It's my party and I'll cry if I want to

School can probably be the most annoying, frustrating, boring thing that has ever been created.

That was the attitude that I was allowed to have before I had a baby. Now, I can't be that immature. But why? It's not fair!

Ok, I'm over it. But seriously, school sucks. I guess it's not so much the school part that sucks, but the homework. And what's even more frustrating than doing homework is actually getting the motivation to do homework, only to have a fussy, sick, or otherwise just plain old miserable baby to take care of.

Whether it's homework, or work-related, or just wanting five minutes to yourself, you can't do anything with your child without someone making you feel guilty. TV rots their brains, daycare is the devil, and Grammy doesn't want to babysit anymore after the penny-in-the-nose incident last time she watched them.

I work full-time, go to school full-time, and enjoy working out. I have had to improvise a bit to make sure that my son is happy and I don't lose my mind.

1. Not everyone will agree with me, and I have no scientific evidence to back this up, but I don't believe that TV (in MODERATION) will hurt anybody. My mom openly admits that my brother used to watch ET 3 times a day while she just sat there and rocked in her rocking chair. My brother is going into his first year of grad school, and he plans on being a medical scientist. While I don't believe ET helped my brother, it clearly didn't hurt him. Keep it in moderation. Just like cake.

2. Daycare is sometimes necessary. Don't feel guilty. The daycare my son attends is known as "early head start" where the actually have a curriculum and it's basically like pre-preschool. It is an opportunity for my son to spend time with children his own age and they actually teach him stuff too. He only has to go 3 days a week, so his father and I still have plenty of time to spend with him.

3. I have recently discovered that going to the gym takes way too much time. Going there, waiting for machines, coming home...what should be 45 minutes turns into an hour and a half. I recently discovered that workout tapes only take about a half an hour, and I have never been so sore after doing those. They force you to do moves and exercises you wouldn't normally do at the gym. Plus, if you have a big enough space, your children can "exercise" with you (mine just tries to dance with me, but it's darn cute.)

4. If you need to do homework, again, let your child "help" you. Set up some paper and crayons and let them have at it. Just keep them away from walls.

5. Toys. My son will just sit there for hours and play with his toys. He will even look at books by himself. If you really need to get some homework done, just set them up with some toys and let them go wild. There will be a mess, however, it should be fairly easy to clean up.

I know most of those are pretty obvious ways to give yourself some time, but sometimes you just need a reminder that you "don't have to perfect to be a perfect parent." (Quoted from those foster parenting commercials).

Future topics will include healthy eating for the family, money (or lack there of) budgeting, keeping yourself sane during the winter, and more.