Why I Decided to Forgo April Enrollment at Nursery School and Take a Full Year of Parental Leave

My child was born in August 2024, and I am currently on parental leave.
I started thinking about when to return to work and considered enrolling my child in nursery school in April at zero years old.
After much deliberation, I decided to wait until I had taken a full year of parental leave before enrolling my child.

In this article, I write about the reasons why I decided to take a full year of parental leave.

I don't want to cut this overly happy period short

Before my child was born, I prioritized work over parenting and assumed I would return to work early.

Once my child was actually born, every day became so much fun, and my child is just so cute.
Me: 'Good morning, my daughter. I love you so much today too! Let's play a lot!'
Daughter: (Smiles) 'Ah-woo' (kicking her arms and legs)
Having this kind of interaction every morning and taking the time for a slow hug is very happy and precious to me.

Given my personality, it is clear that if I have less time due to work, I will start to become irritable.
I wanted to enjoy this peaceful period, where I can delight in my child's growth and changes, a little longer.

I want to start fertility treatment for my second child

I conceived my first child through fertility treatment, and in my case, I also need fertility treatment if I want a second child.

Since I was already an older mother when I gave birth to my first child, I want to start fertility treatment for my second child as soon as possible.

It is obvious that balancing fertility treatment and work is extremely difficult, and even if I were to get pregnant, my physical condition afterward would be unstable.
There is no way I could cover the poor physical condition during fertility treatment and the period from morning sickness to the final month of pregnancy with paid leave (at least in my case).

Therefore, I decided that I wanted to start fertility treatment for my second child, especially egg retrieval, while on parental leave.

What if my period doesn't come for a while after giving birth... What if the timing of the egg retrieval overlaps with the nursery school's trial enrollment period...

If I have even the slightest bit of anxiety, I should prioritize fertility treatment over returning to work.

I believe I can recover my career later, but since pregnancy and childbirth have time constraints, I wanted to prioritize fertility treatment so I wouldn't have any regrets.

There are many things I want to do during my personal time while on parental leave

I feel that this period of not working while on parental leave is a precious time in my life.

Actually, if you combine my child's nap times and the time after putting them to bed at night, I have about 3 to 4.5 hours of uninterrupted personal time per day.
(During the day, there are several 30 to 45-minute blocks, and at night, it's free time after 8:00 PM)

Furthermore, there are several times a day when I can think about things while doing something else, such as when putting my child down for a nap or feeding them milk.

By thinking vaguely during these 'while' times and executing during my uninterrupted personal time, things I've wanted to do for a long time have been steadily progressing.

During my parental leave, I was able to start a blog that I had wanted to do for a long time but hadn't been able to execute, and reading has also become a habit.

Moving forward, I want to further polish my blog and post more on note. I also want to resume my hospital visits and exercise, and declutter by selling unused items on Mercari.

Work is important and something I love, but I want to respect and prioritize the things I want to do outside of work as well.
I hope my childcare leave will be a period where I can do just that.