Friday, October 31, 2008

Back to Work--Mixed feelings


The time has come to return to work. I am happy to have a job in this bad economy, but I wish this county valued mothers and children more than they do. It just seems a little hypocritical for compassionate conservatives to scream "family first" in one breath and then refuse any law that would allow mothers and children longer bonding time at home. I guess a "tax break" should make up for the lack of time. As of right now, mothers in the US are allowed 12 weeks of unpaid leave from work by federal law. See how the US stacks up.... pretty sad really.


Luckily, I am being allowed to bring Vivian to work for about 8 hours a week**UPDATE** AFTER ABOUT TWO WEEKS OF BRINGING THE BABY, I WAS INFORMED THAT SOMEONE IN THE BUILDING (FROM A DIFFERENT DEPARTMENT) COMPLAINED TO OUR HUMAN RESOURCES DEPT. AND MY BOSS TOLD ME I HAD TO FIND OTHER ARRANGEMENTS...HEY THANKS BUDDY, CAN'T YOU MIND YOUR OWN F***ING BUSINESS** , spread over 2 days. My wonderful mom is watching her 2 days a week, and her daddy has off on friday's. We are going to try to make this arrangement work as long as possible. Daycare is very expensive ~600/mo. We would like to keep her out of there for at least the first year.

-erin.


Ps. I took every day I was allowed most of which is unpaid.


Viv's first day at work. She's about as thrilled as I am.


Daddy came down the hill to feed/burp Viv. Joe and I work at the same place. He's usually out in the field somewhere in SC.

1 comment:

  1. I'm excited to have come across your blog. I very rarely check MySpace (are you on facebook?) but did go online and find your blog. I'll keep an eye on it...

    Vivian is adorable... I'm sure she is a sweetheart! I had no idea about the lack of paid maternity leave in the US until Vanessa got pregnant. She even mentioned that there is a link between paid maternity leave and the high infant mortality rate in the US. Check out this article summary: http://www.res.org.uk/society/mediabriefings/pdfs/2005/feb05/tanaka.pdf

    Hope everything is going great and I hope we cross paths again sometime soon!! Good luck with the work/ mom balance--I can't imagine having a baby much less working so soon after having a baby!!

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