Received: from sobek.Colorado.EDU (sobek.Colorado.EDU [128.138.151.62]) by csf.Colorado.EDU (8.7.6/8.7.3/CNS-4.0p) with ESMTP id QAA08798 for ; Sat, 12 Apr 1997 16:10:36 -0600 (MDT) Received: (from watterwo@localhost) by sobek.Colorado.EDU (8.8.5/8.8.5/Unixops/Hesiod/(SDM)) id QAA09267; Sat, 12 Apr 1997 16:10:33 -0600 (MDT) Date: Sat, 12 Apr 1997 16:10:33 -0600 (MDT) From: Jay Watterworth To: "Elizabeth A. Larsen" cc: Sociology Graduate Students -- International Subject: Re: Kids and PhD's In-Reply-To: <199704122013.QAA16275@grace.carlow.edu> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII I was not in school when my daughter was born, but my wife and I did lead a intensely busy life. (We still do, actually.) We found the first couple years were the easiest as our child was pretty much on a schedule and would adapt to most any environment she was in as long as the schedule was kept (the obvious things like eating, sleeping). When our bundle of joy began exercising agency, the situation was more difficult to balance (impossible to control), but I feel our carrying on our lives while she was a baby gave us (and her) the ability to lead our lives with the responsibilities of parenting included. Had we dropped everything for 18 months only to jump back into things, we might have introduced an abrupt change or unnatural interuption to our lives which might have made things more difficult for us. So, you might consider continuing on with school (unless you would like a break, of course). It would give you a chance to get the busy-work classes out of the way while you get used to your new lifestyle. You might find being able to get into the swing of your continued education at this point would work out best for both you, your partner, and your child. Good luck! Jay Watterworth On Sat, 12 Apr 1997, Elizabeth A. Larsen wrote: > I was wondering if there is anyone on the list who has pursued a PhD with > a small child in the home? In 1996, I earned my masters degree. Four weeks > ago, my daughter Jessica was born. I am thinking of going back for my > doctorate in the fall of 1998, when Jessica will be about 1 1/2 years old. > > If anyone has been through this before and has any advice (about finding time > to study, juggling priorities, etc.), I would really appreciate their insights > as I start to think about my next degree. > > You can reply to me privately at elarsen@erols.com > > Thanks! > Elizabeth Larsen > >