I remember my mornings before kindergarten class and how much I enjoyed the time being at home and relaxing. My mother would make me a quick lunch, which I ate while watching The Puzzle Place on PBS, before she would drive me to school.
My mother chose to stay home with me and my older sister to raise us while my dad worked full-time until we were both in elementary school. She then returned to work part-time at a senior citizens’ home and then eventually got a job working in our school’s cafeteria.
But that was a long time ago when a family could live off of one salary, when childcare wouldn’t cost you your first born, when POGS and crimped hair were cool.
It was also when gay families and the LGBT community in general were beginning to fight their way out of the margins of society into which they were shoved.
But the times are changing. And family leave needs to catch up.