By Hoda Hassan/reporter
Do you hide your grades … from your kids?
Most moms who left school early to get a job, to get married or to have children are going back to school to earn a degree. So how are those moms doing in school after long time away?
Getting the older kids ready for school and the rest ready for day care early in the morning, getting to work on time every day and maintaining quality family time while attending school might be an overwhelming task not too many can achieve. Late night study hours can be a problem. But as big of a struggle as that is for those moms, the biggest struggle is hiding the bad grades they make from their children.
The leftover energy in mom’s body will not support mom’s brain to the extent of the brains found in those kids whose only job is to go to school and earn the highest grade possible.
Hoda Mohamed is one of those student moms.
“I have only a few hours of sleep every night,” she said. “At first I registered for 17 class hours, but things got overwhelming.”
Mohamed decided to reduce her class load to 12 hours.
“My daily routine was packed with my school, laundry, cooking, cleaning, full-time job, day care and my kids’ school,” she said. “It simply is too much.”
Because of her busy schedule, Mohamed dropped her NE Campus biology class.
“When I came back to school, I was very exited about it,” she said. “I had everything planned.”
Mohamed said her four children—all honor students—offered to help her with English since her English language skills are not strong.
“I gladly accepted the offer, which turned out to be a huge mistake for they know now my real academic score,” she said. “I feel badly when they catch me very happy with a C in my economics class. After all, my day is only 24 hours; plus, I pay for my own C’s.”
Mohamed said she returned to school to get formal education to increase her chances to earn money.
Sabrina Edwards is another college student mom attending NE Campus.
“I knew school will be always available when I decided to drop college to be on my own and enjoy my life” she said. “I went back to school to get a formal education to make more money. Of course, that did not happen.”
Edwards is the mother of two boys, ages 2 and 4.
“Because of my two little kids, getting to school is much harder than before with a full-time job and children,” she said.
Because of their ages, Edwards’ children do not understand how hard her school is.
“My kids think all I do in my class is sing, dance and take a nap, just like they do in their class time,” she said. “My study time is just a time when we sit and play.”
Those pulls for her time affected Edwards’ academic plans.
“I had to change my major several times,” she said. “It is real tough with kids and a job to get into the dental hygiene program because I have to get an A.”
Both of these mothers discovered school is hard, especially with jobs and children, but they believe the pay off will appear later.
“I do regret not getting my degree right after high school,” Edwards said. “It would have been so much easier on me and my kids.”
Hiding grades: Five easy steps for harried parents
Hiding bad college grades is OK. It’s not a big sin, so here are ways to keep grades from kids.
– Never leave your pass code unattended.
– Make sure you keep your graded paper somewhere safely away from the hands of those who can read.
– Never give a direct answer if asked why biology is not a good subject to study this semester.
– Never admit knowing anything about those F’s in English, history, economics or math unless the first and last names are clearly printed on the document.
– Keep it quiet when passing the semester only with the mercy of the instructor and a C.
