The typical "normal" for most people is to wake up go to work, come home, eat dinner, spend time with the family, sleep. Our "normal" is a little more different and will continue to get a whole lot crazier, which is ok with us.
Hubby is out the door at 445am. I do not hear him. I am in deep sleep. Thank goodness! Pat will get his workout in during the morning hours to come straight home after his last class/lab is finished. This makes me happy, because he comes home at the "bewitching" hour (all houses have them with kiddos! More on that later..) I wake up with the girls between 830-9am. We start our day with a little breakfast and play with pretty much every toy in their possession before noon. Lunch and nap commence and that will bring me to 2. Usually, if I have any errands, playdates, adventures, I will do them at this time slot as this gives me the most time flexibility. As 5pm, dinner is served! Some days are better than others, but I am improving a tad bit with my cooking and enjoying it more than I ever have. This is a good thing as hubby usually is the cook of the house, but his schedule (most days) does not allow for this. Bath at 530 and girls in bed between 645-7pm. They are good until the next morning! I usually will do any shopping, meet up with friends, watch tv, laundry, or whatever needs to be done after 7pm while Pat is upstairs studying. It works out pretty well!
At 7pm hubby is studying. He has these noise cancelling headphones where he can't hear ANYTHING. Good or bad thing? Good for studying, I guess. haha! At this point of the day, he is in, what I like to call, his study zone. Usually he has quizzes/exams, and all kinds of randomness he needs to have material covered. There were a couple weeks where he had three exams in the same week! Stress city! I am pretty sure he was lost in studyland.
To give you some background info, medical school is made up of 4 years. The first two years are didactic (classroom) learning, the last 2 years are clinical learning. Hubby will be placed at a local hospital somewhere in the Chicagoland area and dabble in different specialties to find out what interests him the most. His hours will get a little more goofier during those years. Then, he will graduate! Following medical school, he will be matched to a residency program somewhere in the country. This is where we (as a family) will rank our top choices of programs based on the actual program and location. There is a computer program that will match him to a program based on who wants him and if he wants them. There is an interview process for this as well where hubby will be interviewing all over the country. The day we find out is called "match day". It is a day of celebration and relief as it is the start of the brutal training that lies ahead as now a titled physician. It sounds complicated, but it really is not. We will choose many programs and hopefully it will be one of our top choices. Only time will tell. You would think we would have more control on this, but not really.
Here we are in MS1. Life is pretty predictable at this point. Classes/Labs Monday -Friday. There are Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring breaks. We are loving them because we know they will be non-existent in a few, short years.
Also, a fun thing to know about Midwestern
University/CCOM. They are very family-friendly! They hold many events
that the whole family are invited to and not just the actual student. It
is nice the whole family gets involved. Also, it allows students to have that family aspect outside of the classroom where it is common to have children, wives, etc. The idea of family is welcomed and supported. When applying to schools, we
read some schools are better at this than others. It was important that this was the case for us.
“It is our task, both in science and in society at large, to prove the
conventional wisdom wrong and to make our unpredictable dreams come
true”
―
Freeman John Dyson
Hello June! We have officially completed MS1! He rocked year one, per usual! We are so proud of him! He continues to amaze me with how he finds such a good family/school balance! I know it is far from easy and does have some stress mixed in, but he does it with such grace and with no complaints. Unlike how I would probably be. Another reason why I love him so much. Better him, than me! Pat is now doing his research fellowship over the summer (10 weeks) in the lab. The reason medical students choose to do a research fellowship is to open more doors for residency options. It looks good on a residency application. Not mandatory, but is a good thing to have under your belt! It is so different having a hubby come home and not have ANYTHING to do. The word "study" has just instantly vanished! When he walks through the door at the end of his work day, he can sit and actually RELAX! It is such a nice thing to see. This is the only summer during his medical school career where he has some flexibility. We planned two vacations - San Diego and Michigan - both involving family. We are taking advantage of the girls being able to fly free these last few weeks before they turn the big TWO. This summer is full of planned family fun! We have until early August of this transition, than it is back to medical school business! It is a very welcomed break!
After this crazy winter, it is so nice to be outside. The girls LOVE to play in the backyard. I swear they are outdoor cats. In the first week we set up their backyard toys, we were outside EVERYDAY for hours! Of course the girls and I love this! I would send pictures to Pat while he was in his finals week of the girls playing and I laying out in the backyard. Maybe cruel? At least he knows all of his girls are enjoying this beautiful summer!
