Student parent support thread - New for Sept. 2010

[MiaWallace]

Starting a new thread for a new academic year.

Previous thread here

If you are currently studying a course or about to start one (at any level) please come and join us. We offer each other support, tips and encouragement, plus we use the thread as a means of procrastination

We started off the previous thread with a short introduction so here's mine -

I'm 30 years old. Recently married with a 5 year old dd. I completed my degree in Education studies in July and I'm about to start my primary PGCE in September.

I can't even feign interest

It has been submitted electronically but I hate missing stuff as it is a pita to catch up. DD1 is at FT school (reception) and DD2 is at FT nursery but she has perked up now, she started going downhill yesterday lunchtime, refused all food and just whiiiiiined all afternoon, and then ended up in our bed from 2am. thank god I had already doen my essay!

Childcare costs are £700 a month but my PGCE bursery is £900 a month, so it is really working well as I would resent working for that amount but am happy to study for it, weird as it sounds.
I am lucky that my lovely neighbour/bff picks dd1 up from school and walks her in on days when DH and I can't, he works shifts so is in 7-2 or 11-7 so can only do one run a day. Otherwise it would be another £20 a day

Hi can I join?
I'm 24 i'm half way through an early years education degree and have a 10 week old little boy. I've got 2 deadlines next week and STILL procrastinating lol!

wow, 10 week old! and I think I've got it bad!
What are yor deadlines for? Lovely essays?

Ilythia - I am having trouble feigning interest too - reflected in the lack of progress this weekend . Glad your childcare stuff works out usually - when I started at Uni my daughter was 2 - it as such a juggle.

Pinkhyena - Hi :) 10 weeks old! OMG! How are you getting on? I can't imagine writing essays with a tiny baby!

lol hyena - i finished my first degree with dd1 so i know how you feel. but you may as well type one handed at 3am whilst bfing as anything else. i do love my graduation pics with her sitting on my hip in my gown though.

well, i have a four hour drive back to the house, but the highway is closed for most of the way due to massive snowfall, so there's no way we're going today. the police aren't letting anyone on as there's hundreds of incidents already and at least an 8 hour wait for a tow truck. in about -20. (brrrr)

all i need to do now is call my boss and tell her i can't get into work tomorrow (and my 'cover' is also stuck miles away unable to get there) and then make the most of the extra day! (and possible sacking...)

after friday's nonsense (having to work when i was scheduled to be off etc) this feels a bit like karma lol. it would have to, as dh and i had a huge row in the car on the way here on friday about whether i was ever going to finish my msc. ho hum.

ah well, nowt left to do but get on with it.

peaceful non-panic study vibes for all x

Hyena, hats off to you for studying with a tiny baby! When my two were tiny I was so chronically sleep deprived I was lucky if I could read a TV guide!

Ilythia, hope today works out well for you. I'm another one with a poorly dc - my ds is laid up on the sofa watching Lazytown and here I am, surrounded by books! I have an essay to do for next week which is straying into a very new area for me, so loads of background reading. And I have mock exams next week - two in one day . Oh well...!

Aaaaaaaaaargh. made it to 12 before dd2 threw up at nursery. bugger.
Saw my tutor tho and she went over what I would miss today and tomorrow, but I have a 121 tomorrow pm that I need to attend, I ummed and aahd as I know nursery won't take her, and I don't want to send her if she's ill....and she said to bring her with me if I have to! I love my tutor!

oh ilythia, that's great. i love an understanding tutor. fingers crossed she's ok overnight - you don't want to take a poorly one out

teafuelled, what's the essay for next week? is it something you want to get your teeth into?

we are still snowed in... well, the main road is closed, but there's one open that means we could get back with a 6/8 hour ish drive, so we are pondering... either way, i'm going to have plenty of reading and note taking time in the car lol... my boss isn't overly chuffed that i can't get into work, but is sending lots of 'this way looks ok, but it's up to you' texts. at the mo the last hour of road is still closed even her way (they've shut the trans canada highway because of snow lol) but by then it will probably have reopened... or we might just stay here and hibernate a while longer. so many cars and trucks off the road and people stranded, sleeping in schools etc. i'd rather not be one of them! (and would rather not put the dcs through that particular adventure...)

Good tutors are fab :) My dissertation supervisor said there should be more children coming into the department - as my ferals ran, well, feral, around the room :)

Funnily enough yes the deadlines are for essays! I've finished one and half way through another thats due in on Friday. I've had to apply for extenuating circumstances for 2 of the assignments but managed to get the other 4 done by the deadlines-assuming this one gets done.

I think its easier with a tiny (well not so tiny, he's 15lb!) baby because I don't have to run round after him. I've got typing one handed down to a fine art from having him perched on one knee lol! I tend to do work when he's asleep or when he's on his playmat- if he's in a good mood it'll keep him occupied for a good half hour if not more! Luckily he's quite a laid back baby most of the time.

Manatee did your kids go into lectures with you?? Agree having a supportive tutor makes all the difference, mine is lovely! We've had 5 babies born in our class so far, think thats a record for the college lol!

No, they have never been in a lecture, but they have been to several meetings with staff, with me when I hand in work etc. I know a woman who did a social work degree and she said that there was one student who brought her baby to lectures at least once a week.

What are you doing for lectures PinkHyena?

I have taken my ds (nearly 7) to a meeting with my dissertation supervisor. I allowed him to bring his DS (which is quite strictly rationed) so he sat in the corner with the sound off, deeply engrossed! I was wondering though whether my supervisor might think badly of me as a mother - it'd be more impressive to send ds along with a children's encyclopaedia or something, eh? But the DS worked!

Madwoman - snowed in - yikes! Are you going stir crazy?

Yes, my deadline for next week is a really interesting essay. It's a departure for me, a more abstract / philosophical question than I am used to, so it's quite refreshing to be reading for! If it weren't for these mock exams, I'd be in clover. Ds is still poorly, so I'm keeping him off school again tomorrow. I can get quite a bit of reading done with him around though. It's a real balancing act, this student mum business, eh?

ilythia, it's quite a lot, basically the whole post production section, DVD covers, disc covers, need to get something about the film on my website too. I'm not good at the paperwork side and always neglect it, so this is nothing new unfortunately. Oh, and instead of the 19th, which is now our film deadline, the folder has to be done for my presentation at 9.20 on Friday morning. Great!

Going to do lots tonight, then from 10-5 tomorrow, I'll be in the uni library, finishing it all off and printing it, and stressing. I'd be FINE if I could have my folder back over the weekend, although I suppose it gives me motivation. At least the film is basically edited, just got to burn to DVD and tape really, maybe some more colour grading.

Right, must stop, the joys of production file await me!

thats sounds fun! (and a feck load of work!)

I hope she is feeling better as our timetabel has just been published and I cannot miss days, just not at all, ugh.

PLUS I was reading the presentation the others had earlier online and we have a list of about 8 things to take to the 121 meeting tomorrow that all have to be completed/printed off etc like evaluations, action plans, audits and other guff.

SO that's what I'll be spending the rest of my evenning on, rather than catching up on the sleep I lost last night...hey ho.

hello everyone, room for another one? i've read the whole thread and i'm massively impressed at how many commitments most of you are juggling, makes my plans seem pretty straightforward

i'm not a student yet, but i'm putting together an application for the local art school this year. since i'm hoping to skip the foundation year and go straight onto a degree that means i have to get a portfolio together which is a lot of work, hence trying to get some motivation by joining you lot on this thread.

i have until march for the application deadline, but i've lost the previous 3 months to depression (something i've had on and off all my life) so i'm feeling very much behind where i'd have liked to be at this point. luckily the drugs appear to be kicking in now so i'm stopping hiding under the duvet and trying to do something towards the portfolio every day.

oh and by way of intro i'm 36 with 7 & 3 year old girls, my youngest starts reception in september, so i should be able to be in college pretty much full time. i've been a mumsnetter for years but been on a break recently.

Hey heart, I think I remember you, do you crochet? (apologies if not and that was veyr random quesiton)

Art course sounds fun, what coursae are you going onto?
A am having regrest now aboiut not waiting until DD2 was in school (the original plan) but we were worried the grants/bursaries woudl all vanish so I applied the week after the election, damn lucky I did now!

hi ilythia, yes i do crochet amongst (many!) other things :) i used to pop in to the craft threads every now and again.

i'm applying for a textile design degree. it's scary for me because i'm fairly sure of myself when it comes to academic/essay-writing stuff (i have a previous degree and did a couple of ou courses too) but i have no idea how i'm likely to get on with a practical/creative course.

i'm slightly freaking out about the cuts too. the college i'm applying to has already dropped some well-regarded courses and are talking about cutting student numbers, what with that and the rise in fees i'm worried i might be facing stiff opposition to get in. if i don't get in i have no plan b...

I thought so, I made your Bender (oh that is coming out wrong no matter how I type it) was J Bauer...
Based on what I have seen of your stuff I think you'd do brilliantly.

If it helps I went for my interview in May, for a course starting in september, and was convinced that it was too late, was just after election etc etc... BUT they won't waste resources interviewing if they don't want ot run the course.

Ooooh! Took DD2 (3.2) into uni today, we went into the 'diected time' meeting (no tutors, all the students though) and sorted out some stuff for shared research seminars and lessons while she read her cbeebies magazine and ate a gingerbread man, and then went for a 121 with my tutor while she played on ehr office floor with her russian dolls and maths toys.
THEN my tutor said it would be silly to miss the next lecture as it was only half an hour and I need to know the info, so I took ehr in with me and she played with an abacus while I took notes. Was so sweet!

Plus my tutors seemed super impressed that I turned up with her rather than not at all (they weren't expecting me) so that goes in my favour as well

Good day, although I have a load of paperwork to rewrite and photocopy tonight, but hey ho.

lol @bender and thanks for encouraging words.

your dd2 sounds like a total sweetheart, mine would have spent the time throwing things, telling me she hates me and pulling her best cross face, if today is anything to go by (i swear she's going to be an actress, she does a verry impressive cross face :D)

Hi Heartofgold :)

Ilythia - glad it went so well taking your DD into Uni, hearing things like that is so inspiring :)

Essay writing is still going badly, but this is the module I have a contact session for tomorrow. It was a hurriedly put together module to replace the old version that was run by the School of Psychology and was compulsory on all taught masters but the Psych School just scrapped it weeks before term. Anyway, I am hoping to ask if he is aware how crap the literature surrounding presentations is!!! But I think it is just one of those things the ESRC want to know you can do .

Hi,
I have posted before but I think it was the previous thread. It was a long time ago anyway, definately over a year ago.
Anyway I'm hoping no-one minds if I join in again. I am an OU student and have two kids, one is at primary and the other at nursery until he starts school in september.
I am starting two 30 point level 3 courses now and another one in april. I have 2 years to go unless I have to retake courses, fingers crossed that doesn't happen.

hi lb - (think i remember you from before) - it's been a bit quiet, there has been a decamp to the deadlines thread

life will be much easier with both at school!

madwoman

I was thinking just that today: if you have a procrastinators' support thread it's (inevitably?) a fine line between 'support' and 'colluding to procrastinate even more' isn't it. Although I have to say I did find it supportive and it did help me to (eventually) get my work done, to know that I was accountable to the others on the thread iyswim.

tee hee
guess what? i resigned today! (i don't actually finish until the first week in april, but wooo hoooooo! i have a PLAN to finish my masters!)