u/AwayAssistance2684

I’ve switched from what I wanted a career in since I was 18. I am now 25. I started off as an elementary education major fresh out of high school at a community college. Then decided I’d switch to social work, earned an associates of arts degree and transferred to university and took 18 credit hours towards a bachelors in social work. And now I’m currently enrolled in anatomy and physiology back at community college because I thought I’d try the ADN / ASN nursing program and took the TEAS test and scored 5 points below the program requirements I was going to apply at, now I’m back at square 1 I feel like. I have 92 college credits combined from community college and university and from what I’m seeing my best bet is to earn a bachelors degree in general studies which could be possible to graduate with by Dec 2027. The state I am in has a huge teacher shortage that they will hire you with any bachelors degree in any field as long as you take the praxis exam and pass. Then you get hired as a teacher from my understanding. My older sister (7 years older) is a middle school math teacher and she’s always been very smart and knew what she wanted to become since she was in first grade. My decision to major in elementary education was based from her choice and just thinking I’d follow in those foot steps because my big sister did it. Now that I’m 25 and a mother of 3, I’m back there because I see how hard it is to find reliable childcare, so I’m thinking I will have all the breaks and weekends off on the same schedule as my kids and that’s a huge plus. I know people don’t go into teaching for the pay, but with my husbands income supporting a family of 5 and me being a SAHM working 10-15 hours a week, a second income like teaching would honestly help us a lot. The only thing is I don’t know if I’m cut out to be a teacher. I feel like teaching is a gift. It’s not something everybody is able to do. I know I have gifts of compassion and serving others. Teaching? I’m not sure of. I wish I knew what to do! I just want to be a mom who has something and is proud of earning her own education and a role model to my kids. I know that an education is something nobody can take away from you and I want my children to know that as well.

Being a stay at home mom living on 1 income is obviously extremely difficult in today’s society. I mean, the economy just isn’t built for people to stay home. But it’s also not built for working mothers either. My boyfriend says that my job as a stay at home mom is easy as abc 123, but he doesn’t put himself in my shoes. For example, my car needs maintenance and to him, I should just go get the alignment and new tires that I need and it’s simple. But not when you have no help with your children. Not a single friend or family member willing to keep them while I run any errand, grocery shop, etc. my kids go everywhere with me. And you can only make a 5, 3, and 8 month old sit still for so long am I right? Majority of the time those people have 3 hour waits so I’m expected to sit there for hours at a time. Meanwhile we can’t help each other because he is at work and they not open on weekends.. that’s just a small example. I literally cry every day. I started an antidepressant because it started to become unbearable just getting up and doing what I’m supposed to. The income he has coming in gives us absolutely no room to take a vacation, get my nails and toes done, no room for self care, or to be able to eat out every now and then. I’m a low maintenance woman. I haven’t gotten my hair dyed in a year. I never do anything for myself you know… I’m just under a lot of stress. we argue all of the time even though we know it won’t be this complicated forever.. it is hard to see the bright side of it when I’m on my toes 24/7. Even at night I can’t sleep because my youngest still wakes up every 2-3 hours then by 7:30 am all the kids are up and ready to start the day. I just wish I had a break. I wish my boyfriend understood what mental load I carry. I feel so unheard I feel so misunderstood. My anxiety is so bad. I feel like I can’t ever meet his expectations of what I should do and be. He gives me all of this advice to take but we are never on the same page. He wants to give a solution to a problem that he can’t fix… he says I just don’t want to hear or take the advice he has to give but I don’t know. Am I the problem?

I became a mom right after high school bc I was young and dumb and just had to be grown. Well now 7 years later at 25 I’m paying for not setting myself up for success. I have 3 children and no help / no village. I do have a supportive partner but he is a man with a brain that’s wired completely different from my own. I have been a stay at home mom on and off since my first daughter was 2 years old. I’ve gone to college, got a little associates in arts that was a stepping stone to a bachelors degree but ended up in a toxic relationship and had another kid so I went to wait tables and dropped out of school. Then decided I’d go to a trade school and got a lil pharmacy tech license and certification and realized that the pay was crap and all I could do with that check was afford daycare so I quit. It wasn’t worth my mental health either. Anyways, my boyfriend now is a great guy and I don’t mean to portray him as a bad person but he really doesn’t understand me / my way of thinking. I try to tell him that for women (not ALWAYS) but especially somebody starting as late as I am at 25 I need a degree to get a decent paying job. But he said with the babies being so little and dependent on me that it’s not the right time and I should wait. It’s easy for him to say that while he steadily builds himself up higher at his company and is building a retirement for himself and 401k and savings. Meanwhile I’m a stay at home mother completely dependent on him, and if something ever happened (God forbid) I’m stuck and no way to support me and my children… it’s crazy how many people told me this in high school and college but I had this urge to rebel and now I’m paying the consequences.. I love being a mother and I wouldn’t trade being home with my babies for the world but my point is I wish I had my own security you know. Like if it came down to it, I still have a degree under my belt and I can go back into the workforce if my partner got hurt or he cheated on me and I had to leave.. the security of knowing I can do it on my own without the help of another person. I feel like a failure. And not only that but finding jobs that are even willing to work around the schedule of a mother with 3 small children is hard. My oldest has to get off the bus by 3. I have 2 in daycare. It’s like it doesn’t pay to work because my entire salary goes to childcare anyways.. wish I had a plan … and HELP with my children from time to time.

Been dealing with this for 3 years now.
When I was 4 months postpartum with a fresh tiny little baby, I was involved in a child custody dispute. I was in court for a year over my daughter who wasn’t even 1 year old yet. A year of disagreements until finally we got in front of a judge who didn’t know us from Adam and had to make the final decision for us. The man I was with (her dad) was an alcoholic. He lied to me and he lied ON ME. I brought him to court because I knew there was never going to be peace involved with him. I needed something in writing and a schedule that couldn’t be broken. I needed it to say he cannot threaten to hold my baby from me and that when she was in his care I would be able to get her back. I needed it on paper that he was to not ride around drinking and driving with my child in the car. My biggest fear was that he may get drunk, get behind the wheel, and have a wreck. Then I’d no longer have her. But the system? The world we live in today? That didn’t matter. Pretty sure he paid more in lawyer fees than I did. They gave him joint legal custody and to pay “xxx” amount of child support. We still follow the 50/50 custody today due to the fact he doesn’t go out of town to work anymore since we split. He owes me over 19 grand pushing 20 next month. There is nothing in writing stating that this man cannot drive my child around and doesn’t have a driver license because he failed to attend court dates from previous DUI’s in the state he previously lived. Fast forward today, he is serving a felony DUI sentence in the state we both currently reside in (house arrest not prison). With that being said he is on probation (I have the circuit clerk filed papers in my email) Now, we (me and my family) are in the process of moving to the state where we (me and Childs father) are from and also where he was before he was mandated to come live in this state for a year and with him having joint legal custody he has a say in where she will attend school. He doesn’t agree and says he wants her to attend school in the state where he’s serving his felony dui sentence. So with no agreement that means we have to go back to court right? I don’t have the money to get another lawyer. And by no means am I trying to take his time away from our daughter, but the schedule we have now isn’t going to work due to the fact my oldest starts kindergarten and I also have a 7 month old. Also, with him being on probation from my understanding he cannot cross state lines so when we do swap her I will have to bring her to the state he’s serving sentence or meet halfway. I have requested arrest records and charges from the local county jail where he was arrested back in February and was told that I have to have a lawyer to access that. Again, I can’t afford a lawyer. I need the records to show that I can give better stability, and her dad’s actions are an ongoing pattern. It took getting him in drug court, attending AA meetings, and getting on house arrest to force him to stop his reckless behavior. Needless to say a little bird informed me that he violated his probation one month into living in the state he’s serving his dui sentence where he is currently on house arrest so maybe he thought he would get away with it, but they showed him that they were serious this time. I don’t put it past him to go back to his ways when his one year is up because he truly thinks he is above the law. I also think this punishment was a slap on the wrist and the system doesn’t take things seriously until a drunk driver kills themselves or an innocent person in the car or someone driving on the road themselves. I also went to the chancery court to request a modification in the custody order and was told I need a lawyer again.. Even though that is not true. Arrest records and charges are public record. And you can represent yourself in court (pro se) but they keep saying I have to have a lawyer.

We will move in less than a month to our home where my oldest daughter is starting kindergarten and my youngest babies will attend daycare. We will be on a structured routine. We will have a schedule. I’ve read that it can take “weeks” or “months” to get free legal help. How will I continue this schedule in the midst of bringing my children to school, going to work, and swapping her out in the middle of the week causing her to be absent from school?

All I am requesting is that we change our schedule to one weekend out of the month, middle of the year school breaks, and summer break and that she remain in my primary care during the week because all of the children in our household need stability and to be with their siblings. She also needs her parent with a valid license to drive her to and from appointments. She also needs a mom who can work to support her since her dad doesn’t help in daycare fees (which is also contempt of our current order) and child support. We also are moving to this state to be closer to my fiances work because he is our primary source of income when she is in our care. The school system in the state we’re moving to is also rated better than the one he wants to send her to. It is beneficial for her to say the least. Willing to take advice!

I’m 25 years old and have went to college, then stopped, went back, stopped again.. all while doing this I’ve had 3 children lol. I got my associates in arts degree with the basic classes then went to university for a semester for social work. Thennn I did a pharmacy tech program and gained state license and became certified but working in the field made me realize it’s not going to support a family. I want to know what advice you have for a mom that’s going to be juggling school, work, & being a mom full time! What helped you get through nursing school and what made you determined to start & finish? I feel like I’m not smart enough or qualified..

Walked out.
I can’t take the mental toll it has taken on me. The RXOM & PIC always in a bad mood giving a hostile work environment on top of my coworkers being completely rude and bullying me at times, I’ve had to deal with patients screaming in my face, throwing the bird.. you name it. Expected from them, but when the people you work around make it feel like a dark cloud over your head then you really feel the need to LEAVE. Felt like I was walking on eggshells every day. Even kinda felt like a lot of hostility towards me was racially motivated even though I hate to say it, being I was the only one in there. I ended up on meds from this job ruining my emotional wellbeing. Anyway, I’m done. I will never look back! And I don’t regret it!!!

I’ve been at Walgreens since march 2026. I’m close to hitting 90 days of being there. My very first day, I cried to my husband on my lunch break because of the PEOPLE I work with. The pharmacy manager.. don’t get me started. I can feel the anger / stress on her when she walks by me. Every time I was confused about something, I was scared to ask questions because they all didn’t have time, just took over and did whatever I was asking for me. Every day they are in bad moods. I’ve tried giving it time, thinking it’d get better. Monday I went to my dr and got prescribed an antidepressant. Today, i cried again in my car to my husband on my lunch because i hit a breaking point. Majority of the pharmacists that work and the senior techs don’t deal with the angry patients, they hide in the back and stay at the fill station. We barely will let a patient wait for their medication we’re told to encourage them to come back and that puts so much stress on the techs doing drive thru and the front counter because these people are in pissy moods. I have had a handful of good/happy days but 4x out of the week it’s a bad day. I’ve worked at an independent pharmacy years ago for 3 months as a tech and it had its day of stressfulness and where my own mistakes of trying to rush would get me fussed at but nothing like what I’m going through now. We are told to not take paper scripts because they will be waiting forever. If a persons medication has been out of stock I try to tell them the order comes in and to try back at lunch but then I’m told I am giving them false hope because their prescription won’t be ready by then. It almost feels like I can’t do / say anything right. This job is horrible and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. Especially if you’re a nice empathetic person because these people (coworkers and patients) will drain the energy from your soul!!!