guilt, kids and school is there truly a way to balance it?

[butterfly135]

hi all! i am having a huge issue.i am due to start LPN school in august. i have 3 kids 6,3,and 2 yrs old. i have gotten everything worked out with childcare and all but i have never had to put my kids in any kind of care. i have also been home with them for the most part except for working parttime on the weekends. so i started CNA class this week which is 3 days a week all day and i already feel like i am missing so already ! i know actual nursing school is going to be 100 times more intense than this class i am taking now and i will be away from them all day and then be studing all night. i just don't know how to get over this feeling of guilt and like i'm missing out on so much. i want to become a nurse so bad i have for many yrs now. i need to do this for me and my family. i thought it would be easier while they were little but, now i'm really second guessing my self and i don't know what to do. i've tried to talk to my husband but he just doesn't understand why i'm feeling like this since i'm getting everything i've wanted. so have any of you felt the same way, how did you get over these feeling and balance being away alot and still having that connection with you kids?? any advice helpful and greatly appriated. thanks !

[Busia]

My kids are 8, 6 and 4. I also treat school as a full time job. I only have class until noon most days, but I stay at school until 3 and study, that way my evenings can be freed up to be with the kids. Then if I need more time, I study after they go to bed. My dh works on the road, so it's just me during the week to deal with the kids. It can be a huge challenge, but I want this so bad that I"m just doing whatever it takes to make it work. When I'm not working on the weekends, I try to make sure to take some time for an extra special kid activity, like taking them out for ice cream, the park or the children's museum. The best thing I've found out along the way- it's definitely quality not quantity that they need. If I can spend even a little bit of time with undivided attention to my kids, it makes up for all the rushing around the rest of the time, and keeps them happy. So I make sure I put my books away and shut my mind off of school when it's kid time, they get the best of me then, and I don't feel so guilty when the time comes to concentrate on school.