I freely admit that I am looking forward to returning to work for the mental stimulation and social interaction. I do have a mother's group (a nice one, luckily) but I just can't pretend to be interested in talking about kids all the time.

I don't think it is easy either for people who have been in the workforce most of their lives to suddenly revert to SAH status. It is a complete change of gear. This came as a shock to me, I have to say. I always thought I would just love being at home and would never want to go back to work but that hasn't been the case.

Like Divvy, I am also very motivated by the need to keep my skills and knowledge current. I've also spent years trying to get a position where I have the best of everything in terms of challenging work, supportive environment and family friendly policies so I don't want to let it slip away.

I know that if my job had not been so good, I would probably have opted to stay at home for a couple of years with William. There are so many factors to weigh up and I think the best you can do is make the right decision for you and your family at that time in your life.