From Working Mom to Stay at Home Mom Transition

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4 years ago

Nobody tells you that your world is going to be rocked from going from a working parent to a stay at home parent, like with any big change there are many new surprises that can you will come across each and every day. Here are a few things that i went through from the transition between a working mom to a stay at home mom.

Have a Clear Reason For your choice.

Most Likely you're leaving your current job to care for you family but there could be other reasons. Maybe you want to start your own business that you've been putting off, or maybe your just burnt out. Whatever your reason, be sure its what you and your family decide together. My husband and I decided I was going to stay home after seeing the cost of daycare for 2 kids. I would basically be working to pay daycare and have about $50 dollars left on my check which would go to gas and food for the week so that was an obvious no brainer for us, but for other families it might be the biggest choice that you have to make as a family.

Leave Work on a Good Note.

If you leave your job on good terms, you leave the door open to go back if you ever have to. Even if you know you don't want your old job back, you will you want to use them as a reference on your next job. Make sure to give at least 2 weeks notice, finish all assigned work and show appreciation and kindness towards the company. When the time comes that you have to say goodbye, make sure you say a special thank you to those that meant the most to you. You more than likely spent more time with them than your own family, you knew about there problems, about the new boyfriend/girlfriend in their life, hell you might have even been involved in a wedding.

When we decided that I was going to be the one that stayed home, I gave my job a 2 month notice, this was only because of the line of work that I was in and it would require me to train for more than 2 weeks. (Transportation/Logistics/Warehousing) Plus I wasn't trying to train somebody at 6-8 months pregnant either. When I had to say goodbye, it was one of the hardest days of that I've encountered, I was around these people 5-6 days a week for 10-12 hours a day, I had a gained a whole new family and I was just up and leaving them, but it was for the best.

Budget for your new income.

When you voluntarily resign, you more than likely will not receive a severance package, but you may be able to collect unemployment which depends on the U.S. State you live in and if you have a "good cause", you can try filling it out it doesn't hurt. If you can't collect unemployment and your spouse's salary can support your current family lifestyle, you will be saving money on at least 2 of your biggest budge items, food, and gas. Think about it, you will have no more commute or eating out for lunch, you can even go as far as laying out a budget plan and plan your meals for the week and getting coupons.

I sit down on Sunday nights and get my grocery list together for the week of what we are going to have and make sure we get it, I don't get anything off the list and we stick to the meal plan, we only eat out one time a week (Saturday's) and that's it. Doing this, we have more money now than we did when both of us were working.

Find "Me-Time"

This one I have come to learn from the hard way is super important. You are becoming a very wanted individual, kind of like you are on the America's Most Wanted Posters, but for little tiny humans, these little humans that we love with all our heart will constantly ask you to do things every single day, "Mom/Dad, Can I have crackers?", "Mom/Dad, Can I run through the house screaming my head off?" "Mom/Dad, Can I go stand out on the balcony in the foot of snow in only my underwear?" I'm not kidding this is my kid. Make sure to give yourself time each day, even if its going to Walgreens or Walmart to walk around, I did this, I didn't get to see anybody's face because we still have to wear facemasks but just getting out of the confined of those 4 walls feels freeing. Postpartum Depression is definitely a real thing and I will cover it in my next article.

Until Next Time,

Lacey Martinez