First Quarter: In the books

First-year student, Lauren Thompson, reflects upon her first quarter as a Foster School student and how she’s found some balance with her other important job: being the proud mother of a 4-year old boy. She chronicles this in her personal blog, LovingMarshall.com, and we’ve reposted it here.

First Quarter: In the books.

Last year, about this time, I attended a workshop on applying for a full-time MBA program. I had to book a babysitter because my husband traveled every other week to the East Coast for his job. As a work-from-home mom that was fairly new to Seattle, I was more anxious about navigating the bus system than going to the workshop itself.

Lauren Thompson.

This year, I’ve just finished my first quarter as an MBA student. My husband took a job that doesn’t travel so that I could (attempt) to balance parenting and go to school full-time. And my bus driver and I are on a first-“Hi! How are you?”-basis.

Last year, about this time, I packed all of Marshall’s lunches. I made most of our family meals. I proudly baked my homemade bread twice a week.

Now, Daniel is the one who makes sure Marshall’s lunches are packed. He does most of the cooking. (I could not have survived this Fall without him.) I am lucky if I bake anything that qualifies as “homemade” more than once a month.

Lauren Thompson.

Last year, about this time, I felt “new.” Most of my conversations were with friends in Austin and Alabama. I was equally in awe of Seattle’s beauty and depressed by its “lights out” at 4:30PM policy.

This year I feel connected. Most of my conversations are with people here in Seattle. My chats with my friends in Austin and Alabama are more positive. And I’m more concerned with understanding the Weighted Average Cost of Capital than worrying about the sun setting in the middle of the afternoon.

Lauren Thompson.

Last year, about this time, I walked Marshall to school every morning and picked him up every afternoon. I worked around his schedule, as I had for 3+ years. It was worth it. This year, I rarely get to take Marshall to school, or pick him up. I usually rush out before he leaves for school with Daniel, and I get home just before dinner. I thought I would feel guilty about this. More than that, I worried that Marshall would feel that I was neglecting him. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Marshall is thriving. He loves that he gets to spend so much time with Daniel. He loves that both he and Mommy are going to school. On nights and weekends, he often sees me studying, and occasionally he gets frustrated when I can’t play with him. More often, though, he curls up beside me and does his own “work.” (Sometimes his chicken scratch makes more sense to me than Accounting.) At the risk of being overly sentimental, my son is proud of me. And I’m proud to show him that women in this country can be mothers and students and career builders and influencers. We don’t have to choose.