Oh the joys of maternity leave

On Friday I had the pleasure of having lunch with the women who works for me, we will call her E, who is now on maternity leave. E had her baby girl in May, and she will be off until January, a total of 8 months off.

Like most moms E had that glow, perhaps its the glow of pure love for your little one, but a lot of it is also the lack of work glow. Maternity leaves are a blessing on many fronts. They allow you to bond with your child and rest from the tough pregnancy and delivery. But they are also a blessing for you outside of your child. They let you decompress from all aspects of your life, including work.

When else do you have weeks on end off from your 40 hour "other job", time to get projects done around the house, to do things you always wanted to do (take language or cooking lessons, get the house organized, decorate a room, etc). It also allows you to spend time with family and friends, you can go visit your mom for 2 weeks with the new grandchild, just because.

E is able to enjoy doing these things, like I was, because she took a long leave. I push this hard in my book, and you need top financially prepare to allow for this given the majority of companies don't give pay for most of it. But is is worth it. I get so sad when I think that I won't have another maternity leave. There are so many things I want to do. Maybe I will take a sabbatical one day and have three months off, until then I hope you will all sign up for long leaves, I am sure you mind and body will love you for it.