One of the toughest decisions a mom makes is deciding whether to stay home or go to work.

But for some mothers during the pandemic, it wasn’t a choice.

Beatriz Medellin quit her job to stay home.

"I was really scared rust relying on the salary of my husband," Medellin said.

This mom's job is no 9-5 as she spends the day caring for her kids. Now the night time is how she makes ends meet by cooking and selling salsa, tacos and other foods to local shops.

She doesn't know English - and sometimes struggles to understand her kids' school work. But Medellin’s kids help with translating - and she studies to make sure she can help them. 

“I look for ways to explain things, we find a way to make it work," Medellin said.

Some women, such as Christina Rodriguez, have had to take care of their kids while being students themselves.

Rodriguez's day starts at 6 a.m. when she gets her four kids ready for school, prepares their meals, helps them with homework, and cleans up. Only then can she open her own books to study becoming a teacher.

"At first it was a little bit of a struggle because we had to see each of their individual schedules, running back and forth,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez is able to juggle staying at home, watching her kids and studying - but not everybody can make it work.   

"We have seen that students aren't even registering because of that situation," Mayra Avila said.

Avila is the senior coordinator of counseling at South Texas College. She said sometimes moms will register for classes, but later drop out. Some of them even opt out of therapy.

"They don't feel comfortable seeing us virtually because they're at home and that's where other individuals may be at," Avila said.

A study in Global Womens' Health found that depression and anxiety among mothers tripled during the pandemic - with 72% saying they experienced anxiety and 41% of mothers saying they experienced depression. 

"They cannot practice self-care even though they know they need it, but they can't because they have their children with them,” Avila said.

Even with all of those obstacles – Medellin and Rodriguez said the love they get from their children makes it all worth it.