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Hello everyone! It has been quite the whirlwind around here lately. I have been so quiet on all of social media and here on the blog, but I have a good reason. It is because I recently went back to school. I know I have mentioned it before on one of my earlier posts, which can be found here. Anyway, I have been trying to figure out a good routine for myself to do it all and what do I mean by all? Well, I mean doing my housework, doing my homework/studying, taking care of our animals, making time to play and be with my daughter, making time to be with my husband, being present on the blog and in my shop, being a substitute teacher, running an online health group, and to have time for myself to work out or have me time.
Whew. It is a lot to have on one person’s plate, but I truly believe that I could not do this without the support of my husband and daughter (thank you both from the bottom of my heart!). My daughter is out of school for the summer, so I have her all day. She has been a trooper with me asking her if she can play with her toys while I do homework. My husband is also a trooper because when I do have deadlines to meet, he helps by picking up the slack, which means a lot to me.
There is also one more thing that I have added onto my life, which is my anxiety and my fatigue. My anxiety has been getting out of control. Even though I have been working through my anxiety for the past 6 months, there has been no improvement to the point where I have been put on anxiety medicine. It is not a long term thing, but I am hoping to find the right coping method for my anxiety and the medicine has been helping so far. Then, I talked to my doctor about my fatigue. After I told her about all of my activities, she told me something that I probably knew all along. She told me that I was tired because I have been doing everything from taking care of the house, the animals, my daughter, and now going back to school. She said that she would be tired too if she had to do all of that. But…then again, I luckily have the support of my husband when I do get burned out.
Anyway, back to the school thing. While yes, it is a lot and I mean a lot of work. There is a certain feeling that goes along with being back to school. It is the feeling of gratitude and accomplishment. Being a mom while being in school is stressful. Especially in the summer when the kids are not in school. You have to find the right balance between it all, but I am sure it is still stressful during the school year as well. Don’t get me wrong, I am loving the fact that I am going back to school and for something that I am passionate about (even though it took me a long time to figure it out). I am loving that I have to study and work hard and use my brain to write speeches and remember formulas. All I am saying is that it takes work and it is stressful/tiring.
Even though it is tiring and that is with me having help, I have to give a big shout out to the moms out there who are doing it all plus going back to school. The moms who have no help and have jobs plus kids…wow, you are amazing and you are superwomen! So, yes…being a mom is awesome and going to back to school for what you want to do is awesome too. However, here are some tips I think that will help with balancing everything:
- Look at your deadlines and prioritize to see which class you will focus on first. For example, I am in a speaking and math class. My deadlines for my math class is on Mondays and Thursdays, but my speaking class deadlines are on Fridays and Sundays. So, I have found that focusing on my math class during the beginning of the week will not only let me finish sooner, but it will also let me get a head start on my speaking class so that I can have the weekend with my family.
- You might have to wake up early in the morning, but while your kids are asleep, get your homework or reading done. Even though this has been said a lot, there is a lot of truth to this tip. My morning routine has been walking with my husband in the early morning, making his lunch, and then in the between time of him leaving for work and my daughter being asleep, I start on my reading for my classes/getting some homework done. This has been effective with keeping me going and not feeling like I am missing out during the day.
- Exercise before doing any school work can help with getting focus. I have mentioned before that exercising has been helping me with my fibromyalgia, but it has also helped me to get focus on what needs to be done. I have found that if I made the time to work out before I started on my homework, I am more focused and I tend to retain the information a lot better.
- Make sure to have time for yourself. I know that this tip has been beaten into ground and have been preached for forever, but it is so important to have time for yourself to calm down, relax, and to collect your thoughts. For me, I love taking baths where I can have some bath salts, bubbles, maybe a bath bomb, a face mask, and listening to ballet music. I have done this weekly and every time I close my eyes (for 5 minutes), I feel so rejuvenated and relaxed. I also feel like my mind is cleared, so that I can focus on the next task.
- Leave time to have fun family time. Having fun family time can be a great way to relax. However, it can also be a night out with friends, a date night, a game night, etc. Either way, having time to do something fun will help with the tension of the stress and anxiety that has been building up inside you due to trying to do everything. Take it from me…I have been doing everything, but every weekend, we have either gone to the movies, ate out, walked around our neighborhood, or had a game night with friends. It is simple and yes…it is time consuming to try to balance time for everything, but it is important to get that social time in as well.
Well, there were my tips on how to hopefully cope and hopefully to make it easier while being moms and being in school. I know, for me, it has been so hard to adjust being a student, being a mom, and being a wife. It takes a lot of hard work, but the result will be so worth it in the end. My husband is also going back for his Master’s as I am going back to get my Bachelor’s. It will be a crazy ride…a crazy adventure come this fall season, but I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds. I am hoping for the best and my hope for you all who are moms/dads going back to school, students, anyone who has a lot on their plate…I wish you the best! Wish me luck on the grand adventure and I hope you all enjoyed reading! As always, I hope you all have a great weekend and I will see you in the next post!
