A day in the life of a military wife, mom and PA Student
When I first began my research on how to manage motherhood and PA school, I was discouraged because I could not find many sample schedules to help me get an idea of a typical day. Now that I am in PA school, I can understand why maybe I could not find any. My days are so variable and I am constantly having to shift priorities from moment to moment in order to take care of my responsibilities. Although no two days are the same for me, I want to give you an idea of what most days are like for me.
5:00 AM: Wake up~, shower, dress, personal quiet time, and start on breakfast/lunches.
6:00 AM: Wake up my son. Get him dressed and to the table for breakfast. Finish meal preparation.
7:10 AM: Out the door and into the car we go! Mama enjoys her coffee on the drive.
7:35 AM: Drop off my son to daycare` and then drive to school.
7:50 AM: Arrive at school and get to class! If I arrive with enough time to spare, I’ll study in my car until about 8:00 AM.
8:10 AM – 10:00 AM: Lecture
10:10 AM – 12:00 PM: Lecture
12:00 PM – 1:10 PM: Lunch (During most lunches I’m eating and studying)
1:10 PM – 3:00 PM: Lecture
3:10 PM – 5:00 PM: Lecture
5:00 PM: Drive home
5:30 – 5:45 PM: Arrive home and start on dinner
6:30 PM: My boys arrive home and get settled
7:00 PM: Dinner time!
7:30 PM: Daddy loads the dishwasher and does bath time while mama packs up dinner and goes off to study^
8:00 PM: Daddy does bedtime routine. If I haven’t meal prepped on the weekend, but I decide to help myself out, I’ll do some lunch prep after dinner so my morning goes better.
12:00 AM Bedtime* for mama
~My wake – up time fluctuates based on how much meal prep I had completed before the morning, if I showered the night before, and how many times I snoozed/reset my alarm. Let’s face it mornings are hard!
`My partner and I share responsibilities with getting our son ready in the morning and evening as well as drop-off and pick up from daycare. However, when my partner is away for work, I’m running a solo show.
^Most nights I am exhausted after a day of lecture, so I realistically get in 1-2 hours of study at night.
*Sometimes I’ll get to bed earlier if I’m totally wiped out or I’m not retaining much. Sometimes I get to bed later if I have a big exam in the morning.
Being a mama in PA school means I have to plan but always prepare for my plan to fail. The best thing you can do to manage the day to day is to go with the flow. It won’t be easy but with a little forethought and a lot of determination, you’ll get it done each and every day. Pace yourself. You got this!
-Shatara
