Finals Week

Finals week at Michigan State was always such a mixed blessing. I loved being on campus in the spring when all of the lilac bushes along Shaw Lane were in bloom. The smell was amazing! Walking to class was actually relaxing. Campus was beautiful and all I wanted to do was spend time outside. But I needed to be studying. If I spent time enjoying the sights and smells of springtime in East Lansing I always felt guilty that I wasn't doing enough to get ready for my exams.

People were stressed. The study rooms and library were packed with glossy eyed disheveled looking people. It was a depressing time to be on campus.

I used my study breaks to pack up my dorm room into one of the thousands of standard issued collegiate milk crates. I had piles of books to sell back to SBS so that I could get approximately 10% of what I paid back for them. I had to take apart the loft so that it would be ready to pile into a green bin and haul out to the van as soon as my last final was over. The carpet got rolled up. Clothes were packed and all of the pictures came down.

It always seemed like I had the last final on the Friday of finals week before everyone had to be out of the dorm for the summer.

I always felt rushed at the end of finals week. I spent all of this time preparing for something and it was over just like that. I never got a chance to enjoy anything except what was right in front of me. I had tunnel vision. Finish final exams, pack, go home. Mission accomplished.

I have a feeling that this parenting-thing could be a lot like finals week. This past week Wyatt didn't have any preschool and was home every day. EVERY DAY! It was absolutely beautiful and amazing outside. The snow drifts were towering and the sun came out almost every day. But there was so much snow that we were all but trapped in the house all week. Even if I did manage to get all of the kids outside I was feeling guilty because Shane was inside napping and I didn't want to be out of reach if he needed something.

Each night I would spend all of this time preparing activities for us to do the following day in case were were trapped at home again. And we were. Every day last week.

And as the week went on I found myself figuring out how to get to the end of each day. That was my goal. Wake up...get the kids in bed, mission accomplished.

But about halfway through the week I took a step back and realized that I wasn't taking time to smell the lilacs. I wasn't enjoying the sights and smells of being a Mommy. We were not walking to class and enjoying the plethora of snow that descended upon us. I was trying to finish, pack, and go home.

So, I made a change. We played and created and played some more. We enjoyed our time trapped in the big snow. We had fun together and made a lot of memories. And I know that I ended up enjoying our snow days a lot more that I had expected. The kids did too! So I know that I won't get the results for a while, but at the end of the day I'm pretty sure that I aced that exam!