I subscribe to a number of baby newsletters. I am sure you know the type, "this is what your baby is doing or what you can expect in the next week blah blah blah." While I am doing that, I have Paige, sleeping on my chest being cute and squirming a bit. I just got a comment on my post about enjoying Paige so much and then I read in my newsletter about parental leave.... my heart broke while I remembered that in the US mothers get UP TO 6 weeks...up to... I am not even UP TO taking my kids to school let alone the busyness of working (if I were working). A small tear developed as I imagined having to drop Paige off and not see her for 9 or 10 hours.
These moments and hours are so precious and few and the developement that an infant goes through is beauty in and of itself. How do all the mommas south of us do it?!
While I was getting teary and emotional I was thinking that it's funny that I am writing this blog, it's election night over there and while I was praying for momma's across the line, I saw my heart being put back together and stamped with a maple leaf....gosh I love living here!
Neat image...
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to think ahead A BIT to MArch 30 and that's hard enough.
Yeah Tanya, it was hard going back - no matter how much you love your job. Okay, that's not true, some people are more than ready, I sure wasn't! And Jen you're right, we are blessed to live here. I can't imagine the 6 week thing either (and that's unpaid unless you have vacation/sick/benefits) but down there that's the way it is...but I would hate it!
ReplyDeleteAnd that "up to" six weeks isn't for everyone. You have to be established at your job, which for most companies means that you have to work there for one year. I remember grocery shopping a few years ago and one of the cashiers was an emotional mess. She just had this faraway look in her eyes and was completely silent. She saw my daughter (who was a teeny infant at the time) and she said that she'd had a baby two weeks prior and was back at work so that she wouldn't lose her job. It definitely made me appreciate how fortunate I was to have the option to stay home with my girls.
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