Paternity leave 2.0

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And everything started with this Tweet: “Working from home :) Thanks @Accenture_AR for the flexible schedule for parents, and my team for the support! @SergioGKaufman #TrulyHuman”

Malena Victoria, who would fall asleep only in our arms by that time, turned one month old that day. I had managed to take her from my arms to my lap, to be able to have a conference call (that’s why the headset’s cable crosses the blanket diagonally). Meanwhile, in our bedroom Mum was taking the chance to catch up on sleep from the night before.

My daughter Malena was born on Tuesday 6/6 at 6. From then until Thursday morning we stayed at the clinic “Maternidad Suizo Argentina”, where we could rely on doctors, nurses and even room service. The true challenge came up when we were discharged from the maternity clinic and went back home. In other companies I would have had to go back to work on that Thursday (after the two days provided by law for paternity leave), and my wife would have had to face alone Malena’s welcome to our home. Instead, I enjoyed eight additional days because of the extended paternity leave employee benefit (ten work days in total).
Being there those first days is key. Although the mother’s presence is crucial, quoting a colleague:

We (fathers) are the support team: changing diapers, cleaning and sterilizing baby bottles, preparing and giving the bottle, burping your baby, driving to neonatology exams, and the list goes on…

By the end of my extended leave, our home had developed a kind of rhythm: the three of us had settled into our roles, and my wife and I had distributed the tasks in an attempt to equally share the load. Fortunately, then came AccenFlex for parents: another benefit that gave me for three months the ACN usual two work-from-home days plus the other three days of the week half-and-half. I chose working from home in the morning and at the office the other half of the day. The routine(-less) days (because babies don’t easily get into a routine) don’t stop at the end of the leave and the flexible schedule helps you to spend more time with your family.

My wife is saying: “If you’re planning to have a child, you’d better have it with someone who works for ACN”.