Paternity leave
Honestly, I’m grateful that I got a week off from work when GA was born. And I’m grateful that it’s easy for me to take off a half a day as needed to go to early pediatrician appointments.
But one week really wasn’t enough. And every day as I leave home, kissing Katie and GA goodbye, and walk out the door I feel sad (it does help that C comes with me – it helps A LOT).
A major benefit of maternity leave is bonding. Katie gets to sit in a chair and hold our child while they get to know each other. And I really wish I could do that, too. I want to sit in that chair and think only of this new person in our lives – this person who will forever change who we are as a family and as individuals.
And I don’t want to try to focus on anything else when I should be at home with my family.
There really should be more paternity leave. My husband has been lucky- he’s taken time off with both our kids, thanks to FMLA. It’s nice to have that time to focus on the family, and we’re fortunate that we could afford for him to take the time unpaid. With our first, he stayed home after I went back to work; this time, we were both here for the first month, which was really rewarding.