I Quit... or Not!

This is my second attempt at resigning from my current job (as assistant architect / project coordinator).

The first attempt was when I wanted to file for at least a 3-month NON PAID maternity leave, and work from home on the tasks that I know only I can do (as for now). However, boss told me "I don't think you need more than 3 months" or "we can't hold your seat for too long" or "No, we do not allow working from home." For which I replied the next day, saying that I can't guarantee going back before 3 months so I will just "give up my seat." My boss then denied saying those, he said I must have misunderstood him, "What I said was 1 month or 3 months or 1 year. It doesn't matter how long, you can take as much leave as you want just let us know when you will be back. If you say 1 year then that is perfectly fine."

The thing about bosses is, even if they are wrong, they are still right.

So we compromised and told them I will be back mid-Oct. Baby will be 6 months old by then.

A couple weeks after giving birth, I receive a call from boss telling me that he needs a favor and if I can continue my work from home. In my mind I said 'Didn't I propose that to you the last time we spoke and you said no, the office doesn't allow working from home?'

The thing about bosses is, it has to be their idea.

Yes, inception works. It is real.

Five months passed and September is almost gone. I got news from work that they hired a few more people and that they are now rearranging the workspaces to accomodate the changes. They asked me when I will be back and I said "My leave form says until mid-October." I even got news that they are planning to buy me a new set of computer.

I've thought about it a hundred times before. Discussed it with my husband. Discussed it with my parents, my sisters, my friends. The decision is pretty much clear: I AM NOT READY TO LEAVE BABY IN DAYCARE just so I can go back to work.

Yes, I do miss the extra income. But looking at Baby, that income is nothing. Quality time with baby is the best compensation I could ever get!

As my friend says, everytime I feel bad for not earning the extra income, just look at my Baby. True enough, everytime I look at Baby, my i-have-no-income-guilt vanishes!

So here I am again, trying to tell my boss I will not go back to work. I sent him an email last week because he was out of the country. A week later and I still get no response. I am pretty sure he has read my letter and he was just ignoring me, if he really were, I think that is very unprofessional of him to do so.

Our office manager contacted me and I told her about my letter. She said that boss is probably ignoring me and is not happy about my letter. The good thing about our office manager is that she is also a mother. She backed me up last time in trying to file for a 6-month leave instead of quitting. She knows how our boss thinks, for which I think is a skill she has mastered.

She plans on talking to my boss about me. However, she says that knowing our boss, he'll probably won't be willing to let go of me and will just ask for another specific date when I want to go back to work.

I feel flattered that my office thinks that I am important (haha, well, I do think I contribute a lot to the company), but I find it weird that they would just let me give them a hypothetical date of return instead of planning the year with the assumption that I am no longer part of the company (which I think will benwfit the company more!).

I am still waiting for updates from our office manager. I sure dread the day I have to meet with boss to talk about this. So wish me luck! I would really need it!