A relative of mine, who has a daughter the same age as my son (3 years old), had a pretty eventful week in terms of the art projects her daughter decided to engage in when she wasn't looking. To summarize the fun details (haha, well, maybe at first her reaction wasn't that), it resulted in the "glitterificiation" of an item she had just bought. Truly, from what I have heard from several people now, the "terrible two's" is a misnomer, and 3 is actually more challenging (but also more fun since kids are more astute by that age) on a variety of fronts!!
Kids are definitely unpredictable. My advisor has constantly told me, that without a doubt, the night before you have an important presentation, assignment due, etc, your child(ren) will get sick. She is speaking from experience. That has happened to me before; a few times I did have to ask for extensions on papers when I was in coursework. Oftentimes, when these types of unexpected things happen, as a parent we just have to learn to function on less. Whether that means less sleep, less preparation time, along with just overriding perfectionist tendencies to just get something done, or a combination of all of these things and others. Lately, for me, it seems that the kids don't like sleep the night before one of my two "day care days" per week, so I just have to keep perspective, drink coffee (of course!), set some goals for the day and try to stick to it although I am (quite) tired. Now, I am hoping and praying that during the week I have to write my second (and last!) comprehensive exam in a couple months (or maybe even less than that) they are healthy-- of course I pray that they stay healthy anyways, but I will have to craft a back-up plan if this is not the case! A lot of these potential instances have also forced me to be more open with my professors, which in the end has only created better relationships with them and has take the pressure off of me a bit. I know that this is unfortunately not the case in every field of study, but I feel that trying to be as honest as possible usually helps.
The bottom line is, parenting is unpredictable-- kids are unpredictable-- sometimes they pleasantly surprise us and make us laugh, other times it is a mountain of a mess that we have to tackle, but either way, I don't go a day (or even half of one) without my kids making me smile and without being thankful for them! Parenting is definitely the most challenging task I've ever had, but it is well worth every moment!!!
Kids are definitely unpredictable. My advisor has constantly told me, that without a doubt, the night before you have an important presentation, assignment due, etc, your child(ren) will get sick. She is speaking from experience. That has happened to me before; a few times I did have to ask for extensions on papers when I was in coursework. Oftentimes, when these types of unexpected things happen, as a parent we just have to learn to function on less. Whether that means less sleep, less preparation time, along with just overriding perfectionist tendencies to just get something done, or a combination of all of these things and others. Lately, for me, it seems that the kids don't like sleep the night before one of my two "day care days" per week, so I just have to keep perspective, drink coffee (of course!), set some goals for the day and try to stick to it although I am (quite) tired. Now, I am hoping and praying that during the week I have to write my second (and last!) comprehensive exam in a couple months (or maybe even less than that) they are healthy-- of course I pray that they stay healthy anyways, but I will have to craft a back-up plan if this is not the case! A lot of these potential instances have also forced me to be more open with my professors, which in the end has only created better relationships with them and has take the pressure off of me a bit. I know that this is unfortunately not the case in every field of study, but I feel that trying to be as honest as possible usually helps.
The bottom line is, parenting is unpredictable-- kids are unpredictable-- sometimes they pleasantly surprise us and make us laugh, other times it is a mountain of a mess that we have to tackle, but either way, I don't go a day (or even half of one) without my kids making me smile and without being thankful for them! Parenting is definitely the most challenging task I've ever had, but it is well worth every moment!!!
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