Her new found independence and curiosity makes it impossible for me to spend long periods of time at my desk.  I have had to resort to sitting on the sofa with my lap top computer so that I can type my papers and watch her at the same time.  (For the record, trying to do both at the same time is not very productive.) 

Now my days are getting up at 6:30 to get the boys ready for school then playing with Ruby (and sometimes my friends toddler as well) till lunch time.  After lunch I put her down for nap, or at least I try to.  On days she naps I do as much as I can while she's asleep- laundry, cleaning and school work.  After nap Ruby and I play until the boys come home from school.  Once the boys are home I try to spend time talking with them and helping with Kaleb's homework until my fiancee gets home from work.  Then its off to the kitchen to make dinner.  After dinner its all about bed times.  Once the kids are down its dishes and laundry before settling in to do school work.  I try to get to bed between midnight and 1a.m. 

So in the end, being a mom and a student has been a more difficult balancing act than I originally thought it might be.  But I know in the end that school will put me in a possition to take better care of my children.  And that makes it all worth while.  So to any mom's out there who are considering school- single, married, young or just young at heart- it is a challenge, but one that is not impossible, and one which is certainly worth taking on.