Mother’s Day 2015

Photo from pixabay.com

This is my 2nd Mother’s Day (or third if you count the one when I was pregnant) and it still blows me away that I am a mother. I still feel like I am playing catch up with adulthood after having a good chunk of my adolescence interrupted by depression and bulimia. Now, I’ve been entrusted with the lives of two adorable mini humans for the rest of their lives. It can feel a bit overwhelming at times. Two years in and I honestly say, I am so grateful that I’ve been able to be a mummy. I love my crazy nerdlings – even when they trash my house trying to make themselves breakfast.

For Mother’s Day I received a brand new hair-dryer 😀 Nothing fancy but it’s something I wanted, my last one looks like the cord got bitten. Ethan made me an adorable card and some shimmery moisturiser. And, the boys baked me some choc-chip muffins. We decorated some photo frames for Grandma and Nana (Tim’s mum and my mum).

Crafting presents for Grandma and Nana

I’m so blessed to have such an awesome mum. I am one of 5 kids, I’m the 2nd eldest but grew up as the eldest of 4 (we have one of those slightly complex family setups). When I was 11, my mum became a single parent. She left my father, who was an abusive alcoholic. Most kids resented their parents’ separation, I was grateful. To this day, I am proud of her for that. I remember how scary it was for us at the time, so, I can’t imagine how much strength it took her. We live a state away from our extended family,except for one uncle who lived up here at the time. So, it was mostly us and her on our own. She did an amazing job and I really think she raised some great kids ;). We all graduated high school, some of us have gone on to further study, some have found their ideal career, some of us have had children of our own.

My sister and I have both given her grandbabies. I can only speak to my own experience but I often find myself referring to my own childhood for parenting advice. “What would my mum do here? What did she do with me and/or my siblings?” And, when I feel like I’m in over my head: “Mum raised four of us on her own, I can get through this moment”. She’s my parenting inspiration, in so many ways.

She’s also my motivation in my studies. She always encouraged my nerdy interests. Letting me spend my weekends at the library, buying me my first computer, and talking to me about the computer work she does. She taught me that gender is irrelevant in technology skills – in fact, I was genuinely surprised about the stereotype that IT and computers are a “boys thing”.  When I was younger, my mum attempted to get the degree I’m currently studying. She was getting awesome marks too – I remember bragging at school to my teachers. But, unlike me, she didn’t have the support of her husband (my father). So, I am getting my Bachelor of Info Tech for me and for her. “If mum can get HDs with 4 kids, I can while looking after 2”

How was your Mother’s Day? What influence has your Mum/mother figure had in your life?

The nerd is strong in this one

Still pregnant. I’m 36 weeks today.

This was last week…I’m too gross and sick to take a pic today

I have a cold that wont go away. So naturally, instead of catching up on 3 weeks worth of study I’m posting a blog. Might just put on one of my lectures so I can multitask. Today’s blog will be written to the soundtrack of: Sets and Relations (discrete maths). My brain is weird that it needs to do two things to study. Usually, I have to listen to a TV show to maximise my study. I do not recommend this as a study tip unless your brain is like mine. I’ve been watching One Born Every Minute or Mythbusters while I study. Last semester it was Sherlock and Supernatural. I love maths. I was that odd psychology student who preferred the statistics subjects. Except at 8am on a Monday morning, nobody wants to do stats that early.

I follow a few Girl Gamer and Geek girl pages on Facebook and a lot of times they will talk about the “OMG FAKE GEEK”, “GET ME A SANDWICH, B*TCH”, etc type hatred towards girls with a nerdy inclinations. Am I nerdy and geeky because I want to snag a ahem, charming gamer partner? No. I am married to a geek – socially awkward, full of lore, and a little obsessed with his favourite games. But, I don’t think he’d be game enough to demand a sandwich…Partly, because he’s a decent man and knows how to treat people with respect. And partly because…I’m smarter when it comes to networking and general computer nerd stuff. Yeah, don’t piss off the person in control of the Internet connection.

I’ve been a nerd for a long time now. And it’s never been about getting male attention. It started with books for me. They were my gateway to the wonderful world of nerd. My mum told us about the many times I’d run off to the book section of the supermarket, plonk myself down, and read. The whole time my mum’s frantically trying to find me. My sister was still a bub so I would have been about 4-5 years old. At that age I believed boys had cooties.

Well, I should get back to my logic laws and sets. Wish me luck

Stay at Home Study Parent

Remember when I said I would never study while pregnant again…

I’m in my third trimester and studying Discrete Mathematics for Computing (Shh… as my husband says when I mention uni. Get it, discreet…yeah) with an 18 month old. I’m only in week 2 but it hasn’t been as chaotic as I thought it would be. Well, my home life hasn’t impacted as much as I thought. My lecturer isn’t as on the ball as my other coordinators have been. It’s less like studying externally and more like being a student who doesn’t go to classes. I think, any other time and I would be fine going week by week and having to wait until all the on campus classes have finished to get a recording of the lecture. But, I really need to try and be ahead. In Week 11 I’m due to have a baby. Not, that babies necessarily follow a schedule.

I’ve been in contact with my SRO (Student Relationship Officer) to find out what supports are available for pregnant women. I can’t really go through disability services as it’s not an impairment, it’s a temporary condition that then becomes a personal issue, e.g. post-partum recovery, adjusting to new routines, newborn stuff.

Ethan has been surprisingly helpful so far. When he wants to study, aka draw pictures and colour in my notes, he will get up in the high chair and yell “Chair. Sit. Mum mum!” or throw things at me if I’m not fast enough.

Time to study mummy

He’s having a nap now so I’m getting everything uploaded to my Google Drive account. That way I don’t have to deal with being in the study while he is awake. I can just read my lecture slides from my tablet or mobile phone.

We’ve also enrolled him in day care on Mondays so I have a whole day dedicated to study (and rest). From what the ladies at his day care said, he loves it there. We had to keep him home this week due to a rather nasty cold. So I am a little behind this week.

I’m still new to this whole stay at home study mum deal. But these would be my top tips:

• See if your toddler/child will sit and draw or read while you study
• Make sure you can always access your materials for micro study sessions
  e.g. when Play School is on, nap time, or when they decide to ignore you
• Look into having them baby sat one day a week
• Consider using a tablet or other mobile device to access material
  • I personally use Google Drive and save all my lecture recordings and pdfs/ppts there so I can study while Ethan naps on top of me
  • Sometimes I watch it through my Xbox and make Ethan endure a 2hr lecture on Programming

That’s how I’m doing it so far. I’m sure this list will change when I have a newborn and a toddler…in about 10 weeks time