Diminishing Returns !

I recently started working again after a looong break of 1 year. Yes the extended maternity break. No it was not easy at all. There was this guilt of leaving my baby in the daycare for 7-8 hours with strangers. My son did not make it easy either. He used to cry a lot and give me this innocent anxious look with tears in his eyes with unsaid words ‘ where are you going mommy …don’t leave me here'. I used to feel sad, guilty and uneasy sending my son to the daycare. Although some part of this was true, I later realized that my son was a big ‘drama queen’. His teacher told me that the moment I was out of his sight he used to instantly stop crying and start playing with the other kids, toys.
He really enjoys the daycare now. There are lots of new toys and he is also making new friends there. I have also adjusted to my new work routine. Every day I pick him up at around 4pm and after that we spend around 4 hrs together: playing ball, singing songs, dancing on nursery rhymes, eating, going for an evening walk or to the nearby park, telling him bedtime stories etc.
A few years back when I was doing my Masters I had learnt about the law of diminishing returns. The value or enjoyment we get from something starts to decrease after a certain point. For eg : Let’s say we go to an amusement park and ride our favorite roller coaster five times in one day. The first time is exhilarating. The second and third times are also exciting. But after the fourth or fifth ride, we start to feel bored - we’ve had enough. I realized I can apply the same law here. After Kiyan was born, for the first 6-7 months, I really enjoyed spending the whole day with him. Capturing his first smile, his crawling, his naughty looks on my camera, Celebrating his monthly birthdays, playing with him, teaching him different things, taking videos of his babbling, eating, travelling, crying. There was no more space left on my mobile but I still didn’t give up :P … Everything revolved around him. That was my life.
After these initial 6-7 months , I started getting a little bored to look after him for the whole day. It was very exhausting too. He had become a total ‘mama’s boy by then and I enjoyed that a lot. I used to take him to the library, tell him stories, take him to the park but at the end of the day I used to be in desperate need for some alone ‘me’ time. I missed my work and also missed enjoying a cup of coffee while it was still hot. 

The daycare has helped Kiyan (my son) in increasing his social skills. He no longer has any stranger anxiety. He has learnt to eat with a spoon , drink water/milk with a glass and many such skills. They also make a lot of creative arty stuff.  I also strongly believe that schools are not only for academic education but they help in developing many other social skills. I can never understand the concept of home schooling. I definitely miss being with my baby for the whole day but I also realize that the 4 hrs I spend with him every day are far more joyful and qualitative for both of us than the 10-12 hrs we used to be together every day.Most of the new moms won’t say this openly but I am pretty sure that most of them would resonate with me :)