Most students attending BYU-Idaho aren’t familiar with the pressures of going to school and trying to raise a child. Although the married student population has increased, many married students still don’t have a child, let alone two.
Kymberly Stoddard, a senior from Rexburg, Idaho is all too familiar with trying to balance school, work and raising two children. Stoddard has a girl, Avery, age 4, and a boy, Wyatt, age 2. Stoddard said the biggest difference in being a first-time mother compared to being a second-time mother is all in the difference of having a boy and a girl.
“Avery is such a girly girl. She will play dress-up or sit and read a book and Wyatt is always moving,” said Stoddard.
Stoddard also said that both her pregnancies were great but she had Wyatt when Avery was two and a half and was overwhelmed with a baby and a toddler. Moving from Utah to Rexburg when Wyatt was four months old and going back to school was also a big adjustment.
Back in Rexburg, Stoddard now has even more on her plate. She is currently taking 17 credits, working as a gymnastics coach at Madison Gymnastics Center, decorating for weddings and she recently hosted the Upper Valley Bridal Fair. Through all this she also makes time for her children. However, she looks forward to graduating this spring so she can spend more time with her kids.
Even though Stoddard has only been a mother for four years she has already learned a great deal from her kids.
“I’m so happy with my kids. They are so great … I was never a really nurturing person before, but now I would do anything for my kids. My favorite thing is just watching them love each other. When they sit down and read together or are just getting along well it makes me so happy,” she said.
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