As I mentioned in my last post, I have now started working full-time at an office. After 5 years of remote working, freelancing and being a stay-at-home mom, this is a big transition – for me, kuttyma and my husband. We are still figuring out how to balance routines and schedules and still remain sane.

Transitioning

To be honest, the transition isn’t complete. We are still bobbing in sea trying and hoping for a smooth sailing. There are moments of weakness, when I feel as if I am missing out major chunks of kuttyma’s life.

But here are some lessons I learned while transitioning from a work from home mom to a work at an office mom.

Prepare

I have never kept my job search away from kuttyma. Prior to the interview for my current job, I did tell her and she helped me select my interview outfits. She was my cheerleader. She wished me luck and constantly kept reassuring me that I would be the right fit for the job.

As she was part of the process, she was extremely excited when the job offer came. I was apprehensive but she was joyful. This made transitioning easier.

Bribe

I admit I bribed my daughter. She had been asking me to take her for a vacation to Mexico and I have always told her that it would be a trip once I started working full-time. She was more than excited. An incentive and something to look forward to. The bribe helps her and me transition.

Prioritize

This is a hard one. I had to give up on lot of things as I transitioned. As you would have noticed, this blog grew silent. My social media presence, the books I read all declined. While, ideally I would like to do it all, I do realize I can’t. I let my blog and reading slow down rather grudgingly but it gave me time to adjust and learn more about my new job responsibilities. Let us not even talk about my writing. (My gym life has also taken a hit).

Support System

I was extremely lucky as I had my parents be around as I transitioned. Having family and friends around who support unconditionally will definitely help during the period.

In the long run, I am also considering hiring someone to help me around home with some chores. As much as I would like to do it all, I accept I may not be able to. Devoting time to kuttyma remains my priority and household chores will fall to the bottom of the list.

Do you have any tips and suggestions to help me and kuttyma transition?