19 September 2011

Take-Baby-to-Class DAY

The morning started like any other Monday
EXCEPT
I realized I had classes until 5:30 (only on Mondays) and that I wouldn't be able to pick James up at 3:30 if I had the car, since I'd still be in class. This realization was around 6:30a.m., so James dropped Mahie off at her grandparent's on his way to Kahuku & I thought I'd catch a few more minutes of shut-eye before having to walk to my 7:30a.m. Samoan 201 class. Well next thing you know it, my phone is showing 7:45a.m, O well I guess no Samoan today. After a good rest, I get up to finish some hw, which I'm almost done when my Dad calls saying he has to bus to Kaneohe since their car wasn't working. He needed to go pick up a part & if I could watch Mahie since no one else could...BUT if he left at THAT moment, he'd be back before my 1:20pm class. I rushed through my last sentences, printed off my paper & headed down Naniloa Loop. After I arrived & Dad had been gone a few minutes, he returned pretty pissed off because the bus driver didn't stop & wasn't even paying attention. That pushed my Dad back a half hour, which meant he wasn't going to make it back before my class. He left again & I just told myself, if anything I'll just take Mahie with me to class. 
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At first, it seemed like such an easy thing...but as the hours & minutes got closer to 1:20pm, I started to get nervous. What if Mahie gets fussy, makes noises, gets hungry, cries...plus my teacher is very anal about attendance & therefore begins RIGHT on time with a short quiz. Which is very important to our grade & once you miss it, you miss it. So I started walking to campus with my stroller very early, arrived early, sweating & panicking, lol...there were no empty classrooms to chill in some a.c., so I opted for the Women's locker room next to the pool. I needed to cool Mahie off (& myself), but this one old haole lady kept talking to me from her shower stall. Her husband finally opened the front door & yelled for her to hurry up. I finally grabbed a seat to relax, changed Mahie's diaper & could tell she was getting hungry. As I'm going through her diaper bag, a few classmates of mine walk in & say hi, so I check my phone: OMG class starts in 10min...meanwhile Mahie begins to cry, then gets fussy, finally she's kicking & screaming to be fed. I'm rushing to open a new formula container, steadying the bottle on my lap, trying to work really quickly when (I DONT KNOW HOW THIS HAPPENS) but I slice my finger & blood starts to get EVERYWHERE. I try to put pressure against it with my jeans, but no, blood keeps coming. FRACK. I run to grab toilet paper as I'm shaking the bottle to mix, Mahie's screaming, I try to feed her but the blood isn't stopping and time is definitely ticking. I let go of the bottle to wrap my finger, Mahie starts crying again. I throw all of our stuff back into the bottom of the stroller & realize Mahie has gone quiet....poor thing was trying to hold her bottle to eat but she could only reach the tip. I apologize to her, but know I need to get us down the hall to class. I park the stroller outside hoping no one desperate steals it (you never know nowadays), scoop Mahie up, pop the bottle in her mouth, grab my school bag & race inside the classroom. 
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All the back row chairs fill up quickly, but thankfully I slid into an open one & dumped all my stuff in the seat next to me. Everyone's complimenting on how cute Mahie is, but all I'm focusing on is ripping a piece of paper from my bag & finding a pen to be ready for the quiz. As soon as I think Mahie is ok, the quiz starts, so I try to hold her on my left side, balancing the bottle also with my left hand. (I needed my right to do my quiz). BUT she wasn't liking that angle & started to cry. So...I had to buss out a Mommy Trick: Hold her on my left, prop the bottle against the bottom of my chin...and I raced through that quiz like nobody's business, lol. Total chicken scratch & a TON of stares at my Mommy-Multitasking-Amazingness = at least 2 wrong answers but a QUIET baby happily drinking her bottle. -----------------------------------------------------
After being fed, she sat on my lap staring at everyone. When someone would catch her eye, she'd smile & kick. I was so scared that my teacher was gonna get mad that I brought a baby to class, but every time she'd look our way, Sis. Chen would just smile as she lectured. Mahie burped & then finally knocked out. Thank goodness there was a.c., because she always falls asleep faster when its cool. Even though my arm was pretty much dead from carrying her for a straight hour, I kept stroking her hair & realizing how much I loved her. After class I apologized & thanked Sis. Chen, but all she did was hold Mahie's hand & play with her. Phew! A lot of my classmates (who I don't even know) came over to see her, haha. Our school adventure ended with my Dad waiting outside, ready to push her to Mc Donald's& then home. I was relieved and also a little sad to see them leave, before going to my next class. 
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Oh Mahie, I never want to experience that again, hahaha, but after the stress died down, I guess it was fun after all. Thank you for being a good student in class. 
Was your Monday crazy too or am I just making a big deal? haha

btw, James had a non-stressful day, that's why I told him to make dinner tonight ;)

9 comments:

  1. what a good baby! oh the life of a student/mother. i think sis. chen is a better teacher for it to happen to than others but that is awesome she was so good!

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  2. Way to go super mom! Man Ash, I don't know if I could do that, but at the same time, maybe I could if I absolutely needed to. I'm just glad that BYU definitely has that family mentality and it's okay to bring your kids to class sometimes. I saw that at BYU-Idaho all the time and thought that was rudest thing ever, until I had a kid and wanted to slap myself. You do what you have to do sometimes:-)

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  3. i totally love this post ash! great job on handling baby in class-- and good job mahie for being such a good, quiet student :) i had to take my 2 year old sister to class once and it was all bad cause she was sooooo talkative! lol. one day, mahie will read this and totally appreciate you for your sacrifices!

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  4. I really love this post! Good job Ashlyn! I would have died from stress but you're amazing! My own mother dropped out of college because she has kids so I think that it's really awesome that you're doing it all. Your children will really appreciate your sacrifice and hard work some day!

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  5. OMG super momma!!! You truly are amazing, and I would probably just cry and get mad and give up! You go with your amazing momma skills!!!

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  6. I'm soo glad I don't have to worry about these kinds of things. If I was there I would've totally watched baby for you. This is just way too much stress. Way to handle it.

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  7. K I'm coming out of the blog stalking closet lol. I've read your blog a few times, but had to comment on this one - taking baby to class ALWAYS stresses me out, it's good to know I'm not the only one! Good job, Ashlyn :)

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