Any single parent students to give me tips on being organised...

[GemsAngels]

for a stress free life would be muchly appreciated.
Im a single parent that is about to go back to college. I have 3 daughters. Two of which are quite demanding. They dont sleep and my fault I know have to settle them until their asleep. They alternate waking through the night about 3 times each.
My one is a very fussy eater. I mean stupidly fussy!
My eldest is at college but relies on me for a lift on her late night. Also lifts to and from work as there are no busses that run to the services.
I am also looking to work part time. This I have no choice as Im trying to keep our home.
They go to tap classes and a club once a week.
As well as all this I would like some me time for exercise.
Any single parent students out there?? Any tips would be welcome :)

I am a single mum who is a part time Law student with 2 children, 8 and 6years old. I also work 20 hours a week.

To be honest there is no stress free way to juggle everything but I find if you keep focused on what you can achieve when you finally qualify then that really helps you to keep motivated. Also as the kids get older it becomes easier to study around them.

Not sure how old your younger kids are but maybe you could start a reward type chart to encourage them to stay in bed at night. Eg every 7 nights where they stay in their own beds they get a little treat. My 6yr old is often a pain at bedtimes but I find that if I limit tv on an evening then that makes a difference and she settles much easier.

I feel your pain with the clubs kids do. My son has cubs on a Mon and swimming on a Fri, and my daughter has tap/ballet/modern acro on a Tues and Gy. mnastics on a Thu. As well as costing a fortune it is such a pain to get to places after school but luckily for me my mum is happy to take them when I cannot. Is there another mum that you could take her daughter one week and the next she take yours so as to give each other a break?

Also ebay anything you can as it really does add to the bank account. Also have a look on ebay before you buy leotards, tap shoes etc as often you can get some lovely ones for a fraction of the cost.

I too would love the times and money to be able to go to a nice gym or a swim by myself every week but I just cannot at the moment. I do try though to walk whenever I can and to go swimming with the kids. Also get a exercise DVD which you can do on an evening. It is cheaper than gym and also you don't need childminder for it.

Just keep in mind though that when you complete your course it definately will all be worth it

Thanks alphabetti wow your life must be super busy, well done to you :)
My two youngest are 4 and 7.
They go to a tap class a few miles away as the day the class is local I will be at college.
Yeah I have tried the chart and it worked for a little while. With the summer hols, our routine has gone to potts! I will try again.
Iv never shopped on ebay.
Thanks and good luck with your studies.

Im student lone parent too.

You must absolutly get them sleeping without you laying with them a routine of an afternoon/evening after school is a must. Childrens snack, home work, reading before the T.V goes on or out to play. dinner and then kids help with kitchen and tidying and then baths etc with a fairly ridgid bed time. I always turn the T.V off and set my learning books, word document etc up prior to taking them to bed, so I am ready to go, without being distracted by tv cleaning etc.

My dd was similar with sleeping, but It was getting too much so I told her she was too big for this and was just pretty strong willed with her. I told her if she did not make a fuss I would be in to see her in 5 mins, then 10 mins then 15, then 20, 25 etc untill she was sleep. If she was quite and well behaved I went in if she was not I would not, so she would call from the top of the stairs etc and I would just go to the bottom and reasure her that I would be up if she settled well. It really did work and she settled self by the end of one week. Even now she says ill see you in 5 mins and I put her to bed, even though I dont often check her before she is asleep.

My dd also struggles to sleep some times and so I do let her have books, magazines a few small toys in bed and she reads, makes displays and all sorts, so long as she is quiet and calm and winding down I leave her to as she pleases. she is often still awake chuntering and playing untill gone 10pm. It is impossible to physically force a child to sleep.

There are times especially near to deadlines where things are disorganised and far from perfect in my house, but that is the way it goes. so long as basics are taken care of then untidyness sometimes needs to be tolerated.

It is important to plan ahead, I go back in 2 weeks so Iam now getting my house in order ready to start with a clean and tidy house. I have had a massive de clutter and deep clean. I know by the end of my 3rd week things will be stepping up and I will be working towards deadlines so I need to be able to focus on this and keep on top things like washing daily tidying and cleaning the bathroom etc.

I split my study days into cleaning and tidying and then working and my uni days I make sure the house is in order before going to bed so at least I will then come home to clean house if breakfast things can just get rinsed out and everyopne out the door on time.

It is stressfull, more so than when I was working and also as dd gets older it is more demanding too as we need to accomodate her activities. You need to be able to account for evry making moment you have.

every waking moment that should be.

Make a timetable of your week - hour by hour. Allocate work, study, housework, shopping, DC time etc etc - everything you do - and don't forget some leisure time. I found the only way it could work was to cut TV time. Try as hard as you can to stick to it.

I also found a 30 min nap at DC's bedtime enabled me to concentrate for 2-3 hours of study in evenings. Only did that Tues-Thurs tho.

It is hard and you have to be very determined, but you can do it! Good luck.