I also personally feel that daycare is not an option for me, and while my parents were very happy to look after the girls for for those two days, I felt guilty about the extra pressure on them.
See, daycare is the only option for me. Both my parents are deceased and DH's family are 4 hours away. It also means that there is no back up if I have a sick child and I feel torn between caring for my sick daughter and being a good/useful/valuable employee.

And don't feel too guilty about the extra pressure on your parents. Let them and your parents enjoy all that time they get to spend together

Saying goodbye to your career now might mean saying goodbye to it forever. You might think that's fine for now but will you always be okay with it?
Thank you n2l. I hadn't really given that much thought. I'm terrible at making long term plans.

My other point is quite blunt - both DH and I have experiences of parents either passing away unexpectedly or never working again after illness. Me working takes the pressure off DH and quite simply means that should the need arise I have the ability to provide for my kids. I already feel the pressures on my sick leave etc that having kids has had but at least I have those entitlements to call on.
Good luck with your decision making - try to plan for 2, 5, 7 years down the track and see how you can try to acheive all you want to. If you can buy more time to consider your options I would tend towards that as well. You may be surprised where you end up!!! xxx
Thank you Mak. You know, despite losing both of my own parents before I was 28, I hadn't actually considered what I would do without DH.

If your qualification is one that will become obsolete if you're not using it, is it possible to get a part time position that keeps you in the loop, allows you to be at home 2-3 days a week, and then build up later when your kids are at school?
I'm a statistician and we are always in demand. It is a field where practice lags a long way behind theory, but the software changes almost every year.

Also I looked a lot forward, as in retirement. There is a lot of lost Super in not working.
Good point. My boss insists on 17% super. I hate to think what would happen to the Super I have if I left it just sitting there while not contributing.

You sound like you don't really want to go back but you think you 'should'.
So you picked up on that, huh?

I'm not sure why, but returning to work, in my mind, has always been a question of financial necessity. Thank you to everyone here who has pointed out other aspects to consider. My job is really a very good one. It's flexible, supportive, pro- work/life balance and the benefits are generous. My current boss will be retiring at the end of the year and the uncertainty of returning with a new boss is another factor in my reluctance to go back. But I suppose, I won't know what my new boss is like unless I do go back. I actually feel a lot more comfortable with the idea of working now that I've realised there are so many more reasons to do it other than earning money. (Why is it the SAHM vs working mum debate seems to be reduced to financial reasons?) Of course, we are moving in a couple of weeks, so it could just be that my mind has been focused on that lately