I stayed home with my daughter for the first few years of her life, and then I joined the workforce. When she was six, I went back to school full time and occasionally worked two part time jobs to make ends meet.
It was chaos, but I managed to juggle it all by making sure i found time for myself and time for my daughter. It kept her from feeling like I was never there. I also talked to her about why i wanted to go school, and her understanding made a huge difference.