The title may seem like I’m trying to be shady, but I’m not. I truly am interested to hear people’s response to this one. What is everyone’s take on paternity leave? 🤔

Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely believe that men should be permitted time off to bond with their child. It just depends on how much bonding the child will allow them to do.

Case and point…

I’ve been on maternity leave three times. Each time, I’ve taken 12 weeks off. Yes, it’s three months, but it goes by SO fast!

The first six weeks are all about the baby. A majority of the time is spent coming to the realization that you have a little one while still trying to recover. Then, you have to work on getting a routine down for the baby and finding that sense of normalcy again.

By week seven, the focus shifts a bit toward me so that I can begin preparing to go back into the world. I work out, run errands, and just try to feel like me again—all while maneuvering the schedule of an infant.

It’s not vacation time. It’s a time to heal from the miraculous trauma your body just experienced and nurture your new child.

When the 12 weeks is up, it seems like time has gone by way too fast. However, depending on your baby’s temperament, sometimes going back to work feels like more of a vacation. What? I can use the restroom all by myself? Suh-weet!

My husband, on the other hand, had two weeks off for our first two kids and four weeks off for our last one.

For the first child, the two weeks were spent making sure I was okay and helping me out in any possible way. It was the same with my second born, except the attention was split to make sure the child’s toddler big brother was transitioning well also.

But with this four-week paternity leave we most recently had? That was interesting.

Before I go further, let me just say that all of my children start off as extremely clingy babies who do not want anyone but their momma. Any other person has to be broken in after a good amount of cries and fits. And their dad was included in the “any other person” category.

Also, some other game changers this time around were that my oldest was in school and my middle child was going to “granny daycare” to help us focus only on the newborn.

So, if the other children were away by week two and the newborn doesn’t want to be carried by him, that’s more of a staycation, no? LOL! (I’m sure he would beg to differ because a lot of unfinished projects were completed around the house. It’s just that I always had a baby attached to me, and he was free to move about like Southwest Airlines. )

I don’t know. Given the circumstances, four weeks seemed a tad leisurely. However, there were also some different nuances at play that shook up how it normally would have been done.

What say you? Am I tripping? What do you think about paternity leave? How much is a good amount? And if your spouse has been on paternity leave, did you find it useful after week two?

Everyone’s situation is so unique, so I’m excited to hear the responses and prepare for this week’s podcast. I’ll probably invite my husband as well because he’ll absolutely have a different opinion (and/or recollection) than mine. Stay tuned!