As any parent knows, balancing is not an easy act. It's a mixture of compromise and multi-tasking. Now that bar studies are well under way, as in, there is much more work than I have time for, I am called upon to balance my priorities once again.
Although I have always been blessed with great time-management skills, being a mom has changed the way I balance because I would rather spend every waking minute with my daughter. But I can't. BarBri has me by my neck collar with its daily rigor of 3.5 hour morning courses 5-6 days/wk plus homework assignments requiring a bazillion hours of your time per day.
So, I must make compromises and sacrifices where I can and this has yielded the following "results" thus far:
1. I'm not going to kill myself to get the daily assignments done. I will do as much as I can during the week and use the weekend to catch-up.
2. But I will also devote an entire weekend day to my family, which means no studying and squeezing in my chores (cleaning, laundry and grocery shopping!) on the same day.
3. Sleep is important, and I will never compromise that one.
4. I allow myself 30-45 minutes a night to rewind before bed, such as watching tv or reading a magazine.
5. Because Nicole's sad face breaks my heart every time I leave in the mornings, I will come home early once a week (on Wednesdays) to spend some quality play time with her.
6. I will allow others to help me (i.e. cook, clean, and take care of Nicole).
7. Exercise is important too, which is why I like to take Nicole out on walks, allowing me to get a workout and spend time with her!
8. The sacrifices I've made sometimes means that I will not be taking practice tests during the hours of 9-5pm and sometimes the only "quiet" place in the house is on my bed, which is also not very conducive to studying, but again, it's another compromise I'm willing to make occasionally.
9. I will waste my time (i.e. on Facebook and my blog) if it keeps me sane!
10. The light at the end of my tunnel? Our Alaska trip and getting to spend all my time with Nicole! (and job-hunting...haha)
So...onward!
2 comments:
Good list, Natasha! You are such a good mama!
great post. I'm not a parent but I wish I could be soon. Reading your blog, I imagine a strong and healthy mom. Thanks for the post and good luck with the balancing!
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