My daughter is nearly 3 too (Custer's last stand on all fronts)! My husband's job is not movable though. If I were free to move I would consider going overseas again too.

Tut, tut, remember your vows:

in sicknes and in health,
for better for worse,
for richer for poorer,
till death do us part.
Amen.

The worst that can happen is that you will get depressed and feel unable to complete. If you face that, and think it through, and imagine that actually - even if that happened - you would survive and life would go on. Or maybe you would just have to take another break.

And don't worry about what people think. Being a bit crazy is practically compulsory in academia.

I am not wild about discussing this here but we have no PM unfortunately. I also have a problem with depression and had a complete break down during my first PhD attempt.

It is very tough, knowing what to do for the best. Do you play it safe incase you get to ill to cope or is that too boring too tolerate? It's a balancing act and only you can judge. You do learn how to make that judgement over time.

I remember someone saying there were PhD places at my old uni going if I were interested, after I had been jettisoned from my first PhD - but I replied that I had 'lost my nerve'. I lost my nerve for a long time. But you can't live your whole life in fear.

So who is telling tales? There is an arab proverb that 'the person who bad mouths you is the person who tells you about it'. It's probably not as bad as it seems - and in any case - you are going to have to put up with it so best counteract by being proactive.

If you really want a career in academia then maybe you should have another go. It bodes well that your supervior is supportive. Mine kicked me out first time around and quite rightly! But I do think you need to factor in another year (speaking as one who was also behind and took 2 years out).

My first experience really shattered my confidence too. And probably the best thing would be for you to have more time out. But you can't hold a grant that long (I'm in the same boat there). I think if your supervisor thinks you can do it then all it will take is the motivation and discipline on your part (not small things though I grant you).

Perhaps you should also consider why you want a career in academia - is it just that you haven't really considered any other options.

Perhaps you should be a bit more proactive with your supervisor and ask for feedback. It is very annoying not to get feedback. But you must be responsible for your own progress - and it seems that is expected although no-one has actually spelt it out. All meetings with my supervisor are at my request and very infrequently. I realise now that he needs to be managed by students. If I were you I would ask for a meeting with your supervisor to agree a schedule of work, submissions AND feedback.

Well, sad to say, I do housework. It's the only way it gets done, and the only time I feel like doing it i.e. as a break from study.

Well what is it you want to do - why are you doing a PhD? You have a lot of experience in education which will be good for teaching posts.

I'm now 46 and writing up, and looking into doing a postdoc. A lot will depend on how flexible you are e.g. can you move to get a position somewhere. This is often the constraint when you are older - it certainly is for me. It means you have to be able to fit into the research agendas of the place(s) available to you and tailor your research accordingly. But my attitude is - no use worrying about my age because there is absolutely nothing I can do about it!

You could do this if you really wanted to or needed to - but it isn't clear whether you really want or need a PhD. Do you want to do a job that requires one? If not - do you want to finish it or just feel you should?

I took 2 years out for maternity and it is tough coming back. I was also behind schedule at the end of my 2nd year but used some of the last year off to catch up. Realistically, you would probably run to 4 years and would have to manage without funding for the 4th year (I will go into a 4th year - hopfullly not all of it but it could happen). That would make it very doable - if you want to complete.

I also was ejected from an earlier PhD attempt after a year and I don't have that on my CV.

So I think if it's 'only' fear and feelings of inadequacy that are holding you back - that shouldn't stop you (but be prepared to take a 4th year). But if you really don't want or need it - then the stress is probably not worth it.

It depends on his protocol. My supervisor is a top guy in his field but doesn't insits on first authorship - or even any authorship. he said as much outright when I first started. I think it would be reasonable to ask him what his expectation are. It is very reasonable fro you to take first authorship on work from your own project.

They let that guy on because he was dreadful - it's cruel really. loved Signature, who won. The dog was good but I think they're trying to avoid singing acts and go for the variety angle - otherwise one of the singers would have gone through.

If he is the principle investigator on the grant that funds your PhD then generally he would be co-author on all your publications. This is very common practice in science e.g. where labs are funded from one grant, and the lab head and grant holder would be the last name on any papers. Whether he would take first authorship or not is another question - and first authorship is the most important thing.

My maximum word count is 80,000 (or 350 pages - which ever comes first) and there is no minimum. I'll be happy with 50,000+. Does seem to vary a lot.

Shani - just curiuos - have you published a journal article using the first person? I thought they all edited it out.