navel gazing

Easier to do these days since it's sticking right out at me. I had an interesting conversation with my PI today about maternity leave and what I wanted out of my career. I was planning on going back to work part time 6 months after the kid is born (because I get 6 months full salary and 6 months half salary for my 1 year of mat leave, crazy good I know). However, PI doesn't want me to come back half time unless I really feel like I can be productive-which makes sense and is fair, but I'm just not sure if I'm going to want to go back if I take a whole year off. Or maybe I'll spend a few months with the little guy 24/7 and decide that day-care cost be damned I have to get out of the house.

I'm not a rock-star, I hate writing way to much to think that I'm going to get tenure at a big university even if I were able to get a job at said big U. I do think that I want to be a prof at a small master's only kind of school but there just aren't that many jobs out there and I'm guessing a large number of other people wanting the same kind of position. I just spend a depressing hour or so looking at academic job postings, there just aren't that many.