Going back to work after maternity leave is often emotional: the pull between leaving your child and going back to a job you left months ago is exhausting.

What is the ideal maternity leave? The answer to this question differs so much from one person to another, but also it can be so hard to predict. Usually you need to announce how long you want to stay at home with your child beforehand, while you are still pregnant and don’t know how life with a child will look like.

I grew up as a millenial in a relatively safe environment in one of the richest countries of Europe. While I did feel different at times from my peers during my childhood and teenager years, this was mostly related to the fact that my mother is from Singapore and therefore the biggest part of my family lives there. We did travel there regularly, but I didn’t get to see my family as much as I would’ve liked to and that did make me feel different - yet it’s also been a blessing to be exposed to another culture and to be able to call another place my home.