Make the Transition from Full-Time Work to Stay At Home Smooth

Raising kids is hard work and it takes a lot of commitment from parents. Often times, parents can’t afford someone to come and look after their kids while they’re at work, nor do they have any relatives nearby who can spare the time, so one of the parents turns to staying at home. This usually falls on the mother, and since she’s most likely already doing most of the work around the house, it’s a welcome relief. But going from having a full-time job to staying with the kids all day can be a big change, so here’s how to deal with it:

Don’t lock yourself in the house

Just because the work home is in the name, this doesn’t mean you actually need to be inside the house the whole day. While your kids are at school or kindergarten, you can spend your time seeing friends, walking around and generally doing things outside of the house, because those few hours of “me time” are so important, and spending them outside of the house will make you feel like you’re really using the most out of them. And when the kids are there – go out again! Go to the park, take them to the library, visit a playground, go see a movie and don’t just sit in the house and knit while they entertain themselves.

Don’t give up your career completely

Just because you’ve stopped working full-time, it doesn’t mean that you should give up your career entirely. You can still spend some time working from home and not only bring in extra income, but continue your personal growth. All you really need is good internet connection and a reliable laptop like Asus ZenBook. You can stay within your field and do remote or consulting work, or use this opportunity to switch career paths completely. Maybe you always wanted to do something creative, like make jewelry and sell it online, or turn to writing and start a blog. You can also further your education, if you haven’t had the time to get a higher degree before. Take courses online and improve your knowledge, because one day your kids will grow up, and you might want to get back into the industry, so keep your skills sharp.

Divide the workload

If your partner is working and you’re staying at home, it’s important to remember that you aren’t “doing nothing” all day, and that you have every right to be exhausted at the end of the day. So when your partner comes back from work, they can take care of the house for a while and you can take some time for yourself. You both signed up to be parents and in fact, kids should be spending time with both parents, so give that chance.

Have a structure

Once again, being a stay-at-home mom isn’t “doing nothing”, and you should structure your day to give yourself support and added time. On the one hand, if you know all of the activities of the day, it’s easier to prepare, and if your kids know the general activity flow of each day and all of the routines, it will be easier for everything to run smoothly both inside and out. You’ll never be able to completely think of that as a job, but by allowing you to structure the day as if you were at a job, you will actually be a lot more organized and at peace.
Deciding to quit your job and stay at home is a big decision, and the step might require some preparations, so don’t get frustrated if it doesn’t all work out from the very start. Give yourself and your family time to adapt and remember that you can always go back to working full-time if you see that staying home isn’t making you happy.