Una vida Holandesa en Mallorca

Well. The 16 weeks of maternity leave are over. I would never have guessed that I indeed would prefer to stay a little more with the baby and work a little less. But there we have it: I would definitely prefer to work part-time. 4 days a week or so. But unfortunately this is Spain and my contract does not have that option (I even phoned Madrid to try to arrange something that is how desperate I am). I could have taken another month but that does not solve my problem so I went with the 1 hour a day off for a year. Not that that helps, I determine my own working hours anyway but at least I will not have to feel guilty if I leave before 19:00 (my usual leaving time). I feel very bad for having to leave my child 5 days a week with childcare, even if this is a very good childcare and close to my work so I can hop by to see him if something is wrong. I cannot stand the thought that they will see him more than me during the day and that he will smile his encanting smile to them and not to me. So I will try to shorten my working hours as much as I can until december so we can all get used to it. But then I really have to work as well, or who will pay the mortgage? Sigh*