Going Back to Nursing School. 32 Yrs Old 4 Kids

I just finished my MBA in early September. My husband AND kids (5, 7, and 9) were supportive of my education and made things easy on me. Everyone had to sacrifice. It's hard, but so worth it.

Prepare to have to say no to playing games or going to the park, if you have to do homework. This only lasts a little while and the rewards are well worth it.

Plan, plan, plan.

Plan your meals a week at a time, shop and do what precooking you can on the weekends.

Plan your schedule to correspond as closely as you can with your kids.

Plan everyone chores and responsibilities. Make a chart and list what everyone is supposed to do (including hubby). Even little kids can pick up their own toys and put their own dishes into the dishwasher.

Plan for family time. This is the part that often gets lost but it is very important, one evening a week that everyone comes together and has fun.

Lastly, be flexible. Life is going to be hectic and go off plan, accept the fact the there will be dirty dishes in the sink and the carpet will miss being vacuumed.

Congrats and good luck!!!

Plan, and do not overwhelm yourself.

I am 27 with two kids and husband also works full time and I was in school full time 2011 and the come 2012 my now 2 yr old got sick and a few months later we found out it was Leukemia. I tried to continue school but was missing so much that I had to drop my classes.

School can be very overwhelming on its own and then add in kids, cancer and everything else daily life throws at you. I had to miss the last year of school just cause school would not be able to keep on her doctor appointment crazy schedules, but later this year I am going to start back at it, one class at a time may take me longer but I will be able to keep up and will not feel overwhelmed again.

Good for you and Good Luck!

I did my most recent graduate program at 31 with an infant. It's doable, but stressful. Of course, it's worth it in the end, but you need to get yourself in "student mode".

Once you have your course schedule, make sure that you have childcare covered immediately. I have had several friends recently finish nursing programs and the courses are pretty regular with respect to times, but the clinicals occur during "clinical hours". Then find regular times to study. Nursing school is NO JOKE, so if needed, go to the library at night to get work done. Seriously. I used to put the baby to bed and head to the den with the door shut for several hours to read and write papers.

Going to school when you have children is so incredibly different than when you were 18, you can't transfer any of those study skills. Ask for help when you need it. Freeze meals whenever you can. Give the kids appropriate responsibilities whenever possible. Talk with your husband and have him take on additional responsibilities for the next couple of years.

Be flexible, but stay on top of the assignments because things pile up very quickly. There was a time when I had textbooks next to the glider because I could squeeze in 45-60 minutes of reading during each nursing session throughout the night.

You'll get it all done and will be very happy that you did!
Patience
Organization
Planning
Accessing your resources/help

I assume you are going back full time. If so, you and DH need to sit down and figure out how to share all the chores that need to be done. That includes both the actual doing (getting the kids up and ready for school, making meals, cleaning the house, driving to appointments, etc) but also the planning responsibility (making doctor's appointments, remembering to buy birthday presents, etc). You should NOT be responsible for telling everyone else what to do UNLESS you and DH decide that you are the better organizer and he picks up tasks somewhere else. Then let go of the tasks that are not yours. Cooking goes to DH? Good, stop thinking about it. Shopping is yours - plan to fit it in on the way home from something so it's not a special trip.

School for you is as important as work for him (after all you won't be able to be a nurse without school) so you both need to share the work.

Take it one step at a time. Small goals.

This is like a full time job- dole out your responsibilities between everyone in the house. (even my 20 month old helps) I don't know the ages of your kids, but they can still do some of the house work. Be clear and conscise. Or hire someone to come in and do the deep cleaning, like the bathrooms & floors.

Plan on you study time away from the house or after kids are down. Get a schedule and keep up with it.

Think of the long term goal- Degree, = more money to support yourself and family.

Good decision, and good luck

Think about what type of learner/ studier you were. Figure out what type of learner/ studier you now are. Approach your assignments with this in mind.

Perhaps you were good at recall before and just needed to pay attention during lecture and could ace exams. X years down the line, and you might need to read in advance of lecture so you can contextualize the info and retain it better. Maybe you now need to read before hand, attend religiously, and review afterwards. Be prepared to take the steps necessary for effective learning.

Think too about your learning/ time management-
Maybe you can do flashcards and memorization while you wait to pick up kids, but the lengthy article can't be taken in in dribs and drabs and will require a solid hour uninterrupted.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

If kids are in school full time then make sure you use every minute of your day that you can to study and do your homework.

Don't worry about house work or getting chores done. The kids and hubby should be doing a lot to help.

If the kids are not all in school all day then DO NOT go get kids as soon as you are out of classes. You need time to go to the library and sit down, go over what you did in class, do research, and just have campus time.

I found that I needed that time on my own, outside of class but on campus, a lot.