Oh Baby!

America sucks! Last year my best friend Jessica had postpartum depression. When she told me I was at a lost. I was shock and I didn’t know what to say, however I did what any best friend would do…I listened. She explained to me that she was sad all the time, and felt a shame for leaving her daughter in the hands of a childcare provider. She experience this great bond with her baby, and just twelve weeks later she had to return to work due to finances.

Postpartum depression occurs after a baby is born. Mothers experience mood swings, crying spells, anxiety, depression etc. This can proceed weeks or even months post pregnancy. Post partum depression is a serious illness and should be treated right away.

After hearing what Jessica witnessed, this encouraged me to see what my job offered employees for maternity leave.  It just so happen I ran into a co-worker who was pregnant. She explained to me that she could not take any vacations because she had to use the entire time of her PTO (paid time off) for maternity leave. I thought employees were given twelve weeks of maternity leave with job security. I didn’t know employees had to make sure they had the time in order to go on leave.

Why do we have to go through this? Citizens work hard in this country. Don’t they think we deserve to spend more time with our newborn? It makes me sick to my stomach when I see people returning to work shortly after delivering a baby. I think this country needs to be a little more caring when it comes to this issue.

I would love to experience my baby growing during their first year of life. From the Huffington Post there is a list categorized by countries, of the weeks they provide for maternity leave. The United States gives 12 weeks with only job security. There is no national program, and cash benefit varies state by state. Did you know other countries help with childcare assistance in addition to job security? France allows 16 weeks, but the government allows a family allowance until the child turns 20. Imagine that!

Finland government give mothers a maturity care package that provides the necessity pregnant moms need. On top of that, they give their citizens public childcare up until the child turns seven. If a parent opts out of the childcare program, they will receive paid leave the first three years of their child’s life. It boggles my mind that America thinks it’s easy to pop out a baby and go back to work as if a life-changing event didn’t happen.

Let’s take a look at what other countries do shall we?

Iceland gives mothers and fathers three months for maturity leave, which can be taken by either parent. Awesome Sauce! That’s a total of nine months. Iceland citizens also receive 80 percent of their wages, so parents are not struggling to meet basic needs.

Switzerland gives 14 weeks of maternity leave and pay 80 percent of wages.

 

Germany gives 14 weeks of maternity leave and pay 100 percent of wages. I wouldn’t mind taking that!

Canada gives 17-52 weeks of paid leave, wages are 55 percent for the first 17 weeks and the rest of the wages depends on province.

Get this! Latvia gives 112 days of maternity leave with 100 percent of wages.

Italy gives 5 months of maternity with 80 percent of wages. Woo hoo!

The list goes on and on, but I am sure you get the point.

 

The first year of my newborn, I don’t want to feel guilty to leave them because I have to go back to work. There have been a lot of political debates about maternity leave, and I am curious to see what happens once the next president is in office. For now I will keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best! Do you think America should give more time for maternity and paternity leave? I know I am not the only one ranting and raving about this issue. What are you thoughts? 

Growing up 90's Style

Very Much So! 

Internet killed the fun! Growing up in the 90s was mind blowing. There were no iPhones, Facebook, and you didn’t have to worry about someone posting a video of you online. They (whoever they are) said that 80s babies were the last generation to have fun before technology made its growth spurt. I was born in 1987, but raised in the 90s. My childhood memories involved me running around with the neighborhood kids, and fond memories of my mother telling me to take a shower because I smell like outside. 

Oh how I miss being a kid! Not because I have to pay bills and be responsible, (ok I lied) but also because I lived a carefree life. Take a moment and come down memory lane with me as I reminisce on being a kid...this should be fun.

While searching the internet I was able to come up with these memories with helpful links from

Puckermob.com

Game System

Super Nintendo 

When my brother received Nintendo for Christmas he’d sneak on it all the time on school nights. I would get envious because he rarely got caught. When coming home from school my mom played it hogging up our playtime. We all wanted to play on the game system and it was evident the Nintendo was taking over our lives, well except for my dad’s because he was working. My brother would be player 1 and I followed behind as player 2. We played Mario’s World and sat up for hours trying to beat one level. The different boards were fascinating and we went through a lot just to rescue a princess. Who would of thought a small man with red overalls could have so much superpowers?

Sega Genesis also became popular in the 90s, which brought some competition to Nintendo (I guess). Sonic was the face of Sega Genesis and kids would compare which one was better. I loved playing Sega Genesis and having Tails as my player. Mortal Kombat was also another popular game and people would get into serious arguments over who was going to be who...oh yea, it was serious! 

Television

90s television shows kept houses contained. However, there’s nothing like Saturday morning cartoons. I would eat my bowl of cereal with my pajamas on watching cartoons until noon. Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network seemed to be at a battle, but I was a Nickelodeon kid, Cartoon Network never had a chance after I watched reruns of Doug, Hey Arnold, and the infamously Rugrats. Family shows were also a 90s favorite. The Prince of Bel-Air, Martin, In Living Color, and Living Single caught my attention during the week nights. Conversations at the school lunch table was at its all time high when talking about these shows.

Cassette Tape

Music

Cassette tapes were famous and people were known to have a boom box in close distance. If the tape became messed up sticking a number 2 pencil inside the circle and rewinding it, was the way to put it back in its place. They were fun to have and easy to record over. Side A was mostly popular than side B, but before CD’s and iTunes cassette tapes were an importance in the 90s!

Free and AJ from 106&Park

Music videos became famous and as a preteen watching 106 & Park was a must. It was something about guessing who was going to be number one that was exciting. Some days it was obvious while other times it was hard to tell. Free and AJ were the host that made 106 & Park come alive. Celebrities that were at the peak of their career stopped by to talk about their album, and a performance from a celeb was a bonus. Every teen in the 90s ran home to watch the show at 6:00pm. It seemed as if watching it was a bundle of fun and a remarkable memory.

AOL

Growing up in the 90s was pretty simple. AOL landed its stomping grounds into many homes. My cousins would argue all the time about who was getting on. We didn’t care how long dial up would take, getting in the chatrooms was exciting. But, if someone was on the computer you better not pick up the phone or the computer would mess up. A person spent hours online chatting with a complete stranger and for some reason that was okay. The more chat rooms the better the conversations appeared to be. There's something about hitting those keys behind a keyboard that made people fell powerful. 

America Online