![[A four month old infant stares at a laptop playing a video of dancing cartoon fruit while schoolwork is visible on an iMac on the other half of the desk.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2022/02/IMG_6215.jpg)
Today, we’re going to talk about the typical day of a PhD parent – mom addition – except I don’t have a “typical” day. Instead, I have a three-and-a-half month old, Percy, who is teething and going through the four month sleep regression early, so no sleep for baby and no sleep for me. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to run downstairs in the morning – normally, a little bit before 7 a.m. – to start making my breakfast. Before it’s even ready, my son will wake up from his last nighttime sleep session. Before eating my oatmeal and drinking my tea, I’ll go back upstairs and change him out of his pjs and dirty diaper. When infants don’t feel well (like when teeth are forcing their way through their gums), they tend to get clingy, so he’ll sit on my lap while I eat breakfast…
Tag: work-life balance
PhDad: A day in the life of a PhD parent
![[A father, reading a book with his daughter on the couch, is saying ‘...and so, that’s how they found out what the prefrontal cortex does…’]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2022/02/Dad-reading-small.jpg)
Graduate school is challenging. Between navigating new coursework, new teaching responsibilities, and conducting independent research projects, it can be an overwhelming endeavor for anyone. But doing all that with a family? Is that even possible? After graduating with my bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience, I worked for a couple of years as a technician in a research lab. My wife and I wanted to start a family sooner rather than later, so when I started grad school, I had a 1-year-old daughter and a son on the way. I never get tired of the look of surprise that people give me when they find out about my family situation…