Going back...when you don't need the money

[Misty9]

I am in the very fortunate position of not having to work if I don't want to. I spent ten years getting to qualification in my profession then had ds and stayed at home for two years with him. A brief 6 month contract then dd came along.

Now, with dd nearly one, I'm starting a part time job in a few weeks. Because it's best for my career, and jobs are very thin on the ground in my field so I don't know when something else might come up.

But we're trying to sort childcare and now I'm starting to feel torn and guilty. dh is also part time and will do some of the childcare, but we'll need one day for dd. Am I being really silly agonising over this? She's so clingy with me currently, I dread the thought of leaving her crying at nursery/home/childminders :(

I know I'm so lucky to have the choice, but how did other people feel when they went back for reasons other than financial?

Aww. I hope she gets better soon. It's good for her to go and will help with the clingyness in time! strangely my DS actually got on better in nursery when his hours went up a bit, he started off slowly too. I think as he had more contact time and was more familiar with the ladies there. But starting slowly is probably good for both of you. Best of luck

I thought I'd come back and update this, six weeks in :)
It's going much better than I'd hoped with dd and nursery - after a rocky start she's settling in well and I feel happy knowing it's just one day. I'm loving being back in my profession - and I feel rusty enough to know that many more years out would have been a bad idea. I'm finding the juggling of work and parenting quite a challenge though; I have less headspace for more content! I do feel like I'm doing two jobs and neither of them particularly well, but hopefully that will get easier. First pay packet next week!