Since my own boss once upon a time was on bed rest for her last four weeks of pregnancy and gave birth to her child at 32 weeks, she’s been extremely empathetic in making sure that my transition into motherhood from a work perspective will be smooth. We’ve been talking a little at a time about my transition plan for all my customer accounts for the last six weeks, and right now, the plan is to have all my accounts fully transitioned to a handful of my colleagues by mid-November, or the 35th to 36th week mark. We never know when the baby will choose to come, especially early, so it’s best to be prepared. By mid-November, I will no longer have any active role in my accounts and will only shadow calls and provide guidance if and when needed by my colleagues. It feels really good to have a manager who is supportive, empathetic, and doesn’t want to see me suffer through the transition into motherhood.

I officially get 16 weeks of maternity leave off at my company, but my manager is completely fine with my taking paid time off on top of that whether it’s before the official leave begins or ends. I’m grateful for the time I get off plus the flexibility from my manager, but I cannot help but think that while this is great by U.S. standards, it’s pretty sad by global standards since most developed, rich countries will give an entire year off to new moms. In addition, our own Congress right now is deadlocked trying to roll out a paid family leave plan, and while the Democrats originally wanted 12 weeks, it’s now being slashed to barely four weeks if not less to appease idiotic, short sighted “moderate” Democrats and selfish Republicans who think that lazy Americans shouldn’t be relying on the government for benefits. It is so disgusting to me how little this country values parents and children, and it’s clear from the way we spend money that we truly do not give a shit about the plight of parents, caregivers, and the future generations of the people who will eventually be taking charge of this country. It’s even more disgusting how some people choose to justify the status quo and insist that it shouldn’t be on the government to help and give money to those who “choose” to become parents…. as though society does not benefit from these children, who will eventually become adults and our future.