MickeyJ

Thank you! I want to PM you, especially now that I have been doing a bit of reading about the area, but this site will not let me until I have posted a sufficient number of "quality topics". And I haven't made it that far down my to-do list yet! So frustrating.

FamilyChick Thank you for your reply! Does Shiprock have activities for kids to do, shopping, day care, things like that? I had a local job that fell through due to the board not approving the budget for the position. I passed my NCLEX in August (woohoo!) and I have several applications through the federal job site. It just seems like it takes so long. I have not applied to Shiprock, though. Can you tell me more about what life is like for you there? I would really appreciate it. I see there are several positions posted there. I am going to call some recruiters tomorrow. My daughter just started kindergarten and I NEED to have some direction. This 'floating through life' wondering is starting to really get to my nerves. If you have a chance, please let me know anything you think could be relevant. Thank you all for your responses.

I am 65 days away from graduating with my BSN and my daughter is five. She was ten months old when I started taking some community college classses to get my math and chemistry up before I enrolled at the university. I was FAR from family and I cannot lie that it was hard. And I cannot say yet that it was worth it... I think it will be, and I know I will bawl my eyes out at graduation. But, I digress. Here is what I have learned (the hard way sometimes): Nursing school can change the way you parent, if you let it. Sticking to a routine the best that you can in whatever works for you is the best advice anyone can give you. Give yourself permission to eat microwaveable meals and hot dogs and macaroni. This was hard for me to do, because I grew up with a mom who cooked a full meal everyday. And I would cook these dinners that half of the time she wouldn't eat and I didn't have a dishwasher and it was all energy that I didn't need to use. I found freezer microwave meals that I felt happy with, found out they actually didn't taste worse than my own cooking, and clean up was so easy! I don't have a dishwasher so that saved even more time. You don't have to be Pinterest-perfect right now. Time is your commodity so take short cuts that make sense. I wanted to be healthy perfect Bento-box mom. Right now I'm lunchable mom. I pick my battles. Reach deep into your depths to be consistent with discipline; for me, this is hard to do under the best of circumstances. Nursing school makes it 100x harder. When you are exhausted from school and stressed to the brim, its sooooo much easier to leave the routine, or buy them too much b/c you feel guilty for "neglecting them" when you give so much time to school work. I have been lax far too many times and I am seeing the evidence of that now. The absolute best thing I did for both of us is set a timer for 25 minutes a night where we did whatever she wanted. I'm not a parent who likes to play with 'My Little Ponies'- my inner child died somewhere along the line b/c its just torture. But I set that timer and I do it and the difference is night and day in her attitude and her feeling of getting attention. And it puts you in the "now" which is so hard to be in while you are in nursing school! I didn't start this until junior year but I wish I had started that earlier! Keep a list of all of the people who you identify as potential babysitters. You never know when you will need a back-up. Another struggle I had was the fluctuating schedules every four months (especially going to a brick and mortar school, traditional university). It was just brutal for me to get on a good sleep schedule, and many times I would let my schedule be her schedule. In hindsight, i wish I had done that differently. It worked out okay but I wish I had established a nightly routine earlier. Finally, be gentle with yourself. This IS tough. I felt a little isolated in my cohort, as all but two of us were traditional college students, living on campus & were fresh out of high school when we began. I think I was 29 when I started the program and I just had such a different life compared to them that I found it hard to relate and it felt very isolating at times. It can be hard to find time to parent, study, and work out. But even taking a ten minute walk a day can do wonders for your mental health. When I couldn't do that (because I practically live in the tundra) I would listen to some guided meditations on youtube at night to help me ease the tension and help get me out of that frayed-wire feeling. I feel like I'm in Sparta sometimes, wanting to be a great nurse and a great parent. Overall, I have faith that my path is aligned the way that it is supposed to be. Oh, and coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

Thank you so much! I have to go do some posting before I can look at your message... It's locked until I post 15 times! I have always been a lurker but realized I really needed to connect with people b/c only knowing what where our lives will be until July is huge and scary! But I will post some topics and look at the message when I am able. And I truly appreciate the help, dnptobe20!

Thanks for your reply. I suppose I am willing to move to any state. I just want to move to one that has the best quality of life for my daughter. I have looked at the jobs site multiple times. I just do not know how to choose. If anyone had experience at any of these locations and could tell me how family life could be there, that would be really helpful. Because once 90 days is up, if I haven't found a place with a good fit, I will just be put wherever they need me. I hope to have more input than that.

Hello all! I'm hoping to find some help on here because the anxiety of the unknown is distracting me and weighing heavily on my mind. I will be graduating with my BSN on April 30. I have a three year service obligation to the IHS. The scholarship was a godsend; I was a single mom with a four month old when I started the journey to nursing school (it was a nurse who helped me change my life and leave her father). Needless to say, the scholarship enabled me to get this far. Now that I am getting closer to graduating, I am starting to panic. I have 90 days from the date of graduation to find a job or go work on a reservation w/ the Civil Service. I have no idea how to navigate this. My daughter will be starting kindergarten in the fall, and I have no idea if a local tribal job will be available during that time. I have no idea what life will be like ANYWHERE. I'm freaked out about child care, quality of life for her, school. Does anyone have any experience with moving to one of these reservations with children? I just want to be somewhere safe. I try to look at the IHS.gov job listings but its nearly impossible to get an idea of what a shift would be like or what a community would be like as well. On top of that, I cannot apply for any of them until I get my license, which sounds like will be no sooner than six weeks after graduation. I went to school to build this child a good life. Now I only know how life will be up until July and its just too much. I don't know where to start. So I came here. If anyone has any information to share it would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you!