Are you the mother who is preparing herself to return back to work? Are you nervous?

We have simple and practical tips to help you take this step.

Taking the Big Step

When you want to go back to a job, leaving your toddler at home, you have to make so many changes to your otherwise easy life. This makes it so complicated, that you have to first make plans of how to go about it.

Prioritize

First, make sure what your priorities are. However, this applies only for those who do not have a financial problem, if they plan to stay at home.

If family and children seem to be your first priority, then you would be doing a mistake if you take up a job. You would neither put 100% of effort in your work, nor would be able to devote quality time to your children.

If, on the other hand, career tops your list, hurray! You are ready to join your job.

As a mother, you have to keep in mind that jobs usually demand a lot of your time, and hence, the time spent with children has to be done so effectively.

Kalpana, an IT professional, expected to be very good at time management, and began working just six months after she delivered her son, Monu. Though she could satisfy every material need of her son and family after six months of working, she was unable to see that her child, just a year old, had gone into deep depression, because the domestic help, who was babysitting her son, had used drugs to keep the baby asleep for long hours.

Well, when you make the decision to join back work, you have to be confident that your child left behind at home will surely be in safe hands.

Husband’s Participation

When women decide to go to a job, she often forgets to speak to her husband about how much he will be involving himself in their household chores and responsibilities.

Shroff, a government employee, takes care of his child in the mornings, when his wife, Tara goes to office. Tara, a doctor, completes her morning rounds at her hospital, and returns by 10.30 am, which is when Shroff goes to work.

The evenings are the same, Shroff returns home, and only the Tara goes for her evening duties.

The participation of husband in daily routines reduces a lot of stress between spouses, when both parents work, and take care of a toddler.

Children’s Participation

Yes, I am speaking of your 1.5 year to two-year old toddler. He can surely participate in your daily job routine too.

Make sure that your child is in his most active time when you are at home. Make him sleep at a regular time daily. If your office time is from 10 am to 5 pm, put your child to sleep at 1.30 pm every day. This way he would get up at 5 pm and be ready for you to spend some quality time together.

Often, young office-going moms worry that their toddler would not be as loving to them, as the children of stay at home moms. Well, that is not so. Babies begin to recognise their mothers’ voice very early, and will naturally bond to them whenever they are available.

Right Time to Return to Work

Manisha was anxious to return to her job, as she was working at a senior position for her organisation. She asked her parents to stay back to look after Jim, her son, and joined work when Jim was only three months old. Well, as anyone would expect, Jim seems more attached to his grandparents than his parents.

Manisha now tries to spend more time with him after she returns, although Jim finds it comfortable with his grandparents, whom he calls mama and papa.

You have to always make sure that your child has formed a good association with you before you take the big step. Most experts feel that first year of your child must be spent with his mother for bonding well.

Children, who have been left without mother’s company at a tender age, have found to develop separation anxieties, which may lead to further complications later.

Though going back to your job seems to be a very big step if you manage both job and home the right way you are sure to succeed as both a good employee as well as the best mother.