Tough call

I think one of the hardest parts of being a working parent is trying to deal with my baby being sick on a regular basis. I think it might qualify as some form of torture to watch someone who is so tiny and helpless get sick over and over. Then you have to try and decide when the baby is just a little sick and when she is really sick. Like now. It's 5:00am, and Roxanne is very fussy. She has a cough and a fever of 101.3. Of course, my mother hen instincts tell me I should take her to the emergency room, but after googling "baby fever 101" I find that since she's over six months old and her fever is under 103, it will be fine to give her some Tylenol and try to console her back to sleep. So I will wake up in the morning, call the pediatrician's office, and try to figure out whether or not I've used up all of my leave at work. My sick leave is definitely gone, and I'm pretty well through my vacation time, too. Not for a vacation, but for baby illness. I have to point out that I don't mind staying home with Roxanne when she's ill. In fact, I love it. Not that she's ill, but just getting a whole day with her. But there is so much stress when you are a working mom. My job is very busy and when I'm out, it's difficult to catch up. Plus, I'm always worried that my employer is going to finally just fire me for missing work. But I had to go back when Roxanne was only 7 weeks old, and her immune system will probably take a year to catch up (according to her doctor).

I wish that I lived in Switzerland or Canada where they have longer maternity and paternity leave. America has a long way to go in this area.