Tuesdays with Cleo

2012 was a long year. Once H found out she was pregnant, I began hoarding my leave time. Most other developed countries in the world have some form of parental leave. In the US, where politicians are frothing at the mouth and pounding on tables while screaming about "Family Values", no one even gives a damn about parents having time at home with a child in one of the most crucial stages for building trust and a feeling of safety in a child.

On a positive note, the US shows little gender discrimination in giving people equal shares of nothing

People in HR are quick to say that there is the Family Medical Leave Act (depending on your state). This is pretty much crap. What it allows is for you to take up to 12 weeks off and that your employer can't fire you for doing this. This leaves two options:

1) You take it unpaid. I'm sure in 1950 this might have been an option. However, like much of modern day America, H and I need two jobs just to get by. Not to mention insurance benefits that are not reimbursed during this time. Doing without an income for 3 months is not an option for us.

2) Use your own leave time. Really? I get to use my own vacation time THAT I EARNED and spend it with my kid? So generous... (The only thing you can get is about eight weeks of disability for the mom for her to recover from the physical fallout of childbirth, but this is not parental leave, it's medical.)

So, we came up with a plan last March. I would store up my leave hours like a chipmunk for winter so I could take an extra day off with Cleo every week for as long as we can float it. That meant NO vacations in 2012, no extra days off... nothing. I've been able to swing three day weekends on occasion due to having a very malleable schedule, but they come at the price of having to work something like 8 days in a row, one day off, then 5 days in a row to balance them.

This week, the plan comes together. H is going to work 32 hours a week, Tuesday through Friday, (a rough transition for her, but that's a post for another day) and I will schedule my "weekends" to be Wednesday and Thursday, with me working swing shifts on Friday to accommodate childcare.

And Tuesday is the bonus day I get with my little girl, paid for in hoarded leave time. 

It's been a hard road to get to this point, but at least it's finally here. To honor it, I'm making a regular section called "Tuesdays with Cleo" so I'll make at least one blog update a week about my time with her.