I just had a baby. She has not had any vaccinations yet, and she is too young. Yet my catholic employer thinks I should return to work next week. I will never understand how parental leave and childcare is not the #1 issue of the prolife movement.

Thankfully I will be working virtually, but if I needed to go to campus, I can’t yet walk as far as my commute requires. Take that in: I am not physically recovered enough to commute.

I was up from 3-5 am last night, because that’s typical newborn behavior. To think that I will be entrusted with major decisions when I’m running on no sleep is absurd.

The idea that my job— again, at a catholic employer— expects me to send an 8 week old baby to a daycare in the midst of a pandemic is beyond me. And that they expect me to me mentally, emotionally, and physically recovered after a major surgery is just not realistic.

And I can’t even take unpaid leave because I’m not eligible for FMLA. Thankfully I have some PTO to get me to be able to go to my baby’s 2 month appointment for vaccines. But this should not be the situation anywhere, let alone a catholic university.

I’m tweeting this all not because my situation is unique, but because it’s so typical. And this is actually an improvement that was instituted July 1 thanks to DC’s new paid family leave program. So my democrat run city is helping my catholic employer value life and family.