I'm a few weeks into mat leave with DC2, DH has just gone back to work, and, per the title, I'm feeling at a bit of a loose end.
With DC1 I felt very ready for the leave - I had no idea what to expect of a newborn and was also feeling quite burned out at work, so in the right headspace to throw myself completely into the unknown of something new.
Now I'm a couple of years older I have this weird feeling that time is more finite and I need to be doing something productive (beyond housework and seeing to the toddler when she's not at nursery) whilst the baby is sleeping, but I'm not sure what/why. That's been reinforced a bit by others - I've had lots more people - family and colleagues - asking how long I'm planning to take this time and expressing surprise at a year. DH has also already said he thinks so can "get a lot done" if I want to as so far DC2 is much less of a velcro baby than our first was. DFIL bless him has already sent me ideas for a whole LinkedIn campaign he thinks I should embark on this year 😅
Has anyone felt similar? I just feel a bit muddled - like everyone is expecting me to be very "productive" beyond looking after the baby but I'm not really sure what that looks like. Hopefully this is a fairly short term feeling anyway as once he gets out of the newborn stage your hands definitely get a bit more full anyway! We may also drop another day for the toddler at nursery once I'm past the initial C-section recovery, baby is feeding a bit less frequently etc.