what is the most important thing in preparing the family for nursing school

[butterfly135]

i am hopefully going to start nursing school in the fall. i am curious if you could go back to the start of school what would you have did to prepare your family for the ride of ns? especially those of you with small kids? i have a 2,3 and 6yr old and of course the 4th child my hubby . thanks guys

[butterfly135]

you guys are so great! thanks sooo much for all these suggestions.

babylady: thank you so much for the list it is great!

scmedasst: i don't think you sound mean at all, actually you sound alot like me. thanks for the post.

[E.R. Rookie]

Tell them you love them and you will be yourself again in a few years. Im half kidding. The sense of accomplishment that you feel when your about to graduate well I can not put it into words.

[jackson145]

I wish I'd have gotten my divorce before NS. I was constantly juggling court dates & lawyer appointments around class & clinicals. At one point, I'd missed most of my alloted hours early in the semester & that made me pretty nervous.

I'm planning on my next divorce being much more convenient!

[krltdy]

I'm planning on my next divorce being much more convenient!

This made me laugh out loud!!! Too funny!

[Feathers]

Tell them you love them and you will be yourself again in a few years. Im half kidding.

lol... it's the truth, you're not kidding at all! I had to remind the hubby of that just this morning when I was running around the house like a crazy woman trying to get out of the house on time today (& by on time I mean 30 minutes early). The look on his face was priceless... I muttered something along the lines of "I'll be normal again one day, I promise."

[cute-1]

I wish I'd have gotten my divorce before NS. I was constantly juggling court dates & lawyer appointments around class & clinicals. At one point, I'd missed most of my alloted hours early in the semester & that made me pretty nervous.

I'm planning on my next divorce being much more convenient!

Funny:bugeyes:

It is important to get all of your checkups and appointments out of the way because you will not have the time once you start school.Being organized is important.I say to give your house a good scrub and try to eliminate as much clutter as you can.Before I started school I gave away clothes,dishes,and houshold items-anything to simplify my life and make my house look less cluttered because I knew that I would be busy and adding more clutter.

You can teach your 6 year old simple things like making a sandwich(plastic knife)and organizing his/her clothes for washing.

My sons are both in school full time so we all study together at the same time.I take at least one full weekend day to have family time,I also involve them in my school work like talking about bones,and eating healthy.

The most important thing that you can do is to talk with your family and express your needs.If you have extended family try to get them to help you with your kids by taking them to the park,babysitting,and cooking meals.

[AZSamiLPN]

I'm finishing up my third semester and I have 4 children with a husband. So, needless to say, I haven't really seen them for over a year. Haha! I told my kids flat out that I wouldn't be able to do some things with them because I needed to study. I told them that if I didn't study, then I would fail. I was so stressed about not being around my kids as much as before and I worried about my marriage. Fortunately, they all understood and didn't think it was such a big deal for me to be gone. They knew school was important. They knew how important it was for me to finish because it meant that Mommy could buy them stuff without worrying about being able to afford it when I finally got a job as a nurse. I was surprised at how they told me too. "Mom, you've been in school forever. Nursing school is no different. Just do your homework and we'll see you on Saturday." LOL!

As for my husband, he made sure I did not have anything to worry about at all. He took complete control of our kids, the finances, the meals, the family obligations, and our time together. We schedule everything down to the minute, so that has helped so much. If I could do anything different, then I would definitely have joined more study groups away from the house. The kids can only be quiet for so long before my husband or I are growling at them. I guess just schedule time with your kids. Put them on a strict bedtime schedule or else you'll never get anything done. And schedule "Date Night" with your husband at least once a month, preferably after a test, so that you two can reconnect on an intimate level. Date Night is my all time favorite and it's kept me sane. Good luck to you!

[motivated2nurse]

TIME MANAGEMENT IS IMPORTANT.

Although it can seem impossible try to pull away from the books try to eat with the kids, let the house go if you must, check in with them and let them know that this is temporary and the payoff will be a good one. Good luck to you.