Burnt out Housewife/Stay at Home Mom Excited and Scared to Death to Start School.

angelsarch · Dec 18, 2005

:) :) my prayers are with you.

may you have the happiest of holidays each year

and many many more new years to enjoy. :) :)

:typing Angelsarch

RN1263 · Dec 18, 2005

...i was a stay home mom for 10 yrs., and became increasingly unhappy (felt like i was in prison sometimes).

i decided to go to college and here i am 2 yrs. later (at 35 yrs. old)...i just finished my first semester of the r.n. program and all my general classes are done (i have a 3.6 gpa )....

at times it's been rough, but it's worth it!!!!

good luck!

onehusbandsevenkids · Dec 18, 2005

Deep breath....so here goes......
I've been a housewife for 19 years and a stay at home mom for 16 of those years. I was a home school mom for 12 years. You know the type...I spent my days teaching, gardening, canning, sewing, baking, scrubbing, going to church etc. I was always busy and never bored. I loved my "pioneer" lifestyle.
Then came my breakdown. Don't ask me what brought it on, because I still can't piece it all together. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and major depression and put on the appropriate medications which I take every day.
However, I came out of the hospital a month later a totally different person. I am no longer that "pioneer" women. NOT EVEN CLOSE. I no longer garden or can at all. I very rarely sew. Cooking and cleaning are minimal and my heart is not in it. Homeschooling is out and we seldom attend church anymore. I am no longer sastified at home with my own company. The old "homebody" is dead. I am not depressed, I am just bored. ( My meds are working great.)
So, I've decided it's time for a career. I start college in January. I'll be taking my nursing prerequisits for three semesters and then four semesters of nursing school ( if I get in according to plan) for a graduation date of May 2009.
I'm so excited and scared to death. I wish school would hurry up and start. If it doesn't start soon I may back out!:rotfl: My family is very proud of and supportive of my decision.
I'm hoping school, and then work, is just what the doctor ordered to fill this void in my life right now.

Best wishes to you! I am also a former homeschooling mama - I can identify with what you've written, although I will be hsing again once I'm a nurse and can bring in decent income working just weekends. I just finished my 3 semesters of pre-reqs and will be starting nursing courses in Jan, I too am excited and wish it would hurry and start.

I would encourage you to not turn from church and your spiritual life, you'll be needing it to get through school LOL!!!

Saying a little prayer for you :) Good luck!!

Tweety, BSN, RN · Dec 18, 2005

Good luck to you! :)

stpauligirl · Dec 18, 2005

Deep breath....so here goes......
I've been a housewife for 19 years and a stay at home mom for 16 of those years. I was a home school mom for 12 years. You know the type...I spent my days teaching, gardening, canning, sewing, baking, scrubbing, going to church etc. I was always busy and never bored. I loved my "pioneer" lifestyle.
Then came my breakdown. Don't ask me what brought it on, because I still can't piece it all together. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and major depression and put on the appropriate medications which I take every day.
However, I came out of the hospital a month later a totally different person. I am no longer that "pioneer" women. NOT EVEN CLOSE. I no longer garden or can at all. I very rarely sew. Cooking and cleaning are minimal and my heart is not in it. Homeschooling is out and we seldom attend church anymore. I am no longer sastified at home with my own company. The old "homebody" is dead. I am not depressed, I am just bored. ( My meds are working great.)
So, I've decided it's time for a career. I start college in January. I'll be taking my nursing prerequisits for three semesters and then four semesters of nursing school ( if I get in according to plan) for a graduation date of May 2009.
I'm so excited and scared to death. I wish school would hurry up and start. If it doesn't start soon I may back out!:rotfl: My family is very proud of and supportive of my decision.
I'm hoping school, and then work, is just what the doctor ordered to fill this void in my life right now.

I'm 46 and have been a stay at home mom for the most part. I took classes here and there( never full-time) in between though and puzzled most of my prerequs together. We had to move ca. every 2-3 years. Occacionally overseas because my husband is military and it was like pioneer life :) The only difference was that we didn't have an ox-cart but an SUV with a U-haul trailer attached which I drove with my newborn baby who I was nursing and the teenager and the dogs etc in it. Now that we are finally able to settle down (bought a house 2 years ago) I am able to do something alittle more permanent. I had my youngest at 38 so he is still very dependent on me.

No more pioneer life for me either, I am so glad that I don't have to jsut pack up an go to strange places. Last fall I decided to get into nursing. Since I already finished most of the basic classes like Engl. math. etc I jsut a few science classes left to do and hope to get into a RN program within the next 2 years. My youngest will almost be in Middle School by then and won't need me to wipe his bottom anymore :) I did better in college way back when my oldest who is 21 was a teenager, he could help out more so I just need to be patient and let the little one grow up a little more.

Good luck to you. :balloons:

tencat · Dec 18, 2005

Good for you! I'm glad to hear that your family is supportive of the decision. If anyone isn't supportive, don't listen! :)

RN1263 · Dec 18, 2005

Good for you! I'm glad to hear that your family is supportive of the decision. If anyone isn't supportive, don't listen! :)

boy..isn't that the truth....if someone isn't supportive DON'T listen to them!!!

i had to deal w/ that and finally i just ignored everyone who was negative about it!!!!...PERIOD!!!

Catsmeow · Dec 18, 2005

Woohoo Momma!! I was a SAHM for the past 10 years as well, and I tell you I fought some miserable depression after my son was born. Took meds for awhile even. I started college last semester and I literally feel like I rejoined the human race after dropping out of life for at least the past 5 years.

What I do when I'm antsy is I shop for the books at discount places online, (amazon.com, eBay, half.com, abebooks.com) then go to the book websites, bookmark the online resources that the publishers put out, get everything all set up, and start reading whatever material looks interesting, then I feel like I'm doing something. I picked up my books at the college book store for Jan. as they ended up having the cheapest prices, but that's not always the case.

Good luck on your studies, what courses are you taking in January?

Cats

Multicollinearity, BSN, RN · Dec 18, 2005

Then came my breakdown. Don't ask me what brought it on, because I still can't piece it all together. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and major depression and put on the appropriate medications which I take every day.
However, I came out of the hospital a month later a totally different person. I am no longer that "pioneer" women. NOT EVEN CLOSE. I no longer garden or can at all. I very rarely sew. Cooking and cleaning are minimal and my heart is not in it. Homeschooling is out and we seldom attend church anymore. I am no longer sastified at home with my own company. The old "homebody" is dead. I am not depressed, I am just bored.

Actually this sounds quite normal to me. It sounds like possibly a mid-life crisis. Perhaps you were too busy with being the perfect "pioneer" woman to pay attention to subtle internal cues that you wished to change course. So a breakdown and hospital stay forced you to!

Reading your post made me think of an excellent book I read recently. It's by Sue Monk Kidd. It's call "The Dance of the Dissident Daughter." She described herself as the perfect Christian wife and mother. She was a writer and wrote frequently for Guidepost magazine. Then events shook her up and she re-evaluated her family, her faith, her marriage, her occupation, etc. In other words EVERYTHING! She no longer derived joy and satisfaction from the things that previously did (like you saying you are bored, not depressed.) Her book is about her discoveries and new path she has chosen. I found it to be an excellent book, and your post made me think of it. Good luck to you! This is a very exciting time.:balloons:

marilynmom, LPN, NP · Dec 19, 2005

I'm happy to hear that you are happy and excited about starting back to school--I really think you are going to enjoy school.

I am a homeschooling mom of 2 (my girls are 7 and 4 yrs old) and I have been going to school full time for the past 2 years finishing pre-reqs with virtually straight A's. I LOVE LOVE school.

I do enjoy homeschooling my girls but I also, just as much, enjoy MY going to college to have my own adult time away from them (as well as my 2 hours at the gym a day, they love the childcare), it keeps me sane!

Good luck!

psalm, RN · Dec 19, 2005

...I too, was a stay at home mom for 19 years, then went back to school. I had homeschooled for 3 years (6th, 7th and 8th grades). We were always at church for many years...I wonder if you were/are in a situation where you are questioning what you are being taught. Is your church authoritarian? Have you considered "spiritual abuse"? That's where you are told from the pulpit how to think, what to wear, what is spiritual and what is not, etc, and should take the pastor's word, whether it meshes with the Bible or not. I went thru that, questioning my pastor and Sunday school teacher, in a kind manner, only to be rebuked. So I went to the Bible and asked the Holy Spirit to show *me* what He had for *me*. PM me if you like, I am praying for you and your family. Happy trail to RN!!