Last spring I started taking online courses for my master's degree in political science. Eventually the pregnancy got distracting and between that and getting ready to leave Africa and move to India, I decided to take a hiatus after those two courses.
As of the first of this year I'm a student again, again. Each month I'm starting an eight-week course, so now I'm taking one course, as of the first of February I'll be on the tail end of this one and starting the next one, etc., through June. It's busy and scary and exciting. I love that my brain is getting a workout.
Dr. Seuss's ABCs is a classic, but I need to read something more stimulating every now and then.
I'm not working and even though I have a baby, I also have household help. Our housekeeper is great with Muffin and Muffin loves her; they can sit and play together for about an hour at a time. Muffin is also sleeping more regularly at night and is playing independently for longer stretches at a time so I can squeeze in all my reading.
Doing my homework takes discipline. I'd much rather be watching tv or reading blogs and online newspapers a lot of the time. But I think taking these courses is going to be worth all the work, whether it's for personal development or they help me land a job the next time we're living in the United States.
(Yeah, so, I'm writing a blog post because I have a little writer's block with my globalization essay for class this week.)