I cannot express to you how much of a blessing early fatherhood has been thus far. One of the blessings has to do with the way it started. As soon as Simone told me we were going to have a baby, I went to my HR office at work to see whether there was a such thing as paternity leave available for me. I don’t even remember why I thought this was a possibility, but I am glad I made the visit. It made all of the difference in the world. The generalist who helped me with my question told me that we did not have paternity leave, but that I might qualify to utilize the benefits of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA - I have included three links below), where I would be eligible to take up to a total of 12 weeks off, without pay, while keeping my position or equivalent, and keep my health insurance in tact. I thought it was a great option except for the “without pay” part. But, she continued by saying that our organization allowed us to supplement our pay from long-term sick, paid leave, and/or vacation leave banks. Since I had been at this employer for more than ten years, my long-term sick bank was brimming with time. That settled the pay part. I could be paid my regular pittance while I was off taking care of Simone and our newborn. The icing on the cake was that I could take leave intermittently up to the covered maximum of 12 weeks within a 12 month cycle. That meant that I could also take off on an as needed basis for the dizzying number of prenatal appointments, etc. without penalty. This freed me to be able to experience everything related to the soon arrival of baby Josiah, and support Simone while her body, hormones, and emotions were rapidly changing. Why am I telling you so much of my business here? Hopefully, you or someone you know will benefit from this information.
All that I have already said would be worth the time you invested in reading this post, but there’s more. You see, often men, for various reasons are not able to experience the major stages from pregnancy to the first few months of time following the birth, because of work obligations, etc. For those men who simply choose to be absent, shame! Men who did not know that you might benefit from FMLA, now you know. Men who could benefit from FMLA, but do not have a policy available to keep the paychecks coming or do not meet the eligibility criteria, I am sympathetic and wish you the very best as you do whatever you can. I cannot begin to express to you the benefits of being undestracted by work obligations during the time right after the child is born. Often new fathers have to experience things second-hand by word of mouth. Mothers have to try to share how she felt in the middle of the night as she was losing her mind, because the child would not stop crying. They try to express what it’s like being home all day trying to juggle baby’s care with eating, showering, cleaning, and sleeping...not to mention the crazy number of calls that come in to see how things are going. There are a host of other experiences that cannot be communicated by mouth as the newborn grows in the home that it would be well, if possible for the fathers to experience alongside the mother.
Ultimately, this is a brief awareness campaign that gives you the opportunity to investigate your options. More than that, it opens up the opportunity for you to bond with your family in ways that so many men have not been able. If you live in the USA or its territories, or you live in a country where similar provisions are made for new dads, please avail yourselves of the opportunity. Stories are good, journal entries are nice, even pictures speak thousands of words, but seeing, that’s believing.
http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/
All that I have already said would be worth the time you invested in reading this post, but there’s more. You see, often men, for various reasons are not able to experience the major stages from pregnancy to the first few months of time following the birth, because of work obligations, etc. For those men who simply choose to be absent, shame! Men who did not know that you might benefit from FMLA, now you know. Men who could benefit from FMLA, but do not have a policy available to keep the paychecks coming or do not meet the eligibility criteria, I am sympathetic and wish you the very best as you do whatever you can. I cannot begin to express to you the benefits of being undestracted by work obligations during the time right after the child is born. Often new fathers have to experience things second-hand by word of mouth. Mothers have to try to share how she felt in the middle of the night as she was losing her mind, because the child would not stop crying. They try to express what it’s like being home all day trying to juggle baby’s care with eating, showering, cleaning, and sleeping...not to mention the crazy number of calls that come in to see how things are going. There are a host of other experiences that cannot be communicated by mouth as the newborn grows in the home that it would be well, if possible for the fathers to experience alongside the mother.
Ultimately, this is a brief awareness campaign that gives you the opportunity to investigate your options. More than that, it opens up the opportunity for you to bond with your family in ways that so many men have not been able. If you live in the USA or its territories, or you live in a country where similar provisions are made for new dads, please avail yourselves of the opportunity. Stories are good, journal entries are nice, even pictures speak thousands of words, but seeing, that’s believing.
http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/
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