Real World Mom

School starts for both my daughter and I next week.  She’s fine; I’m a freakin’ mess!  And not on her account either, because, as I said, she’s taking everything in stride.

I’m stressing, big-time, over how I’m going to successfully (key word here) manage school, work, and home.  During my first two semesters of school, I wasn’t working, so I had plenty of time to devote to homework and housework.  That’s no longer the case.  I am grateful to have a job, especially one that I like, but it is going to take time away from home and studying.

The successful part is so important because I’m a perfectionist.  There.  I said it.  I want the house to be clean, the laundry kept up with, no dishes in the sink, etc.  I also want to maintain my good grades (so far, I’ve earned all A’s and only one B after a year of college).  This goes back to my “Superwoman Myth” post from July, but I can’t seem to help it!

Tim has promised to help keep the house standing, and he’s already started pitching in quite a bit.  I know he can–and will–handle this, so I really need to work on letting go.

I’m taking five classes, so that’s going to be a lot of work.  I know I can do it, I’m just worried about having enough time to do it.

Hopefully, once I get a routine down, I’ll be ok.  It’s also possible that I could get some studying done while at work (it’s often pretty quiet for the last hour or so).  And I have Wednesdays and the weekends off, so, if worse comes to worst, those three days can all be spent on homework.

Am I overreacting?  Probably.  (Hopefully!)  In a month or so, I’ll likely look back and see that I was worrying over nothing.  In the meantime, though, I’ll worry…

*Edit: I just came across this quote, and thought the timing was quite appropriate:

“I’ve had many problems in my life- most of which never happened”  -Mark Twain