By Stacey Gliniewicz

I recently wrote about teachable moments and seizing them with my children.  After being out of full-time work for almost a year, as a result of a down turn in the economy, I finally received that phone call. That one phone call would begin the interview process and yet another transition for my family. My kids have enjoyed being taken to and picked up from school, having dinner ready at 5:30 or 6:00, and my littlest one has enjoyed staying home with me.  We knew this transition would eventually come around, when was always the question; it has been packed full of teachable moments and crazy ones too!

After deciding to return to work full-time, in order to meet some of our family financial goals, a flood of questions followed. How will I tell the kids? How will the kids respond? How long will it take us to adjust to a new schedule? Each day has been met with a new answer to each question in the middle of this transition. As I reflect on this week of transition, there have been some teachable moments, some conversations that I did not expect to have, and exhaustion. Are you a mom or dad in the midst of transitioning back to full-time work outside of the home?  Here are some teachable moment ideas and other tips that will hopefully make your transition easier:

1. Discuss your transition with your children in a family meeting.  Listen and answer their questions.  My husband and I have discussed some of our financial goals with our children; which helps them to feel included.  They have come up with some ideas to help us reach those goals together as a team.  Included in that conversation was a little lesson on short term sacrifice; how everyone is making a sacrifice in order to reach our goals.
    
2. Seek out those crock-pot recipes!  Dinner will be ready when you arrive home right at dinner time. You will save yourself time, money, and inches at the waistline because you will avoid running through the drive-thru at your closest fast food restaurant.
    
3. Designate a night where everyone chips in as a team to do chores around the house.  This will help recover from the week, and allow you to enjoy the weekend that you have worked so hard all week for! The kids will see the team effort and will be more likely to contribute, especially since they only have to do major chores one night out of the week.
    
4. Enlist the help of your spouse.  You are a team, so work together to get through each day.  You will need your spouse to help you through this transition.
    
5. Communicate, communicate, communicate.  It is important to make sure you consistently communicate with everyone in your family.  Each day, my husband and I talk about what the next day looks like and share that with our children. This lessens the potential for surprises and disappointments.
    
6. Put it on the calendar! As a busy mom of children and the wife of a busy husband, I chose to purchase a desk calendar and hang it on the wall in a central location where everyone can see it.  Any time there is an activity, appointment, or some other event we put it on the calendar.  This makes it easier to adjust and juggle our busy schedule on a daily basis.  This will also help avoid potentially missing an appointment or double booking yourself or someone else in your family.
    
7. Don’t forget to rest and find time for you!  In the midst of a hectic transition, it is important to make sure you take time, even if for just a bit, to do something you enjoy.  This time will allow you to re-energize and focus to make it through the rest of your day, evening, or even week!

Best wishes in your transition.  I look forward to hearing about other transition strategies that have helped you, and your family, adjust to a new schedule.