In Praise of Paternity Leave
What would I do without Raz! When ODP was born, he had just recently started at Amazon, so he got, mmmm, about a week home with us. I realize this is the standard for a lot of dads, and that a lot of dads have to fight even for that. We’re lucky that this time, he got to take advantage of Amazon’s six week paternity leave policy. It’s also not lost on me that when ODP was born, I got six weeks of leave UNPAID, which is absolutely insane to me. But that’s a conversation for another day.
In his time at home with us, Raz has:
Prepared most meals
Painted most of our interior walls (let’s pretend like we don’t hate the color and he doesn’t have to re-do it)
Bought himself a Green Egg and spent lots of time playing with it
Finished Baby B’s shiplap wall
“Fixed” our sprinkler system
Organized the garage
Found, hung, and re-arranged all of our blackout curtains, helping us all sleep better
Installed a Ring video doorbell
Managed ODP when I couldn’t
Held Baby B when I couldn’t
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.
Having the time to adjust to this new season as a unit has been such a gift, especially since I’m still doing the same amount of client work I was before I had the baby (no work-y, no money, honey). This was a conscious choice I made prior to having the baby and I created a workflow I knew I could handle through the transition. That’s not to say it’s easy—it’s just the choice I made to keep my brain stimulated and our family afloat financially, not because I have to, but because I want to. Had I not been able to count on Raz for these first six weeks, I would have had to make some different decisions.
While I’m so grateful for this time, I still feel like it’s not enough. I’d love to see every family get at least 12 weeks together if they want it. A European year would be great, too. But this progress is good. This progress is great. We LOVE having dada with us always and forever.
