It is customary for us that a woman should be in charge of raising a child. But a couple of my acquaintances were jokingly saying that they could go on maternity leave themselves, but is it a man’s business? Yes, and ridicule from family and friends are afraid.
I am 36 years old, I am a web developer. I have always liked working remotely, and I love children very much. So when we found out that we were expecting a new addition to the family, we did not think much about it. I was lucky to meet a man with the same attitudes and views as mine. Our professions are equally demanded on the market, but as my wife earns more, it was decided that I would go on maternity leave.
When my son was born, my wife took maternity leave for six months, then I wrote the application. My colleagues, of course, were surprised, but my boss did the same (she herself returned from maternity six months ago) and let me go.
Has my life changed? Of course it has. I used to be able to leave the house with my phone, keys, and cards; now I take a change of clothes for my son, bottles, and tissues. My maternity leave only strengthens family relations, there are far fewer misunderstandings. After all, I realized that sitting with a child is also a responsible and hard work.
My example was contagious. My friend Anton is an economist. When there were rumors in his office about layoffs, he thought about it. And somehow suddenly it turned out (very casually) that his wife got pregnant. As a result, the family council decided that he would go on maternity leave. And do not fire, and even a decent stipend will be paid. Wife also changed, some days went to the office, some of the work took home. As a result, they began to plan their lives in such a way that they had time to do their work and find time for each other. Yes, both colleagues and the chief understood that his vacation was an obvious attempt to keep his job. But there was nothing they could do, since the law was all respected, and the key projects he led remotely.
On a walk with my son, I met another father like him. He is a lawyer, his wife is a very responsible person, she worked almost until the birth of the baby, overworked mercilessly, she was afraid that she would go on maternity leave, and everything in the company would fall apart without her. Pregnancy was hard, so was childbirth. All that heroism turned into serious health problems. Almost two months after his son was born, his wife was hospitalized with health problems. So he had to urgently arrange for a leave of absence to care for the child at work. The bosses were aware of the situation, so they met him halfway. Colleagues teased, parents also did not understand, they said that it was impossible for a man to be on maternity leave. But my mom came every day to help me, because I probably could not do it myself at first. Although I watched all the videos on the Internet about newborns and their care, and read blogs of fathers who were in a similar situation, my mom’s help was decisive. They made it through.
When the wife was discharged, they decided they weren’t going to change anything. Now she coordinates the work processes from home as best she can, periodically again laid in the hospital, three weeks ago was another operation.
What did people say about us? I have never cared about other people’s opinions. Good people will support me, others’ opinions don’t matter.
