I know this sounds silly but I feel SO guilty about leaving my kids to go back to work. My youngest is 2. My eldest is fine about it but the little one cries at nursery drop-off and I spend the whole morning feeling terrible. Please tell me this gets easier?
It 100% gets easier. My daughter screamed every single drop-off for 3 weeks and then one day just... walked in without looking back. The nursery staff will tell you they usually stop within minutes of you leaving. Drop-off tears are almost always a performance for the parent!
The guilt never fully goes away but it does reduce. What helped me was reframing it — I'm modelling that working is normal, I'm providing for them, and I'm a happier more fulfilled person when I have work in my life, which makes me a better parent. All true.
Also — no one asks dads if they feel guilty about going to work. Just saying. The guilt is real but it's also conditioned into us. You're allowed to want a career AND be a good parent.
Huge solidarity. The first few weeks were genuinely the hardest thing I'd done since the newborn phase. Now 8 months in and we're all thriving. You've got this.