I have no choice but to end my mat leave early...

[KimberleyDawn]

and I'm really upset and need a shoulder to cry on cause dh isn't home yet! I'm entitled to 12 months paid leave which would put me going back to work in January 2004, lucky me! I just got a call from the daycare which I have been on a waiting list since I first found out I was pg and they informed me that they will have a spot for William in Nov. only and can't promise me anything will be available in January. I used this daycare centre with Christopher and they were amazing and I can't imagine William going anywhere else but the thought of going back to work early is upsetting. In my mind I still had 4 months to be with William and know it is less that 2 full months. If I give my spot up it could be another 6 months to a year before they had another opening and we just can't afford any unpaid time off after January. I know that I should just be grateful for the time I have had and prepare for the change but I just can't get over the disappointment.
Kim

[amp]

I worked at a daycare for awhile, and I know they didn't do part time for infants, but is there any chance that they would take you part time and then extend you to full time come Jan? That way you could keep your maternity leave going and keep the daycare too. I suppose the answer would be "no" because they need to fill the slot, but it was just a thought to try and help you find a solution. Maybe by posting here you'll get some other solutions you hadn't thought of. What a bummer!

[stella]

Could you just pay for the spot and stay home til January? If your maternity leave is paid, is it really any more expensive to pay for the open slot, but not use it than it would be to work and use the slot?

It seems like a waste of money, but not if you'd rather have the baby home with you anyway. Or maybe you could pay full-time and use the daycare part-time for running errands, etc.

It would be so hard to go back earlier than expected, I hope this all works out for you.

[Roleysmom]

Kim,

I had the same thought as Claire -- pay for the daycare but don't actually enroll William until January. I can see how you would not want to jeopardize your spot, especially given your good experience with your older son. I also can imagine how disappointing it would be to leave him a full two months earlier than expected. Maybe this is a way around that.

Good luck with your decision.

Paula- mom to Roley Julia 01-04-02

[KimberleyDawn]

It would be too financially difficult to pay for a FT spot (just over $1200/ month) and not be working. I was topped up by my employer to 85% of my salary for the 1st 6 months and now I'm only receiving the 55% the government pays for the year. We are going to try and crunch numbers again but I don't think it will work since we just bought a bigger house in July. Thanks anyway for the suggestion.
Kim

[McQ]

So disappointing. But so fantastic that you work for a company that gives you 12 months mostly paid. I know it must be so upsetting to lose that time you were going to have with your son. Especially over the holidays when you really could use the extra time off. Maybe that could be the gift you give yourself.

I actually had the opposite thing happen to me. My company gives 4 weeks off before the birth (plus whatever if you go late) and 6 weeks after. And those 4 weeks could not be moved to end if you go early. And sure enough my son decided to arrive 5 weeks early so I missed out on the 4 weeks I had to prepare for his arrival (and I hadn't done anything since I thought I'd have 4 weeks to do things). But I did get to be with him that much sooner which was nice but a bummer I lost that time and scrambled by that first month.

Allison
~ mommy to Declan 3.24.03

[KimberleyDawn]

Everyone is entitled to 1 year paid leave but my employer didn't have to top me up that was there own policy. I think it's horrible to be rushed back to work 6-12 weeks after you have a baby! Even before they changed the law to 1 year a few years back we were still entitled to 6 months paid. I think that all you women that go back so soon are extremely strong.
Kim

[McQ]

Kim ~ Can you please explain what you mean by everyone is entitlted to 1 year paid. I know you made reference to getting 55% from the government but I just assumed that was arrangement from your company or you worked for the government. I had no idea about the 1 year or even 6 months. Where can I get info on this? All I knew about was the FLMA which is unpaid. And then my employer also gives a new parent leave (also unpaid). I thought the purpose of both of these were to guarantee you'd have you job if you needed to be off to care for your child. And you could use your leave if you wanted it paid.

I took additional time (I'd been hoarding my leave) so I was able to be home past the 6 weeks. It was hard coming back but I knew he was being taken care of very well. Just wished it had been from his mommy.

Thanks

Allison
~ mommy to Declan 3.24.03

[KimberleyDawn]

I'm sorry but I should have explained that I live in Canada and those are the rules here for mat leave.
Kim

[McQ]

Ah. That makes sense now. Nice perk. Hope it works out for you.

Allison
~ mommy to Declan 3.24.03