Breathing, Beating and Blood

Breathing, beating or blood... or more specifically, the Respiratory System, the Heart and the Circulatory System. These were the chapters covered today in my first Anatomy & Physiology II test. Ugh.

Actually, I think it went pretty well. I put my earplugs in to drown out all external noise and distraction, had my water and my chapstick to help reduce distraction from internal noise (yeah that's right.. I use terms that I learned in previous classes) and I tested on. I'm taking a guess that I got a middle B to middle A.. wide range, I know. That's because I really don't know, but I feel good about it. Especially because I got a few of the bonus questions right. Heeyeah! ; D

What impacted me even more today than having to take a stressful test though, was what trying to study up for it revealed. How much less time I really have now that I'm a mom.

I have a very bad study pattern. Don't. And then about a week to 2 days before the test.. start cramming. This has fortunately/unfortunately worked well for me in the past. I seem to do much better at things (including life and tests) when I have a lot going on or I at least feel a sense of urgency. (you can see this common life-theme of mine covered in previous posts, here and here)

So a few days ago, I started cramming... and it did not go as well as I expected. You see, between showering, eating, letting dogs in and out, nursing Ari, prepping baby food for Ari, feeding Ari, cleaning Ari up after feeding, changing him, bathing him, dressing and undressing him, helmeting and unhelmeting him, putting him to nap, playing with him, reading to him, doing laundry, washing dishes, etc, etc... and repeat and repeat and repeat... I don't seem to have as much time as I used to!!

You know, I was already aware that my life's become a lot busier since having a baby. But I didn't realize that there were so many things that could NOT be pushed to the wayside temporarily. There was almost NOTHING that I could back-burner to make room for cramming for this test. I ended up doing things very speedily, and interacting with my son less, which gave me a couple of hours total... and I don't want to give up son-interaction time. = \

So, although I think I may have made a good grade (by the skin on my teeth) I really don't want to do things this way again. I don't want Ari to suffer because of my procrastination.

My new goal, is to have studied the material covered in class before the next class starts. Some of you are probably laughing, scoffing, or both at this, because it seems like common sense. But, if you were able to get away with not doing it... wouldn't you? If not, you are much wiser than I, realize that a stress-free life and sanity are much more valuable than a few more hours a week of leisure time, and have much better impulse control.

They say that stupid people don't learn from their mistakes, smart people learn from their mistakes, and wise people learn from other peoples' mistakes. As the title of my blog indicates, I am working on becoming wise. But I am "baby-steppin'" it, and working on the transition from stupid to smart first... *sigh*.