How do you know when enough is enough?

NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Feb 23, 2013

I suppose on my program interview before I started I can look back and see what 'they' were saying - make sure you don't have too much on your plate before taking on nursing school.When I started back in December all the kids (6) except two were in private school making my days free to work (I work from home) and fit in studying and then finally picking them up from school and their Dad helping them with homework.We just found ourselves so strapped for money that they are all homeschooled (again - I have been hs'ing for eight years) only now my head feels like it's going to explode. Add to that I have dyslexia and learn a LOT slower than my much younger classmates (I am in my mid 40's). I failed an exam and a quiz in the last two weeks and feel like I can't catch up and that nothing else will go into my brain. I know everyone thinks about quitting, but when do you really draw the line and say 'I can't do it?'

To avoid this type of scenario, and because I really didn't have any other options, I put off going for the RN until my baby had been out of high school long enough to have a bachelors degree in something. After that point, I claimed my life as my own, got my RN at the age of 20+++++++++++++++++++, and now chipping away at a BSN. Brain cells die off for some of us but you can do it, maybe not at the pace as others but it can be done. I couldn't do mine in a classroom because I need to read something a million times before I remember enough to be tested on it. And I had to have it COMPLETELY quiet. So, to get all of the conditions right for me to succeed, I had to wait for the kids to get out on their own....one of the advantages of having them when I was, let's say, 12. Lol! Your time hasn't passed. Just take your time and do one class at a time if you have too.

vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN · Feb 23, 2013

MT mom of 6-- I think that your personal limit is dependent on *your* priorities. I've been a mom for for nearly 18 years and have 3 kids. I strongly believe that you can do everything but just not necessarily at the same time. For me, I have had to say to myself, "what do I want the most?" Do I want to make money to have certain things? Do I want to keep being an available at home mom? Do I want to homeschool? OR do I want to become a nurse?

I chose to become a nurse. I can't homeschool, I'm not really an at home mom. I hardly work.

Depending on the emotional and financial abilities of your support system, you might not have to sacrifice as much. But I think many moms are faced with these dilemmas.

What do you want to do, right now at this point in your and your children's lives, the most?

The answer to that will tell you what your limit is.

HTH!

BTW: MTmom of 6-- I could have written almost your exact post about 24 months ago. Seriously, I was asking myself the same questions. Just when I thought of putting my education on the back burner to put more effort into work, my husband tried to kick us out of our home because he wanted to scare me into working.

It didnt work. I finally realized that if I were married to someone like that, I had better get my education. So I did keep pursuing it. And God has been with me the whole time.