How Does a Stay-at-Home Mom Go Back to Work After Being Home So Long with Kids?

When I had my son six years ago I had no intentions of being a stay-at-home mom. The idea never really occurred to me. I just assumed we couldn't afford it and I didn't really want to anyway. I was very excited about being pregnant, but the thought of being home all day with a little one for the next five years didn't sound very appealing. Well, after being home for twelve weeks on maternity leave I changed my mind. There was no way I was going to be able to go to work and let someone else raise my child. I had intended to go back so I did, but only for two weeks. I then quit and became a stay-at-home mom! It actually worked out well because I was pregnant again when my son was just eight months old.

So for the last six years I've been a stay-at-home mom. I've never really wondered what I'd do when my kids both were in school because that seemed so far away. Let me just tell you it's amazing how quickly five years can go by. My son started Kindergarten last year and I realized that I only had one more year until both kids would be in school all day and what was I going to do then? There were a few times over the summer that I had people asking me what I was going to do now that both kids were going to be in school and I'd just answer with " I don't know." I really didn't know either. Getting a job popped into my head, but then I thought that I deserved some time to just stay home and relax and get some of the small jobs done that I've put off for the last six years. Heck, getting caught up on my scrapbooking would be heaven for me!

Now both of my children are in school and I am enjoying the quiet time. I remember as a kid I had one friend who had a stay-at-home mom and I thought that was the life. I thought she just sat around all day doing nothing, waiting for the kids to get home from school. I now realize how wrong I was. My kids have been in school one week today and I have been busier then I was when they were home. My house is clean and it has pretty much stayed clean since school started. My laundry is caught up. All my errands are ran before they get home and there is no running around at night. I can go running in the mornings when I drop them off instead of dragging them to the gym each night. My son's homework is done before dinner. It's amazing what all you can get done. I was afraid I'd be sitting around doing nothing and feel a little worthless, but this is far from that. I feel good. I like that I can have everything in order when they get home so I can focus just on the family in the evenings. So, how do you go back to work after being a stay-at-home mom for so long? I'm just not sure I'm ready!