Sensible Options for Moms and Dads Who Want to Earn their College Degrees

At 38 years old, I had decided to change my career. It was probably the hardest decision I had ever made. I had 3 kids (2 of them toddler twins), a mortgage, car payments, and although I didn't know it at the time, I was soon to be unemployed. It was a scary time!

I knew that in order to change my career I needed to re-educate myself and go back to school. I needed a school that could work around my crazy work schedule and allow me to be a parent as well. I knew right away that I needed a school that had many convenient campuses or online courses. I ended up choosing a specialty IT school that met most of my criteria.. Although I earned my certificates and have since started my new career, in hindsight I would have done it differently.

If I were to do it all again today, I would choose an online program that offered conventional associate or bachelor degrees. The online classes are so convenient you can tailor your program around your real life responsibilities, it's simply easier than ever to earn a degree while being a parent or a full time employee.

I still consider going back and earning my associates degree. Ivy Bridge College offers online degree programs in just about every field a mom or dad could want. Many people have concerns about being on their own when it comes to online courses. But Ivy Bridge College pairs students up with mentors and coaches for any individual attention you may need. They also offer unlimited career services for students, so you can put your degree to use right away. Imagine having an expert help you write your new resume with your freshly learned skills!

You are never too old to go back to school in today's world. Technology has made it easy and doable for anybody, even moms and dads with piles of responsibilities. I changed my career at 38 years old by re-educating myself and so can you. Although it was not an easy decision, it was by far the best one. I am now a 2 year veteran in my field and work at an excellent company with endless opportunities. Where would I be today if I didn't make the change? Doing the same old thing.

Although there are many options for your online education, Ivy Bridge College is an excellent place to start your search. Call them at 855-300-7106 for more information.

Review: "Earn It, Learn It" by Alisa T. Weinstein

Earn It, Learn It: Teach Your Child the Value of Money, Work, and Time Well Spent is a new book featuring a groundbreaking twist on traditional allowance called Earn My Keep. In short, this book gives you all the tools you need to set up “careers” for your children and have them earn their keep that way. You can set it up how you’d like: weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc., in whichever way fits your lifestyle best. Geared toward children 4-12, you give them their tasks for their job and they are expected to complete them in a certain time frame to earn their allowance.


This unique way of doing allowance teaches children several things:

1. Household chores are part of being in a family. Adults don’t get paid for doing laundry or making their bed and neither should children.


2. Being in the workforce is hard, demanding, and sometimes boring.


3. Money is not just handed out. We all must earn it.

Plus, it gives children a valuable set up for choosing a career in life. If they do their time as a chef and discover they love to cook, hello possible future career! If they do their time as a meteorologist and hate it, they have still learned a little about what they’d like in their future.

This book gives you all the information from a been-there-done-that parent who tried this method with her own children with fantastic results. And, to sweeten the deal, it comes complete with 49 ready-made careers to do and a “Create Your Own” chapter to design careers that fit your family. It even comes with many ready-to-copy or print handouts in the book or on their website, www.earnmykeep.com.

We started the Earn My Keep method 2 weeks ago, with the first career of being “Mom”. I had both my kids help with all the things I do daily and weekly including making meals, doing laundry, taking care of the daycare kids (with supervision, of course), doing paperwork, and even writing their own reviews of products. I think these 2 weeks of “being mom” have really raised their appreciation of me and what I do. There have been several times that they’ve said things like, “Man, you do A LOT!” They are very excited about pursuing the other careers in the book, and I’m looking forward to watching them learn as we go.

You can learn more about Earn My Keep on their website, www.earnmykeep.com or by visiting Earn My Keep on Facebook. You can purchase Earn It, Learn It: Teach Your Child the Value of Money, Work, and Time Well Spent online from www.sourcebooks.com, www.amazon.com, and other retailers of educational books. This book retails for $14.99 in paperback.


Thank you to SourceBooks for sending us a complimentary sample copy of this book to base this review upon.

Silly Monkey Stories: A Career Change

More than once, our kindergartner has mentioned that when he grows up he has aspirations of being a babysitter. Yup . . . you heard correctly. When Jake grows up, he wants to be a babysitter. It's actually even more odd than it sounds because Jake has never even had a babysitter before.

Then the other day, my husband tells me that Jake had mentioned to him that he has changed his mind about his long term career goals. Jake now has decided he would like to be a race car driver. Now that makes more sense to me, since he has been a Speed Racer fan for almost half his life.

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