Two month old Madison is telling us she’s sad about her mom returning to work this week. Without paid parental leave, her mom had no choice. Sign our pledge and join us in demanding better treatment of our nation’s babies.
By Julie Weatherston |
A Picture Paints A Thousand Words
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I am Madison’s Nana. Her mommy Chelle’, is my daughter. She wants so badly to be at home with Madison and her 3 1/2 year old son, Gavin. Financially, for the family, she needs to work. Her husband, Brandon is taking the next 5 weeks off for family leave (reduced salary) allowed here in California. However, they are not sure what the long term plan will be. As a Special Education Teacher, Chelle’ has the summer off starting June 15. I will be using one week of my vacation and Brandon’s extended family are hoping to fill in until Chelle’s summer break. This kind of juggling is the norm for many families and it’s not OK. I signed the “For Our Babies” pledge and hope you will too….We are their voices! –Laurie, from Fresno, CA……..
Laurie, Thank you for sharing Madison’s photo and your family’s story. Sadly, without paid parental leave policies, this kind of return to work (when a baby is 6-8 weeks old) is the norm for many parents in the United States. Unfortunately quality infant care is rare and expensive which creates an even more difficult situation for working families and potentially dire consequences for infants. Thank you for signing our pledge and joining us in demanding better beginnings for babies.
From Chelle’, Madison’s mommy:
Chelle’ Clark-Eilts: I’m very sad that I have to leave my little ones to go to work tomorrow! At least daddy will be home with them for a while. Wish I could be home with them…
Monday at 10:56pm on facebook· Like
When will we as a culture begin to embrace those most vulnerable in our population? Bringing little people into the world and having the time, resources and relational support to raise human beings in ways which engender health, motivation, compassion for self and others is not an “entitlement”; it is the source of all hope for our survival as a species.
Well said Dr. Moore….
Martha Moore via Laurie Morrow-Clark
This is an important issue…check it out, friends and family. Tiny babies have a hard time signing pledges and getting to the voting booth on election day. We could support them with our strong voices to let our nation’s leaders know that families with very young children need paid leave so they can be at home with these littlest Americans in the most important developmental year.
I don’t know how mommies do it today..- I really don’t. When I was raising my little ones, I was able to stay home with them for their first few years. Granted, money was short, but at least I had the “option”. That is just not possible these days and that is so sad!! I am gladly signing this petition and will forward this information to everyone I know! God bless all the mommies and daddies of young children today!
My name is Chelle Eilts and I am the proud mother of Madison (2.5 months old) and her 3.5 year old brother Gavin. Madison was born on January 30th, 2012 via cesarean. After delivering Madison, I was told I could take off up to eight weeks to recover and care for my new baby, however, my pay would be reduced. Regardless of the pay reduction, I was excited to be home with my children and felt that new adjustments could be made to our budget. About one week after my c-section however, I started experiencing immense pain in my abdomen to the point in which it hurt to hold Madison. After visiting the doctor, I discovered that I had an internal infection and nerve entrapment caused by the delivery. My doctor extended my maternity leave by two weeks, making my leave a total of 10 weeks. I was excited that I was going to be able to stay home with Madison and Gavin for an additional two weeks despite the circumstances. I went back to work last week and cannot express in words how hard it was to leave my newborn baby. I feel saddened that the systems we have in place seem to not recognize the importance of mothers (or fathers) caring for their babies during the first year of life. I am a special education teacher, and although I love working with my students and families, I feel that the energy I am putting forth to care for, teach, and provide a safe and nurturing environment for my students is taking away from my children. I arrive home from work exhausted from my day, and although I am excited to see my precious Madison and Gavin, I feel that I am not able to fully relax and enjoy the time I do have with my children due to the anticipation of work the next day. I am signing this pledge because I feel that policies need to be changed to allow for mothers and/or fathers to stay home with their babies for an extended period of time during their first year of life. Leaving my children at such a young age is the hardest thing I have ever encountered. It breaks my heart knowing that I might miss out on hearing my baby’s first giggle, her first word, crawling, or other developmental milestones. Something needs to change…..
Chelle’ honey….The 6 months I stayed home with you and Stacey (who is 5 yrs. older) were the best years of my life. I still vividly remember how my body shook from overwhelming emotion when I handed each of you over to the person who would take care of you while I was work. I felt sad and angry that I would miss out on this part of time of critical brain development and developmental milestones. Plus, I was your mom, not them! I wanted to take care of you because I was in love….with my babies….It didn’t seem fair. I cried often. And now, you are faced with the same dilemma…..It’s just wrong. I didn’t want to live on the system. I paid in for many years with my jobs….I just would have liked to have been on paid leave receiving 100% of my money for the first 9-12 months of you lives. Then, go back to work. So many people abuse the system and get paid for doing nothing. That is DIFFERENT. Thanks for signing this very important petition. I wish I could quit my job and watch my grandbabies, but, I can’t afford to…..I will just “love on them” when I can. Hang in there….summer is almost here and you’ll have a few months with Madison and Gavin. 🙂 Love you, Mom
Thank you Martha, Laurie, Linda and Chelle’ for your support for the For Our Babies campaign. Chelle’s and Madison’s real life story is such a powerful example of the pain so many families today are experiencing. We need more brave people like Chelle’ to speak up and share their stories. We need more people like all of you to sign our pledge and demand better for our babies! Together we will do this!