Hints and tips please

[bottyburpthebarbarian]

I have just heard that I have a place in Uni starting in a few weeks.

I am a single parent with 2 DD's at home they are 11 and 8.

Can all you more experienced student parents please come and share your hints and tips with me?

How far do you have to travel to your Uni?

30 miles so not that far and I have a car

share custody with the ex too, and mum and dad are going to help out

International Politics

prospectus.ulster.ac.uk/course/?id=8109

My course

I know I am so excited its tragic

thread here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/1025128-Can-I-have-a-WOOP-WOOP?msgid=20963201

congratulations Botty.

Am single parent as well, just completed my ba (hons). now off to start PGCE. My tips so far are

-relax on housework front
-organisation; I found that I needed to spend school hours either in lectures or the library working on readin/assignments etc. then after school hours were for talking to/ playing with etc my dc until 8.30pm. Which time dc were to be in bed and I hit the books again.
My dd goes to her dads every other weekend. ds goes on a more informal basis to his dads but often. so on weekends when they were away I would study. weekends when they weren't I would spend te time with them.
-get shopping delivered esp. at busy times.
I also made a timetable showing when each assignement was due so that I worked on them in order of deadline ratherthan the on which interested me most ( i did it that way in first yearr- really shouldn't have)

good luck

Just to update this thread too.

The Uni rang - got offer for the first choice after all - Law

Bloody hell i'm going to University

Dylsmum - thank you so much for those tips.

Am already a total slob pretty relaxed about the housework so that won't be too hard lol

Share custody of the 2 girls with the ex 50/50 on a rotating schedule so at least half the time I'll have time to study.

Properly nervous now though

Checking in for tips and hints too!

Onadietcokebreak - what are you studying?

Social work degree.

Up until my partner moved in a few weeks ago I was a lone parent to a pre schooler. Im glad he is around as will make the drop ups much easier but will also make studying much harder. I definately got more work done when I lived on my own!

I have had bad experiences of online shopping but I think I will do an online grocery order at least fortnightly. It will save me time and money hopefully.

Saturdays are going to be my only real time with DS. Planning on using that day to spend some one to one time with him- even if we do things seperately to stepchildren.

I'm not going to be too bad in comparison to you - my two girls are 11 and 8, and I share custody with my ex 50/50.

Mum and Dad are only half an hour away and are going to step up and do some collecting for me if needed. Although DD1 is off to Senior School in a few days and won't need too much - she's angling for a key and "I'll just walk home"

I have about a 30 mile journey to Uni, so I'm planning to do a dummy run in the next few days, and properly suss out the basic stuff like car parking.

Good idea re dummy run- my trip is a 85mile round trip and will take about between 60-90 minutes.

Hoping for some additional help with petrol from the hardship fund...gonna be very expensive!

How many days a week is your course? Mine is expected to be 4 days a week.

Another tip is use a slow cooker- ideal for winter casseroles etc.

I have a slow cooker and use it a lot - did you know it does the best roast chicken?

I'm only there 3 days but yes its gonna be expensive and trains/buses won't be an option for me coz I have to drop the girls to school first. When I have them obviously.

Not done a roast chicken in mine yet- what do you do about the veg and potatoes.

Hopefully when you are settled in you can find another student to share the travelling with. I have already got one lined up from my access course.

Next step....buying a desktop. Waiting for student finance to come through which will have a bit spare for one.

Botty my ds is starting secondary and he is going to get the bus and have a key so for the days when I am not home first he can let himself in. We have family not too far away so he will be able to phone any of us if there is a problem

I never roast chiken in anything other than the slow cooker now, in fact all joint get done in mine. Tey are so much more yummy!

Just do veg and spuds in the microwave - haven't done a joint other than in the slow cooker for YEARS

Yeah Mum and Dad will collect DD2 and I am hoping that if DD1 does after school clubs etc then she'll not be home until around half 4 anyway

I'm a full time student mum with an 8 y o dd and 6 y o ds. I have a dh but he works very long hours (13-14 hr days ) so I'm pretty much it at home during the week. I've just finished the first year of my degree - I'm sitting my finals next June as I'm only doing it in two years so this next academic year is going to be full on!

Not sure if I've got that many hints or tips, except...

Internet food shoppng
Menu planning so you don't have to make decisions about food in the week
Do a washing load every day if poss
Have a full day off each week, otherwise it gets too much (this is certainly true for me)
Think about school half terms in advance and plan childcare carefully
This yr I have scaled back our food budget and stopped buying wine and am spending the money on a cleaner, because it's my final yr. I think it'll be worth the sacrifice!

Other than that, I'm making it up as I go along...