I had 9 months off and then went down to three days/week 3 years ago, after the birth of my first child. Definitely happier, the kids love it, and both parents

I had 9 months off and then went down to three days/week 3 years ago, after the birth of my first child. Definitely happier, the kids love it, and both parents are less tired so we have more quality time. Also it turned out having kids are way cheaper than I thought so long as you're happy to buy everything second hand and don't need to pay for much childcare. One reason for the decision was I figured in 20 years looking back, I doubt I'll regret sacrificing my career (to some degree), but I can imagine I'd seriously regret missing out on the time with my kids, which you can never get back. Before I had kids, I remember someone on a podcast saying some thing like 'I'd give anything to go back and have another day with my kids when they were young'. It had quite a big impact on me, and I still think about it often (especially when we're having a hard day!)