Maintaining A Healthy Balance Between Studies And Family Life by Sally McGee

The first thing that we need to acknowledge is that the reality of raising children while attending college sometimes doesn't mesh well with our goals. In particular, we're all getting older, and we realize that college is not a magical place where all of our wildest fantasies come true. It's much more practical to settle down, get married, have a family, and put some down payment money on a house before we start dreaming of the glamorous life that we want to lead when we grow up. 

So the question becomes, how to be a young parent while still attending college? Is there anything we can do to bring a balance into the picture?

The answer is definitely yes! Being a student with little ones on your hands can be extremely exhausting physically and emotionally, so when you're attending school caring for a kid, sometimes your priorities might shift.

Tips to note

To help you successfully balance college and family life, here are some tips that you should definitely take into consideration: 

 - Give yourself permission to be your child's best friend. Although many adults feel that it is their responsibility to raise a good example for their children, it's actually quite the opposite. 

 - In order to balance your college and family life, it's important to be supportive and get involved with your child's hobbies and activities - it won’t let you drop out of your child’s life. 

 - It's also a good idea to set some ground rules so that you don't step into every scenario. If you have ever thought about writing down a plan for a day\week, now is the best time to start doing so - you will see that it will much alleviate accomplishing the set goals.

 - Don’t be afraid to ask for help either it is your friend, parent, or support group. Sometimes all it takes to resolve a problem is just take a look at it from another perspective.

 - Try to find a new hobby to dilute the pressure from all the responsibilities. Try something exciting like paintballing or kiteboarding!

If you're a mom who has to juggle being a parent and a student, take some time to sit down with your kids and discuss the best way to approach your family life. Kids often have an idea about how their parents are supposed to act. Even if they don't realize it, they're watching you act with people and you may don’t realize how much useful information they can teach you! You are a team, together everything and even more is possible.