I was only able to take 8 months of maternity leave. Well, I suppose I could have taken a whole year, but we decided that we couldn't afford to miss my income that long. (Even though most people in Canada get a bit of employment insurance while on leave, I didn't due to being a student.) That 8 months didn't last nearly long enough.
The good news is that the transition into student life shouldn't be too abrupt. I've actually been working on a couple of projects this summer, giving me a bit of a head start. I've also got a taste of how things might go with me and Molly at home while I work.
I'm not getting full time day care. I'm going to try working while looking after her some of the week, go into campus while her grandparents look after her once a week, and have her other grandfather entertain her a couple of afternoons while I work at home.
It will be interesting to see how this works out. If it does, I will be very grateful that I can be working but not miss all of Molly's firsts. (She's got a lot of them out of the way, including crawling, pulling herself up, cruising, and even standing a bit on her own, but she's still got walking and talking to do!)
And if it doesn't... well, I'll still be grateful that I got even the 8 months. Not every country is so lucky to have good maternity leave policies and attitudes.
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