What do your kids do when you're studying?

[mamakah]

This is my first semester back at school after about 8 years. I have a two year old son. I'm finding it incredibly difficult to study with him around (obviously). I'm a stay at home mom, I go to class early in the a.m. before my husband has to be at work, then am home all day. I should be able to study but can't with ds. He's been watching a lot more t.v. since school started and I'm hating it. It's the only thing that keeps him occupied for a longer period of time.
I save my studying until my husband gets home, but his work days don't end until 7-8pm every night. I'm so exhausted by the time he gets home that I can't focus on my studies the way I would like.
What do your kids do while you are studying?
Thanks!

[SummerLove]

Yeah.. my kids watch TV too.. it's the only thing that will keep them from running around the house hitting each other!

DH sometimes lets me go to the library to work on stuff, or takes the kids out, if I have a deadline coming up and really need quiet time to focus.

[One_Girl]

During the school year my dd went to the university daycare while I went to school and studied. In the summer my mom or a teenage sitter watched her when I took a class and when I needed to study, she watched tv sometimes, and sometimes we went to McDonald's and I studied while she played. Does your ds still take a nap? If so I suggest napping with him so you have a little more energy left for studying when your husband is home. When dd was a little older and started swimming lessons at the Y I was able to study then. They have really reasonable drop in child care prices at the Y also so I sometimes used them and studied in the locker room or at the coffee stand tables instead of exercising.

[Ornery]

I am in the same boat except I have a 4, 6 and 15 yo. I can only study if they are gone, I am gone or everyone (including my DH) is asleep. This means that typically I study from 10 pm to 2 am. As I then get up at 7 am, I have to say I'm dragging a bit right now. I also just started a new job at my youngest ds' preschool working as a Teacher's Aide.

I can do actual schoolwork (unless it is equations) with them around but can't seem to retain anything.

If I have a deadline or test the next day I schedule time at the library to study. I also have a study group that I meet with once a week for two hours. I trade care with a friend for this time.

[la mamita]

i made it through undergrad and grad school by:
-letting grandparents care for my son
-waking up early to study
-staying up late to study
-finding mamas to do babysitting swaps with
-having my son have a playdate
-using out of the home childcare
-letting my son play in the backyard or in another place where it is relatively hazard free and entertaining while i study in the backyard with him

[Super~Single~Mama]

My ds watches elmo

[pregnant@40]

For me, it meant finding childcare outside of the house. There was absolutely no way I could get anything done w/ a 2yo.

[shelleyd]

DD1 is in school full time. I have dd2 in daycare full time. I am a full time student but my actual class time is a lot less than the hours I have dd2 in day care. I use my time while she is in daycare to study. That way I can try to focus on my girls when they are home. I cannot study very effectively with them around. I also have a hard time studying at night. By the time my girls are in bed, I'm tired and I just want to veg out for a bit before going to bed. I can barely focus on schoolwork past 8:00. So I try to study while they are in school or daycare.

[MaWhit]

I do a lot of my studying after the kids are in bed or while they are in classes (we homeshool). Otherwise, the little two (ages 6 and 8) play while DD1 (age 10) does her online school stuff.

[mamakah]

Thanks for all the answers! This week I told my husband that I have to leave the house at night to get studying done. He was supportive of the idea so I have been leaving and sitting in a coffeehouse for hours getting my work done. Wow!!!! what a difference!!!
I like the idea of napping with my son so I can have energy at night to study.
He goes to a co op nursery school 2 days a week for 2 hrs. Those hours are nice to have, but every 3 weeks I'm the co op parent in his classroom which just adds to the load.
I think I will have to find a babysitter next semester so I can have a few more hours a week of alone study time while my husband is at work.
Thanks again!
And thank goodness for coffee!

[Annie Mac]

Originally Posted by One_Girl

and sometimes we went to McDonald's and I studied while she played. .

This. I hate to admit it, but this is how I made it through grad school as a single mom. This was before everyone was trans fat savvy, and the thought of how many happy meals my kid ate makes me cringe now.

[youngspiritmom]

We had a big picnic with friends a few weekends ago and a large park. There was a woman there with 4 children and her children played for literally 4 hours while she sat on a park bench with her masters textbooks reading, highlighting, studying. I was really impressed.

There are also women at the athletic club/gym that we go to that will drop their kids off at the childcare for a few hours and instead of working out will sit in the cafe area and study.

I think the McDonalds playplace thing, frankly, is a great idea. Sometimes you gotta lower your standards every once in while so that you can just get the dang studying done.

[youngspiritmom]

Originally Posted by mamakah

He's been watching a lot more t.v. since school started and I'm hating it. It's the only thing that keeps him occupied for a longer period of time.

IF you are interested in getting away from the TV thing (not sure if you are), here's my experience:

I understand how you feel with the whole TV thing. My DS started watching a lot more TV because it was so easy to get things done while he was in front of the tube. Our TV was right there in the living room, and it was always the most obvious and easy answer to "What to do with DS now?" I hated it. So, when he went to bed I took it and put it in a closet. He kind of wondered where it was the next day, but now we are all used to it not being there. Now when I need to get things done he is used to finding things to play with. It's kind of like we weaned him from TV. When he does want to watch the occasional show, we pop a DVD into the laptop or, for example, when he got sick, we dragged the TV out of the closet and let him watch it.

I've found that if you remove the TV as an option (for Mom and baby), life gives you other ways to entertain your kids while you study.