Mommy, you graduated from homework!

I spent the last 3 years of my life pursuing my Master's degree.  I figured that I should probably decide what I wanted to be when I grew up, and for the first time in my life I actually thought that working in management for the rest of my life sounded good.  Really?  Who says that?!  So, I set to work pursuing my degree in Healthcare Operations Management.  I am thrilled to have finally met my goal!

Now that I'm done I have absolutely no idea how I found the time to work on my Masters with 3 young children in the house.  Late nights, busy nap-times, and 11:55 PM deadlines were the norm. I wondered if the kids would even remember that I went to school when they were little.  As graduation loomed near I learned that my going to school left a profound impression on the kids. First, it taught them perseverance - things may get hard and you may want to give up - but you have to keep pushing through. That have since applied this to their violin lessons.  Sweet! Second, it taught them humility, they couldn't always be #1 and sometimes Mom's needs had to go above theirs.  This is very difficult for children to understand.  And finally it taught them the importance of education- a degree/education is something no one can take away from you.

I never would have been able to complete my degree without the sacrifice and commitment from my family. Si has been nothing short of amazing over the past three years. You need to study?  No problem, take the time you need. You need to go meet up with classmates to figure out how to get through Data Analytics or Turning Data Into Information and be gone for 5 hours?  I'm happy to support you.  AMAZING.  I love this man to pieces.
I spent at least 4 nights a week, after the kids went to bed or while they were napping, studying and completing papers and homework.  Clearly the kids noticed.  When they came to graduation and saw me get my degree Bri said "Mommy, you just graduated from homework didn't you?".  Why yes sweet child, I did.
Check that off the bucket list.
On to the next!

Until next time~
Megan

To Separate, or Not to Separate?

I feel like I haven’t talked to you guys in forever! In truth, it’s been quite a long while. So sorry! When I started taking my Master’s classes (way back in 2013!) I quickly cut down on my blogging.  That’s sad though, because I have SO much to say!  LOL. First things first, I will be done with my Master’s in May, thank goodness, and then I will have part of my life back! I’m glad that I went back to school but absolutely underestimated the amount of time it would take me to do an online degree program.  I’m happy to be done.  Well, almost done.

In the meantime, there have been lots of happenings in the Hollibaugh household.  Hudson is 3.5, and a heart breaker! He’s the sweetest most ornery kid I think I’ve ever met.  I go between wanting to hug and snuggle the crap out of him and wanting to hang him by his toenails.  LOL.  If only I was kidding. The girls (Livvy and Bri) are now 5, and could not be more different.  Olivia is a total girly girl princess who never stops talking (ever) and Brianna is a super creative total tomboy who loves to do things on her own.  Honestly, they complement each other perfectly! HA! 

What I’d like to talk about today is school, and to separate, or not to separate your multiple’s in the classroom.  First, what we’ve done.  Olivia and Brianna are in their second year of Montessori.  The Montessori they attend has 4 preschool classes, so we were given the option to keep the girls together or split them.  Year one we decided kept them together in the same classroom.  It seemed to go really well, but at the end of the year, Bri asked to be in a different classroom than her sister.  We weren’t sure if it was just a fluke thing as she’d been pretty happy being in the same class for most of the year, but we were also unsure about keeping them together anyway (many opinions in the multiples community), so we quickly agreed to separate.  This year they have been apart.  While the teachers seem to think that the girls are both doing very well in separate classrooms, that is not really the same sentiment I am getting from either of the girls.  In fact, Olivia and Brianna have both requested to be together in the same classroom again next year.  Okay kiddos, noted.  Honestly whatever they want to do is okay with me.  We don’t have a guidebook for twins (wish we did sometimes!) and frankly I’m okay with the girls calling their own shots with this.  After all, it affects them a whole lot more than it affects me!

So twin and triplet mommas…..what did you do with school?  Or what do you intend to do?  Keep them together?  Split them up?  And why?  Has it worked well? Or not?  Tell me your stories!