Being challenged at work before and now

I always been a workaholic...
I used to be at the office at 9am and well, never knew when I was coming out, I could easily stay until 9pm or even later... First of all because I love what I do but also because I had no reason to leave, I mean no real 'home' to go back to...had only a tiny miserable apartment...kinda boring and I never felt at home in there... I had no hubby (still didn't find THE one yet to this day...)and no kids, no nothing so hey let's work some more and get sh*t done!!! YEAH~!

Then I had a baby, was at home for 2 full years, at some point I got scared to go back to my career.
I was away for 2 years...In the gaming industry a lot of things can happen in 2 years, I was scared as hell that I lost the touch. I was worried that my brain was stuck too long in 'mom mode' and that I wouldn't be able to get back my Game designer position back at full speed.

So that uneasy feeling got the better of me and I accepted a job that was less intense. I thought: 'Hey, I'll start slow, not too many heavy responsibilities, not too much pressure and no crazy overtime. Then I'll see from there'. My brain would be like jello anyways right...

WRONG~!
After a few weeks,I see my co-workers going in meetings, I see decisions being taken (and I'm in no position to take part of all this). And...No I'm not cool with it, I feel the urge to stand up and make things happen. I need to work harder, I need more responsibilities and most of all I need to be challenged. I thought all of this would be gone after I became a mother, but nope it's all still there. My passion for making games, my desire to see the project evolve and to see co-workers happy and proud of their work. The stress of the deadlines, the rush before big gaming events, attending conferences to get as much information as I can about other companies and learning from big names. I missed that, a lot.

Don't get me wrong, I assume the position that I have now, I'm always taking every job I had very seriously and will always do so because it's who I am.

Then I was thinking, about parents going back to work after having a 1st baby, was it hard for you? Did you miss work? Did you prefer to run back home? Did you want to flip your career around?