#balancingitall

A woman lays in bed looking at the ceiling. She is tired, but her brain won’t shut off. She rolls over to see her husband sleeping. He has been asleep for hours. She knows he has had a busy day too. He worked all day and came home to cook dinner, so she could work on her essay. She is about to drift off when she hears the washer ding. Her son has soccer practice tomorrow afternoon and she needs to put his uniform in the dryer. She knows she won’t have time in the morning during the mad rush of four people trying to get ready and out the door before school, work, and daycare. Once back in bed she wonders if she took the ice pack out of the lunch box and put in in freezer for tomorrows lunch? Is she spending enough quality time with her husband? Did she change the sheets this week? What time is that dentist appointment this week? Why does her daughter have cavities? Are they giving the children too much juice? Is tomorrow PJ day for spirit week? What time does the campus testing center close on Thursday? She continues to lay there and contemplates if she will have enough time before her son’s cub scouts meeting to take that quiz that is due by Friday. Slowly she drifts off to sleep. This is the life of a working mom who has decided to go back to school. Becoming a mother is the best this that has ever happened to this woman. She adores her children and the life they have together, however sometimes the juggling act of keeping everyone healthy and happy while attending college makes it feel like at any given moment the balls being juggled in the air may clink together and fall. She works 40 hours a week and knew when she took the job that if she wanted to move up she would have to continue her education. Going back to school has not been easy for her. Her husband has been very supportive but the list of things to remember each day feels like it never ends. Her daily planner is busting at the seams. She second guesses her parenting and wonders if she is screwing them up often. Through all the struggles and balancing acts something inside of her keeps pushing her. She knows she will not give up. She will continue to give her best to each of the people who mean the most to her. She will make time to complete assignments. She realizes that this part of life is a stage, and too soon her children will be grown, and she will look back on the times of balancing everyone’s needs, and she will miss the confusion. She knows she will have some failures along the way. Sometimes she will forget to put that uniform in the dryer and that ice pack in the freezer. She may even send her child to school in regular clothes on pajama day. She knows that an education is something that is important to her and that one day she will be proud to share this achievement with her family. She knows that with support from her family and good planner she will prevail.