The Parental Leave Playbook

Chapter NineTouchpoint 5 Appropriately Keep in Touch

IN OUR COUNTRY'S 24/7 culture, the competing demands of work and home can feel all-consuming. You are now adding to that mix a new child, completely dependent on you for their survival. Something has got to give! During leave is when you put your paid work on the back burner and take time to focus on your new family constellation. That being said, it is still common for companies to pressure new parents to work or for new parents to want or need to work at their own discretion during leave.

In retrospect, many parents wish they had set firmer boundaries. Take Nora, for example: “I continued to check in and do work while I was in labor at the hospital. Seriously, what was I thinking?” This is the only time your child is young. Important as your work may feel, keep in perspective that statistically speaking, you will be at another job within five years, while your child, though yours always, will never be new to you again. Your leave is also a short time frame to learn this parenting job, and it is to everyone's advantage for you to learn it well. Part of what you will need to learn, now that you have met your new child and have a better understanding of their needs, is where you want to set boundaries between your home and work spheres and how you will monitor and adjust them along the way. Because of the rare breathing space our culture sometimes permits during parental leave, it is a perfect time to start practicing setting ...