I hope all of you out there enjoying your lattes and tuning out Dragon Tales are ready to hear this: Some states in our fair union are actually granting paid family leave. And get this, even men can get it.
I know, I know. It's all a bit much, isn't it? Validating men who actually want to stay home to feed babies pumped breastmilk, answering a thousand or more questions an hour and experience the wonderment of child-rearing in its purist, poopiest and sweetest moments. Giving them a portion of their paycheck so the family doesn't have to subsist on grandparent handouts or college tuition savings accounts for papa to be in the picture. Or even (and this might be sort of a stretch) wiggling out the bricks of the big old wall of the patriarchy (and some playgroups) where women return to work after becoming mothers or parents actually equitably share the primary caregiving responsibilities. It's a crazy world, or at least left coast.
This inside view of how dads in two families in California are making it work during family leave time is sweet and honest and a damn good appendix to my long list of reasons why I hope Obama works his charm on parenting issues here in Illinois before heading to the big house. Seriously, I want my husband home when we (eventually) have a second child and I don't think he should suck up his sick time or vacation time or our savings to be there. And if by some Democratic miracle it ever does happen, the only thing I'll worry about is what kind of clothes he's picked out for the defenseless child to wear all day.
