Paternity leave came to an end on Sunday, and I’m back to work.
Some of my non-American readers may be shocked, perhaps even appalled, by the two weeks. I prefer to follow the path of gratitude; at the end of the day, my employer is early stage, lacks funding, and didn’t have to offer me anything. When I ran my own small business, there is no way we could have paid for one of our staff to take two weeks off, so for Innovera to give me the time was nice.
The other reason to be grateful is that until 15 minutes ago, Paternity Leave was like Double Pay Birthday, a perk that was rare, bordering on the mythical. My dad didn’t have paternity leave, neither did Ky’s, and they either worked for massive corps or were self-employed. It just wasn’t the done thing.
It isn’t like things were easier back then, in fact, like much of life, they were harder.
It was nice, scratch that, critical that I had that time to support Ky, bond with Octavia, and get a rhythm going. It would have been nice to still be off (a friend of mine is taking 12 months). But I will also say that it is good to be back, and that no amount of leave trumps an accommodating employer.
It’s a good wicket.
Leave a Reply