Tips on Going from a SAHM to a Working Mom... ?

Create a "to do" list for daily chores. Do them as they are per day. Sometimes you can do more but don't overdo it. Cook extras when you can and portion out for separate meals and freeze. Do a load of laundry and dishes daily so that you can keep up. On weekends do a bit more cleaning.

Remember to put in some quality family time so that you are not just lost in the everyday routine.

Once you get everything running smoothly you can tweak what you do and keep up.

Welcome back to the workforce.

the other S.

PS Key is to keep organized.

Hmmmm...great question.
You sound very organized so I'm sure you'll be fine.
Warning: the hours between coming home from work and bedtime are shorter than they appear! Lol So make the most of them.
O. laid of laundry per day, reboot in the morning.
Run dishwasher before bed, unload in the AM.
Cook 2 meals when you can & freeze O..
Basically, the Cliffs notes are "try to avoid the curve." It's the unexpected stuff and last minute stuff that will get you every time. ( back for school, school pix, last minute projects) But if your life is organized to begin with? Much less of a fiasco.

I was home for 8.5 yrs before going back to work. The thing to remember is that no matter how well you think you've planned everything it'll still take a month or so to really get a routine that works for you. I use to cook all my main meals on the weekend and freeze or throw them in the fridge. That way I'd just have to make my sides, reheat something, and dinner would be done,

When I got home from work it was homework time so I'd go through backpacks and the older girls (the younger two weren't in school yet) would do everything while I cooked. I'd check over things and we'd reload the backpacks and leave them by the front door. Lunches were made in the morning and the lunch boxes were attached to the backpacks so they wouldn't be forgotten. The younger 2's lunches were put in a cooler for daycare and put by the front door.Clothes were laid out the night before along with shoes too.

I kept up on laundry by doing a couple loads during the week.It was easier that way. And I'd also clean a couple of the bathrooms and the kitchen during the week too. Weekends were just running the vacuum, dusting, and, mics stuff leaving most of the weekend doing kid stuff and cooking for the following week.

Mostly I'll just let you know that it can be done.At times you'll feel like you can do it all. At times you'll feel like you are failing at every single thing. Hang in there. The world isn't perfect and you don't need to be perfect either. We joke that all the parent fails were just fodder for the kids to tell their therapists later in life.

Best of luck.

Take a look at your wardrobe. See if you have enough clothes that are fit for the workplace (shoes and socks/ stockings included). If you don't have the cash right now, it's ok, with some creativity, you can stretch and shuffle things, but do keep a mental list of what you need to buy/ add.

If you have outstanding long term scheduling things. i.e. gyno appt/ dentists appointment/ getting the car inspected, getting the gutters done, getting the lawnmower serviced, do these now, before you start working. The point of doing this is to build in margins so that you don't have to worry about how to work these jobs in when you are juggling school, kids, work and home.

Try your new schedule on for size a week in advance. turn on your crockpot, start your laundry, get the kids off to school, then drive to the workplace. sit and have coffee somewhere if need be. keep yourself out of your house, and take a look at how much time things actually take, and what is proving too hard to do on a daily basis.

Part time retail can be unpredictable (you can be kept on until the next shift arrives, or can be kept long hours for closing up shop etc). Make sure that you have someone in place to mind the kids & house while you are out.

We use a scooba and a roomba, do online shopping, and batch cook. Hubs does laundry, folding, ironing, trash, drycleaning and heavy household cleaning (scrubbing the tub, vacuming the window screens & does windows). We groupon a cleaning service every so often.

Best as you embark on work.
F. B.

I do a lot of crock pot cooking. Also, some people like to do a little house cleaning each day, but other than dishes and straightening up, I save my main cleaning for a weekend day. Baths or showers at night, clothes laid out, and other basic organizing stuff.

I think every working mom does it differently, but I do lay out clothes for the two school going kids, pack the kids bags the night before, and even plan my own outfit the night before. Lunches I do in the morning, and I also clean the kitchen in the morning (unload/load dishwasher, get it ready for me to use when I get home to make dinner).
I never make dinner ahead of time but I have learned to plan the simplest meals possible for weeknight dinners. And treat ourselves to takeout or pizza on a busy night. Save the cooking grand meals and trying new recipes for the weekend. The less amount of chopping the better, The less amount of bowls/pot/pans used the better.

I also try to do a quick "tidy" after all the kids are in bed. Like 5 minutes. Stack up magazines, fold blankets, pick up clothes off the floor and whatnot.

You have great ideas already. I try to plan ahead and do as much up front as possible. On weekends I do all my laundry, or as much as possible. I run a load or so during the week. I also try to fit in grocery shopping and food planning for the week. Any major organizing also has to happen on the weekends. During the week, I have a morning routine and evening routine that I do my best to stick to. It's loose on some days, but it's a nice guide to keep me on track. We do simple homemade meals during the week. My husband helps a ton, since work has been busier for me lately. He makes the kids lunches each morning and preps dinner with me too.

I try to order anything possible online to cut down on shopping. I am not sure how old your kids are, but if possible get them started now with getting up, dressed, and do one chore before you all leave the house. Same at night: teach them to come home, change, pick up room, do one chore per kid, homework, dinner etc, bed. And make lists, lists, lists then try to knock out a few items each night. Good luck to you!

Be sure to speak with your husband about how you all are going to handle holiday hours. Even part time people may be expected to work some extra hours or strange extended times.

I was in retail for over 35 years and part time people were many times not prepared for working holidays.

I like to plan our meals for a week. I also sometimes doubled up so I could freeze things for the nights that I was running late or was just too darn tired to cook a meal. Also canned soup, bowls of cereal and cold sandwiches count as dinner some of the time, heck breakfast for dinner was one of my favorites as a child!

Place a pile of laundry in the washer in the morning and place it in the dryer in the afternoon, place clothes to be folded in front of the tv and everyone fold their clothing and take them to their rooms. Or laundry before bed, clothes to the dryer in the morning, pile of clothes to be folded by everyone.

Welcome to GA! One thing we usually do to make week time dinners easier is cook up a pot of soup/stew on the weekend and then reheat some when needed. I usually do a pot of beans because those are good on rice, in burritos, and on tortilla chips with shredded cheese, chopped tomatoes, and olives for nachos. I also make lentil soup or other bean-grain soups, which go well with bread or rice. Frozen veggies or peppers and cucumbers to slice up can add some variety to the meal. The idea is to have the main dish ready and you only will need to make the starch or throw other stuff together.

PS. I live in Rome too, and it's not such a big town. Feel free to private message me if you wish to be in closer contact.

Plan everything ahead of time. Have meals planned for the entire week. Make a cleaning schedule. Unlike Katie, I prefer to do all my housework during the week so I don't have to waste a day of my weekend cleaning! Put a load of laundry and a load of dishes in just before you head out the door. When you get home throw the laundry in the dryer and put the dishes away while you are cooking dinner. Batch cook and freeze the extra meals. If you make meatballs make enough for 3 meals or make 2 lasagnas etc.

It really all depends on your hours. You may only be able to get evening hours. When you land a job and know the days and hours it will be much easier to advise. My advice: stay organized. If you do, everything else falls into place.

Updated

It really all depends on your hours. You may only be able to get evening hours. When you land a job and know the days and hours it will be much easier to advise. My advice: stay organized. If you do, everything else falls into place.

So, I agree with all the answers. One more thing I would add is get hubby involved. My hubby just returned to work after being home for 2 years and the both of us working is such an adjustment. He is still doing so much around the house but I am making a point of picking up the slack. I realize now how spoiled I was. Anyway, figure out what each of you are good at and discuss what each of you are generally responsible for, but I think you still both need to be flexible with that as well.

I get a lot of support from my husband, and each of us have our responsibilities for running the household. For example- I pick out the kids' clothes and make sure they are dressed and ready to go at a certain time. My husband packs the lunches and makes breakfast for them.
I can't say that we are big planners, in that we don't plan or organize much ahead of time. We have a pretty set routine and as long as that goes off without a hitch, things work out.
I do plan out our menu for the week on Sundays, so there's not issue as to what to have when. But we don't do much as far as making meals the night before. Whomever gets home first starts cooking dinner planned for that night. Usually it's a simple meal.
As far as other activities (dr's appts, special events, etc) we keep a shared Google calendar and put anything we need to remember on the calendar (and who's responsibility it is to take a kid where they need to go). This way we both get a notification a couple of days in advance that something is coming up.
Hope this helps!