single mom in school full time

Cassandra - posted on 09/18/2009

it might be hard at first but you will get used to it fast! my daughter was 5 almost 6 months when i started back to school last year. the first quarter was hell for me, she was in the hospital for 5 days and once she got out had to go to her pediatrician every day for 4 days for a shot of antibiotics, and then twice a week for 2 weeks for blood tests. i missed 2 weeks of school, and my school does quarters not semesters so missing 2 weeks of a 10 week quarter is really a lot. i thought a lot about quitting and just waiting until the next year, but i was able to talk to all of my teachers and explain things and they were all very nice and understanding. i got 3 b's and an a that quarter and after that i felt like nothing could stop me from doing what i wanted in school, nothing could be as bad as that. it was so difficult at first, but now im heading into my second year, my other 2 quarters last year i got 3a's and only one b. it takes some adjusting but its really not that hard to be a single mom and full time student, i also work about 30-32 housr per week, not quite full time but close. being a single mom teaches you to juggle EVERYTHING and you will be so proud of yourself and amazed at what you can accomplish as a determined single mom! good luck with everything!

Annette - posted on 09/16/2009

yea, happened to me, 2nd week of school this summer. rushed him ER for vomiting and he ended up needing surgery, so I got a week and a 1/2 behind. Thanks for the encouragement, sometimes it's all I need to keep pushing.

Elena - posted on 09/15/2009

I am a single mother of an 18month old, full time student as well. If you are a good student already you will be fine. I have been taking 20+ credits for the past year (including summer) to get my degree and make a life for myself and my son. I have this semester and next semester left before I graduate and I started school when my son was 4 months old. The best thing I can tell you is to keep up on school work and do homework when the baby is sleeping. I try to do homework when my son is awake but as soon as I take out a text book or my laptop, he is right there wanting attention. You adjust to what works for you. I stay up at night til midnight after my son is asleep and get up at 6am and do homework for a little while before he wakes at 8am. Some teachers will allow you to bring the baby to class, you just have to ask them. I've done that many times because daycare is so expensive. And on the days he goes to daycare, I put him there all day. It's $5/hr and a straight $26.50 for 6 or more hours. So the days that I do take him to daycare I just put him in all day even if I only really need him to be there for a couple hours. That way you can just get a ton of homework done in one day and not have to worry as much through out the week. If he gets sick, take care of him first. That happened to me the first week of school this semester. My son had a sinus and ear infection and was on antibiotics and then on top of that I go food poisoning, so I didn't do any homework for like 2 or 3 days. Sometimes you just have to turn in assignments late and take the docked grade for it. But always take care of yourself and your son first. Homework can always be made up, even if the grade will be 10% lower for being late.