At least I don't have a kid

My current reporting project is on student parents at MU. A recent survey, 2006 I think, found that 75% of student parents had a GPA of 3.5 or higher. And a lot of them are graduate students, which I think says even more. Grad school is hard.

So, what's the correlation? Having a child makes you smarter? No. In fact, I might even say having a child in college makes you dumb. I say that because it adds so much more work, more costs, takes away time and friends, making life extremely stressful. But these people are staying strong.

In talking to them, I found that although I am right about how much busier and more difficult life is, they seem to have it figured out. They have their priorities straight. Other college students go out and party, they put off doing work, and their work suffers for it. They do that because they can, but as a parent there is no putting homework off. If they find a moment where they aren't sleeping, playing with their kid, eating, or going to school, they are doing homework.

So who am I to complain about getting up at 8am for class three days a week. Who cares if I have to stay up a little later and submit homework before deadline? I am living the life: going to school, relaxing, and doing essentially anything I want.

So next time you feel busy just remind yourself that you don't have to take care of a child. And if you do have to take care of a child, remind yourself that kids are awesome and that you rock. Maybe that will help...