Babies and Books

It gets boring when you keep saying that you’re tired all the time. So I add details and try to say it in a light funny way. But I am tired all the time, and there is nothing I can do about it. I can only try to enjoy every minute of my life, regardless.

I am a studying mother of a 17-month-old baby, who is the most wonderful child ever born. Of course. I have some limited help from my hard working mother and a great babysitter. But most of the time, it’s just the two of us.

Before Sasha was born, I knew that life was tough. Now life is amazing and tough. Before I had Sasha, I had no time for anything. Now I have no time at all (and will not for the foreseeable future), and I feel perfectly fine about it. I could never imagine that one can be so exhausted and still wear that silly smile all the time.

My mama used to say: "The more you do, the more you manage."

Now I know what she meant.

The most difficult thing is not to fall asleep when I put Sasha to bed at eight in the evening. I have to pull myself together and think about my homework while she’s falling asleep beside me. It usually works but sometimes I fall asleep and only wake up at 7 a.m., feeling guilty, and grateful for 11 hours of peaceful sleep.

If I manage to stay awake my nightlife begins, at least five hours of various delightful tasks. I begin with cleaning up the apartment and putting my little girl’s countless toys on their shelves. Then it’s homework time. There is no chance to do anything while Sasha is awake. She can tolerate my attempts to read for about ten minutes – during those moments she will sit beside me and pretend to read her books as well. I try to work as fast as possible, because I still need some sleep and I don’t want to disappoint the little one in the morning with something like, "Play on your own a bit, mama’s still sleeping."

Raising a child and studying is possible if you set an exact schedule and have a routine for everything. But those are just the techniques. The most important thing is the support and understanding from those in the university who are still willing to listen when I confess, yet again, that I am really tired...