How to Find Then Adjust to Working Outside the Home Again

I was in your predicament a few years back and I ended up getting a job at Kohls working overnights 9pm-6am - it was a part time gig at 8 something an hour but since I was a hard worker it turned into more like 32 hours a week. Sleep came when it could from 6:30am to whenever like 9 or so and then again later .... I napped alot and your body will adjust you can nap while the older two are at school and then when the youngest naps.....Have dad help out in the am getting the kids off to school then you can get the kids ready for bed and go off to work. Admittedly, it wasnt easy but you have to do what you have to do sometime....also what about delivering papers - thats from like 2 or 3 am til like 7am so the kids would be sleeping and the spouse also home.....Good luck

This is going to be a hard one to figure out.

Definitely you guys are going to have to make some decisions, and implement some routines to help make any transitions easier. First, poor pooped out dear husband is going to have to suck it up and not collapse when he walks through the door. Assign a few chores to the 8 year old and 7 year old - like dusting, vacuuming, loading and unloading the dishwasher, folding their own laundry, etc.

You're going to have to make peace with imperfection too. Just because the 8 year old dusts differently than you doesn't exactly make it wrong, it's just different - so you'll need to explain how you want it done in a way that it gets done (even though it may not be as good as you would have done it).

Start working smarter instead of harder. You may not be able to have THursday's be "laundry day" anymore...start doing 2-3 loads of laundry a day.

Sam's Club has a "click-n-pull" service where you can order stuff online (paper plates, paper towels, peanut butter, cheese, plastic cups, TP, etc.) and they'll actually go around the place and put it all in a cart for you; all you have to do is tell them when you'll be there to pick it up - the cart will be ready, so all you have to do is go pay. (You can order refridgerated stuff, and they'll send someone back to the cooler to get it for you too!)

You can find places to work that you can get the hours you want...it may not be doing what you want though. If you guys have decided that you can only work when your husband is home to watch the kids because you can't afford daycare, realize that's going to severely limit your options, but there are still options. Any of the 24 hour pharmacy/stores (like CVS or Walgreens), grocery stores/Wal-Mart's, gas stations, fast food restaurants, hotels (night accounting clerk?)....it's definitely going to be a case of you're going to have to decide exactly what you're willing to do to make money.

It might be a longshot, but it might be worth contacting a temp agency and asking if they ever have any inquiries for the type of thing you're looking for, and sign up with them. You never know.

Yes, whatever job you find will somewhat dictate what sort of schedule you are able to follow, but you'll have to give up some of your duties, and dear husband and kids will have to help pick up the slack. It is what it is. Everyone's going to need to be on board because you're doing it for the greater good of the family.

For what it's worth, and good luck!

S.,
Though I dont really have experience working outside the home yet with having a little one, all I can say is this. Be patient and know that things will work all together just fine. I plan on going back to work 10 hrs a week in a few weeks, and my husband will be watching her once he gets home from work. There are jobs out there that will offer past 8pm hours, you just have to search and be determined. I hope things pick up for your business soon, I know its hard to leave your kids and stuff at the home kind of get behind but when things happen and you have to work, you just have to trust that things will be fine!

Wow, you are going to have to make some major adjustments.
Your two elementary age kids can help out a lot, give them jobs. Chances are they will be willing to help out until they get to be teenagers, (then they turn in to lazy slobs!).

Get hubby involved. Make lists. No one else knows what needs to be done if you have always done it. You will need to delegate.

I would hold a family meeting, and have the list of chores all written out. Discuss each area of work and how it is to be done, then figure out who is going to do it. You will need a list with room to check off when it is done. I have a chore chart for each week and we write down an initial if we have done the job. If two kids work together to unload the dishwasher, each one puts their initial by that job. Whoever feeds the dog and cats, they initial it so they don't get fed three times one day and none the next.

You will have to lower your standards because husbands and children do not do things quite as well as we would like, but you'll get used to it.
Best of Luck,
L.

I have found a way to make extra money at home and I enjoy the extra income. I love being home with my daughter and watching her grow up. If you would like information on how to earn extra income, here is my website www.freedom.ws/jsmith16213 If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me. Thanks.