Joe is a NINJA CPA Blogger.

Hello NINJAs,

With the New Year and vacation ending, I have really started hitting the books for FAR. This past weekend however provided a challenge that I know I will face during my exam preparation.

My wife is currently studying for the last part of the EA (Enrolled Agent) exam. She is taking the exam in the next few weeks and is using the next few weekends to cram. This leaves me in charge of our 10 month old, Ryan, for the majority of the weekend, while I also attempt to study.

Face it parents, there is no ideal way to study and watch your kids at the same time. Unless you are completely ignoring them (not recommended), there is no way that you are going to be able to give 100% of your focus to studying. That however does not mean that this time is lost.

While playing with my son I played my study material DVDs and took notes. It did take a little longer than usual, especially since my son thinks my pen is MUCH more interesting than his usual toys. When he went down for a nap, I would hit the material hard and get through as much as I could.

Luckily, my son takes nice long naps, so I was able to get in at least three solid hours of studying both days, in addition to the note taking while playing.

It kills me that I cannot spend all day playing with my son. At his age, he is so much fun and nothing makes me happier than spending time with him. However, he will be even more fun in a few more years, and will definitely take up more of my time in the future. The time to study is now.

I am fortunate that my job has prepared me well to take the FAR exam. I see a lot of the material in my day-to-day job, however now I am seeing that there is much to learn and relearn. I am glad I took the extra time to study for this exam, I see now that I will definitely need it.

Hope all you NINJAS are doing well. Keep up the hard work.

Joe