Top 5 Difficulties of Being a Dad of a Toddler During Law School Finals

I am the dad of an 18-month-old daughter, and she is pretty much the best thing to ever happen to me.  But as much as I love my daughter, going through law school with a toddler and a wife that works full-time nights can be quite an adventure.  Since my wife works at night I am usually the one watching my daughter at night and getting her to bed.  While my wife and I have a pretty good system down, finals brings on a whole new set of issues.

1)      You can’t stay in the library forever… wait maybe that’s a good thing – while my classmates spend literally all their waking hours in the library memorizing the minutia of our courses, I have to balance memorizing the joinder rules with changing diapers and playing with baby dolls.  While this might appear to put me at a disadvantage, at the same time it might also help me keep my sanity.
2)      Bedtime routine trumps study time – toddlers are nothing if not creatures of habit.  Unfortunately it can be difficult to change that routine just because finals come around.  The bedtime routine is often the most important of these routines is the bedtime routine.  My daughter goes to bed around 7:30-8, and regardless of how far behind I am in my studying, the entire process of bathtime, brushing teeth, pajamas and rocking to sleep still have to occur.  Any deviation from the routine is undertaken at a parent’s own risk.
3)      Finals week is the perfect time for the little one to refuse to sleep/get sick – on a related note the 1st semester finals occurs in December, prime flu season.  With trips to the park, kid’s gym, and the church nursery, toddlers are bound to catch something in those petri dishes of germs.  Unfortunately the thing a sick toddler needs the most is sleep, and that is the one thing they want to do the least.  So it is nearly inevitable that this will coincide with the time you need them so sleep the most.
4)      Getting excited about taking the little one to see Santa, decorating the tree, etc is delayed by fear of an impending Contracts final – I love Christmas.  I love Christmas even more with a kid.  Unfortunately around finals time, I couldn’t even think about Christmas until all my finals were over.  Another case of delayed gratification though as once they were over, double reason to celebrate!
5)      Teaching new words is difficult when the only ones that keep coming to mind are legal terms – At this point my daughter knows a couple dozen words, consisting mostly of animal noises.  However, she rapidly developing her lexicon.  To help her develop her vocabulary, its essential to speak to her often so she can hear new words.  Unfortunately during finals the only words running through my head were non-toddler friendly terms such as sua sponte, preponderance, and affidavit.  Well, maybe I’m just laying an early foundation for her law career…
6)      Maybe weaning can wait one more week… - In the weeks before finals, my daughter was weaning off of her evening bottle.  However, a warm bottle made going to sleep much easier.  After some consideration, maybe weaning can wait another week so I can get some studying done.

But bottom line, even though being a dad can be difficult in law school, I love every second of it.  Hearing her excited yell “Dada!” when I come home after a long day of studying makes it all worth it.