Gosh, my schedule is hectic! All I want for Christmas is… a bit more sleep 🙂
Sorry, let me rewind. Hello everyone!
Today I wanted to share my tips on sailing the student mom ship.
If you’ve read my profile then you already know a fair few things about me, but I might not have mentioned that I’m a married mother of two (still quite young) children and sometimes, life can be a real challenge.
I decided to return to further education after having a couple of years off, following the birth of my youngest child.
But how can I be both mom and student, without losing it, just a little bit?
Let me give you some of my top survival tips:
1. Make time to rest
I’ve had to make time in my day-to-day schedule to rest. If I’m honest, there aren’t many times on any given day that I purposely switch off, but I’m gradually figuring out that I need to.
Being a student mom means that I spend a lot of my time planning – meals for the family, mapping out chores, uni work, quality time with the family etc. It can be mentally exhausting so I think it’s very important, for a healthy mind, body and a better you, to make time to rest (including eating regularly).
For me, the idea of rest is listening to relaxing music, praying, doing a few morning stretches, blocking out noise, switching off the TV, having a bath and getting a good amount of sleep (if the little ones let me).
2. Spend quality time with your children
I find being a student mom to be a massive juggling act and most of you might understand that, so, for me, spending quality time with my children is a priority.
Finding opportunities throughout the day to talk to my children, do activities or play games together is a must, but if the plan fails (and sometimes it does) then just find another opportunity to connect.
3. If you have a support network, use it!
I wouldn’t have been able to return to study, work or successfully run a home if I didn’t have lots of support and for some people, that might not be an option, but if you have support, use it.
Having a support network means that our childcare costs are not sky high and being able to ask for help is a real blessing.
Having a support network also includes being accountable to someone. Having a friend or close family member that you can speak to when things get rough is a necessity in the school of student mom survival.
So, use your support network!
4. Make time to study
If we’re going to be successful student moms, we need to focus and have uninterrupted time to study. For me, the best time is a few hours in the evening, usually when the kids have gone to bed, otherwise at any other time of day, the mission would be nearly impossible!
5. Me time
This section of the blog is still under construction. Heheee. Honestly, I am still figuring out what ‘me time’ looks like in the midst of this student mom life.
It can be stressful though, so making time for yourself is important to make sure that this student mom ship doesn’t sink – go for walks, get your hair and nails done (or look up tutorials on social media that you could try out yourself) or do a creative hobby – whatever brings you joy.
Realise that making time for yourself is just as important as making time for everything and everyone else and whatever you do, try to be consistent!
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend.
SBS