Comments on: Advocating for Family Leave Time http://greenbabyguide.com/2009/05/13/advocating-for-family-leave-time/ Earth Friendly, Budget Friendly Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:24:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Jaime http://greenbabyguide.com/2009/05/13/advocating-for-family-leave-time/comment-page-1/#comment-2778 Jaime Fri, 15 May 2009 22:14:30 +0000 http://greenbabyguide.com/?p=2774#comment-2778 I have posted about this before, but our solution to the maternity-leave problem was for me to quit my job. This required a lot of maneuvering..we moved to a smaller apartment in a different location so that my husband could take public transportation to work (and save on rent..no buying a house for us yet). By doing that we were able to sell one of our cars. We both worked overtime to get credit cards, etc., paid off before the baby was born and we now live on a budget. I make all of our meals and since my husband isn't opposed to eating vegetarian we save even more money. We don't go out much, but we don't really want to. We would rather spend our time together with our baby. Overall, the situation has worked out for us and is "green" as well. I have posted about this before, but our solution to the maternity-leave problem was for me to quit my job. This required a lot of maneuvering..we moved to a smaller apartment in a different location so that my husband could take public transportation to work (and save on rent..no buying a house for us yet). By doing that we were able to sell one of our cars. We both worked overtime to get credit cards, etc., paid off before the baby was born and we now live on a budget. I make all of our meals and since my husband isn’t opposed to eating vegetarian we save even more money. We don’t go out much, but we don’t really want to. We would rather spend our time together with our baby. Overall, the situation has worked out for us and is “green” as well.

]]> By: Mama Zen http://greenbabyguide.com/2009/05/13/advocating-for-family-leave-time/comment-page-1/#comment-2770 Mama Zen Thu, 14 May 2009 22:09:51 +0000 http://greenbabyguide.com/?p=2774#comment-2770 I love the solution that you came up with for the Spanish class! I love the solution that you came up with for the Spanish class!

]]> By: Larisa http://greenbabyguide.com/2009/05/13/advocating-for-family-leave-time/comment-page-1/#comment-2768 Larisa Thu, 14 May 2009 21:15:47 +0000 http://greenbabyguide.com/?p=2774#comment-2768 I am so impressed by your creativity--that Spanish language and art class sounds awesome! I was fortunate enough to get 18 weeks off (federal + WA state leave) when I had my son--plus a bonus week for having a C-section. I also had a great boss--I told her that my first week back, I was going to take a 2-hour lunch break every day so I could go home and nurse and just be with my baby, and she was fine with that. Then, the following summer as my son turned 1, I negotiated that rather than taking a "big" summer vacation, I was just going to take every Friday off in June, July, and August. My heart goes out to those women who cannot afford to take even the 12 weeks because they can't afford to lose the income. Those early weeks go by so fast and are irreplaceable. I am so impressed by your creativity–that Spanish language and art class sounds awesome!

I was fortunate enough to get 18 weeks off (federal + WA state leave) when I had my son–plus a bonus week for having a C-section. I also had a great boss–I told her that my first week back, I was going to take a 2-hour lunch break every day so I could go home and nurse and just be with my baby, and she was fine with that. Then, the following summer as my son turned 1, I negotiated that rather than taking a “big” summer vacation, I was just going to take every Friday off in June, July, and August.

My heart goes out to those women who cannot afford to take even the 12 weeks because they can’t afford to lose the income. Those early weeks go by so fast and are irreplaceable.

]]> By: karalee http://greenbabyguide.com/2009/05/13/advocating-for-family-leave-time/comment-page-1/#comment-2766 karalee Thu, 14 May 2009 19:15:24 +0000 http://greenbabyguide.com/?p=2774#comment-2766 I am lucky enough to have a husband who quit his job to become a stay-at-home dad when our first son was born. I have a very stable job with great benefits, so that part made sense for us... but when it came time for maternity leave... I had a bit of a dilema... I work for a very small company and me being gone for 12 weeks was actually very difficult for them. I came up with a plan to hire someone part-time from a temp-agency to help cover my absence and went back after only 10 weeks off... BUT I negotiated to take most Wednesdays off for the first 6 months or so. I can't even tell you how much I looked foward to those breaks in the middle of the week to "sleep in" and spend an extra day with my son. With our second son (23 months later) we also got a temp at work... but this time I came back after about 9 weeks... I had been off for 3 weeks prior to delivery for stress related issues (work was making me NUTS!). Again, I was able to take Wednesdays off for a while, and even now that our baby is 10 months old, I try and get off work a few hours early at least once a week to balance things out. Once in a while, I even go get a pedicure or haircut in those few extra precious hours - we all know how hard it is to get "me" time. I think it definitely helps to have a plan and solutions to any "what if" questions your boss may come up with before talking to them about your leave. Be strong... our babies need us and are only babies for such a short time! I am lucky enough to have a husband who quit his job to become a stay-at-home dad when our first son was born. I have a very stable job with great benefits, so that part made sense for us… but when it came time for maternity leave… I had a bit of a dilema… I work for a very small company and me being gone for 12 weeks was actually very difficult for them. I came up with a plan to hire someone part-time from a temp-agency to help cover my absence and went back after only 10 weeks off… BUT I negotiated to take most Wednesdays off for the first 6 months or so.

I can’t even tell you how much I looked foward to those breaks in the middle of the week to “sleep in” and spend an extra day with my son. With our second son (23 months later) we also got a temp at work… but this time I came back after about 9 weeks… I had been off for 3 weeks prior to delivery for stress related issues (work was making me NUTS!).

Again, I was able to take Wednesdays off for a while, and even now that our baby is 10 months old, I try and get off work a few hours early at least once a week to balance things out. Once in a while, I even go get a pedicure or haircut in those few extra precious hours – we all know how hard it is to get “me” time.

I think it definitely helps to have a plan and solutions to any “what if” questions your boss may come up with before talking to them about your leave. Be strong… our babies need us and are only babies for such a short time!

]]> By: Cathy http://greenbabyguide.com/2009/05/13/advocating-for-family-leave-time/comment-page-1/#comment-2764 Cathy Thu, 14 May 2009 14:37:09 +0000 http://greenbabyguide.com/?p=2774#comment-2764 getting maternity leave was so stressful, but I worked for a big enough company to get 12 weeks off, which is barely enough time! That's great your bosses worked with you. getting maternity leave was so stressful, but I worked for a big enough company to get 12 weeks off, which is barely enough time! That’s great your bosses worked with you.

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