SAHM to WAHM

If you did this...how did you do it? lol

I'm on my second week of WAH, well technically my first because last week I only worked one day, and I already know I'm going to have to switch things and redo our schedule. I have to work a mandatory 4 hours and I'm trying to pick up the extra 1hr a day being offered (but I'm holding off on this until I can get comfortable with the 4 hours) and it's hard, specially since DH works nights so he's sleeping half a day during the day.

Tips...words of encouragement...anything good? lol

I am guessing that mean work at home?

My advice would be during nap time. Start having "individual" play for your kiddos and do it during then. My kids have individual time and then "group play" where they play together in the playroom. Also color time, movie time etc are good times for the kids to be entertained while you get things done.

If your kids are old enough you can even do "work like mommy time" where they sit at a table and pretend to be working like you.

Quoting iLL-Legal Alien:" If you did this...how did you do it? lol I'm on my second week of WAH, well technically my first because ... [snip!] ... since DH works nights so he's sleeping half a day during the day. Tips...words of encouragement...anything good? lol"

I do it like a boss  

I meal plan ahead of time, do prep night before if possible.

DH is gone from noon to 3 am so I'm on my own with the boys. They go to preschool for the 4 hour gap in me being off work and him going to work.

What are you having problems with?

I work from home and it is difficult . . . the only time I can get anything done is really, really early in the morning or very late at night.

I try to get up and going by 7 and work until 11 or noon. That's the only time my 5-month-old will sleep long stretches without me.

I would just say find the time of day baby sleeps most deeply (I don't really know how old your kid(s) are but that's the time that works for me. My 3-year-old is in daycare though, so that helps too. When I was just working at home with him around I had to work at night and during naptime only, it was hard to get anything done.

Quoting Brink:" I do it like a boss   I meal plan ahead of time, do prep night before if possible. DH is gone from ... [snip!] ... boys. They go to preschool for the 4 hour gap in me being off work and him going to work. What are you having problems with?"

Prioritizing lol and fitting everything into the schedule, I have an almost 4 year old, a 2 year old and a 4 month old, and they're with me the whole day, the boys do take long naps but that's usually the time I use for housework, I know I need to start planning our meals and such because today I was a mess trying to figure out dinner. And then it doesn't help that DH sometimes goes in an hr early and they won't tell them til like 3 hours before they go in so if I thought I had that extra hour to work, I would lose it. I know I just need to be organized.

oh my house is always a mess because that time I use to work used to be devoted to keeping it clean. I just try to pick one chore to do a day and forgive myself for the other stuff.

Quoting iLL-Legal Alien:" Prioritizing lol and fitting everything into the schedule, I have an almost 4 year old, a 2 year old ... [snip!] ... 3 hours before they go in so if I thought I had that extra hour to work, I would lose it. I know I just need to be organized."

Dude get a big white board! Mine is my brain. Meal plan, scheduling, check list of what I need to get done around the house, smurf that I will EASILY forget like to mend DH's shirt.

I'm still trying to get the hang of it.

Quoting wittybbent:" I work from home and it is difficult . . . the only time I can get anything done is really, really early ... [snip!] ... I was just working at home with him around I had to work at night and during naptime only, it was hard to get anything done. "

Yeah I have all 3 kids at home for right now, my oldest won't start headstart til the fall (hopefully) and care outside the home is not an option right now. DH is talking about trying to change his schedule so I can split my shift and do half in the morning and half at night, he usually goes to sleep as soon as he gets home (around 5-6am) but he's talking about staying up til 10-11am so I can do most if not all my work then, I would do it after the kids go to bed but I have less than 2 hours after that since our deadlines go by eastern time (I'm central)

Quoting wittybbent:" oh my house is always a mess because that time I use to work used to be devoted to keeping it clean. I just try to pick one chore to do a day and forgive myself for the other stuff. "

I told DH if he does the dishes everyday I would love him forever  

Quoting Brink:" Dude get a big white board! Mine is my brain. Meal plan, scheduling, check list of what I need to get done around the house, smurf that I will EASILY forget like to mend DH's shirt. "

I was thinking earlier today that I need a white board lol

I have tips but i'm about to pass out. Subscribing to come back tomorrow!

Quoting 10 til Gwen:" I have tips but i'm about to pass out. Subscribing to come back tomorrow!"

I will hunt you down! I mean...please do!  

  well I'm working 2 jobs, a full time outside job and part time from home, that's going to be ft after the baby comes. I'm naturally not an organized person at all so literally planning out my day to the minute helped me a lot. I have a to-do list for family stuff, work stuff, and cleaning lists are posted in each room of things I need to do daily, weekly, and monthly. I meal plan and make freezable meals so I don't have to cook mon-thurs. I plan on getting a deep freezer with my tax refund and making at least a month of meals so I don't have to cook with a newb.

Target has a great line of organizational products for moms in the isle where the calendars, pocket notebooks, and office supplies are.

My daughter goes to pre k, I work outside of the home 6am-8am, go home and work 8:30-12, get kidlet at 12:15, go home and nap with her about.12:30-2:30, spend a little over an hr hanging out with her, drop her back at school at 3:45 and work 4-10, then work 10:30-11:30 at home and sleep

My phone makes me post if I type too much  

Anyway where I was going with that was, I couldn't do it if she wasn't in school. Idk how old your kid(s) are but if you're not comfortable with daycare or pre-k I'd def look in to some alternative childcare for at least a few hrs a day so you can focus 100% on your job for a solid chunk of time. It'd cut down on stress a lot.