The first week was successful! This past week my family and I tackled Mommy going back to work!  We did a lot of preparation and although it is a bit of an adjustment, the kids are doing great with it (knock on wood!).  I thought I would share some of the things we did to prepare for the change.  So that others who are going back to work might get some ideas from my experience.

We found our sitter through sittercity and we sure lucked out!!  She is fabulous!  I highly recommend sittercity for those looking for a sitter.  The quality of the applicants we got was amazing!  We had our sitter come the week before I went to work and run through our routine with the kids.  She came a few days and got used to the kids and how things work in our house and the kids had time to get used to our sitter.  This was really helpful.

We also had lots of discussions with our kids about mommy going back to work and how things were going to happen.  We talked about how they felt about it and answered there questions.  They were very concerned that I would be far away, and when they realized I wouldn’t be that far away they were relieved.

I did as much preparation the night before as possible, lunches made, clothes out.  This way the morning wasn’t rushed and hectic.  I made a special note for each child in their lunch box and for when they woke up.  We read the kissing hand book and I left them each a heart “kissing hand” on their hand.

My son wanted me to wake him before I went, so I did and this seemed to make him feel better knowing he got to say goodbye.

All of these things I believe helped our transition begin smoothly.  I hope next week continues to go well!

Have you gone back to work?  What are some things you have used to help your kids and family prepare?