The place I work now has a really wonderful policy: maternity/paternity leave can be used in a part-time fashion. People who are recent parents frequently come

The place I work now has a really wonderful policy: maternity/paternity leave can be used in a part-time fashion. People who are recent parents frequently come in for a couple days a week, or a few hours a day -- as they think will work best as they try to balance two worlds. Now, don't get me wrong -- for a few weeks after birth, you're injured and shouldn't be working at all. At all. And for a few months after, you're in an intensive time of bonding and sleep disruption, and outside demands should be kept to a minimum. I found that my time of maximum stress and exhaustion with my three babies occurred when the babies were 3-7 mo old. So be gentle to yourself; it's a marathon. Minimize work commitments. I tell first time parents that all the stuff you want to do, that you want to get back to, that you feel like you lost... you can do it next year. Take a baby year. Nobody ever listens to me, but... ;) Anyway. Don't threaten any of that with part time work. But if you have a few hours of the day to give to the company, it lets you really get done the stuff only you can do, and gives you a break from baby baby baby all the time to boot. I have found that such an approach forces me to be efficient. Turns off I can hand off some tasks I thought I couldn't, or can scale back some I didn't think were scalable. In turn, I'm a lot more willing to come back to work a lot sooner if it's not for a full day.