Interesting day off… and big news to announce!

I had a simple plan for today mapped out. First, I had planned to spend the morning at the gym with Ethan and give Leah and Jonathan a little peace to relax. You see, for an extra $4 I can drop off Ethan at a small daycare that is inside the gym and their daycare staff will watch him for 90 mins while I work out. I like doing this cause it gets Ethan outside and playing with other kids for a while, and usually on the way home I take Ethan to the park to play around. By the time we get back, he’s exhausted and ready to nap. I had planned to use that nap time to clean the house up and do a little laundry. Such a shame that is never what I was able to do.

Why not? Cause Leah had a job interview. Yesterday, she got a call from a company she had applied for and they asked her to come in this morning for an in person inverview. They booked her for 9am, so I had to call the gym and cancel my 9am work out. Well, I had to call the gym cause I had scheduled my monthy workout and consult with my personal trainer and had to reschedule. Steve (my trainer) called back and rebooked me for 2pm instead, so I could still work out with Steve, but couldn’t take Ethan with me cause daycare was in the mornings only. Little crink in the plan happens all the time, you adjust and move on.

After what happened with Leah’s previous interview, I didn’t say anything and just made her relax before she went out. When she came home, she had another curve to toss my way. They liked her so much they asked her to come back for another interview at 1pm. I didn’t have to cancel my appointment with Steve, I just had to cab into the gym intead of walk to get in there on time. She seemed to do all right, cause while I was at the gym working out… they called back and offered the job to her and asked her to start working on Monday. This is awesome, and I really think hear previous missed interview made her more cofident and ready for this one and she aced it big time. I’m very proud of how she handled herself. The fact that they offered her the job the same day as the interview means they were super impressed with her.

One thing I knew before this job was offered is that her training for the new job would require her to start at 4:30pm everday for the first month. This was a problem because I finish work at 5:15pm, so there is a time conflict where taking care of the kids are concerned. This is a problem cause we can’t afford daycare for an infant, which can run up to as much as $1000 per month. This conflict would only occur during her training. After a month, she would start at 6:30 or 7pm and that would be fine for both of us. A little close, but workable. But the first month was going to be a problem. Yet while talking to my trainer during my grueling back and bicep workout, I knew and accapted what needed to be done to solve the problem.

Leah is on maternity leave, so we contacted EI (employment insurance) to ask them how many weeks was left on her leave. They answer was 14 weeks, which means she could be off of work until mid December. According to Canadian law, if the lady of the house wants to go back to work early, the man of the house can go home and finish what’s left the maternity leave and stay home and take care of the kids. For men to do that is called “Paternal Leave”. I talked to EI when I got home, and not only did I qualify to take this leave, I could do it at anytime and without notice to the center.

So this is the decision that Leah and I came up with. She starts work on Monday, so between now and that day I’m going to keep working at the center and clock as much OT as I can between now and then. Monday morning about eight hours before she starts her first shift, I’m going to go into HR at the Center and go on Paternal Leave. I’m going to take a four month paid leave and stay home and be with my boys. This way there will be no conflict and when I got back to work in November/December we’ll both be able to work without having to pay for daycare costs through the roof.

The decision was an easy one for me. I want to get away from the center and have a break, and this provides me with a good chance to be with the boys and have a break without haveing to quit which I have been tempted to do on serveral occassions over the last two months. This also gives Leah a chance to get back out there and do some work, which I could tell that she’s been dying to do for months. I know she wants to get out of the house, so it’s my turn to stay home and watch the boys and let her go out and interact with the real world for a change. The job she has is also an upgrade from her previous, to so deny her the chance to do something better than what she had before would be unfair, and she deserves this chance after all the hard work she’s done at home.

The decision is pretty much final, starting Monday I will temporarily leaving the center to take on the role of Mr. Mom. I have I’ve got two shifts left and I plan to do one OT shift on my day off to clock as many hours as I can before the big day. That way the loss on my next cheque will be minimal and We’ll be able to hang in there until my own EI kicks in to cover my patarnal leave. I love my boys, so being home with them to share time with them and hang out with them would be an honor and I can’t wait to do it. I think it’s going to be hard, but very rewarding work… and I’ll be able to do some serious bonding with by my kids and you can’t put a price tag on stuff like that.

So that was my day off. I was expecting something a little low key… but it turned out to be a little interesting. I’ve madet his a favorites only entry because I’m going to keep this ‘paternal leave’ thing hush hush until I actually drop the bomb on the center on Monday. That day when I actually start my leave is when I’ll make a more public announcement for the rest of OD and everyone else here on the island. I think my friends at work will be a tad shocked, but I think this is the best thing to do. For Leah’s sanity, and for my own as well. So what do you guys think? Are you all ready for read a ton of Mr. Mom entries in the months to come?

Peter