Cryptosporidium – not the type of crypto I was personally hoping for in 2024, but okay kids let's get through this one too.
Over the last 2 years, we have battled adenovirus, hand foot and mouth, rotavirus, norovirus G2, coronavirus, influenza, human metapneumovirus, RSV, rhinovirus... the list goes on. Our eldest baby has now been diagnosed with "kindy wheeze," a form of asthma that requires treatment with Ventolin.
We're an inner-city family with a teenager in grade 12. While our urban lifestyle might expose us to a few extra bugs, according to doctors, we're not unique. Since the COVID pandemic, most families have experienced at least one hospital visit with each baby in their first year, and the range of superbugs circulating through kindergartens is alarming.
The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne published an article stating:
“It is common for healthy children to have up to 12 viral illnesses per year in the first few years of life. It is also common for children to get sick from one virus shortly after getting better from a different one, so it can seem they are sick all the time.”
We know a human’s immune system doesn’t fully mature until they reach 3-4 years old. Parental leave, however, lasts between 6 to 12 months at most… This leaves a median gap of 1.5 years for working parents to try to conduct their work duties at usual capacity while caring for one very sick baby, or however many they have under 4 years of age. Based on the Royal Children's Hospital as well as every doctor you will speak to, this will happen roughly 12 times a year, per child. So, any sick leave entitlements will likely be stored and saved primarily for when the baby gets sick, not the parents.
Most grandparents in our day and age are still working, reducing the ability for family members to help. Additionally, many people with larger families have been forced to move away from their relatives earlier on in search of career opportunities and affordable living.
Despite my personal frustration with the government childcare benefit scheme not offering the option of one carer looking after 2 plus babies at home instead of having to take them to a center where they’re associating with 50 plus other babies every day— which, by the way, seems to be a perfectly logical solution to me— there is a positive takeaway.
Since we were all forced to work from home during the pandemic, the working parent landscape has been significantly reshaped. Although it's still incredibly challenging to work from home while looking after sick children (let's face it, it is), it does mean that many of us are able to continue working at our full capacity with the flexibility we need.
I've been with a company for almost 5 years that not only supports the ever-evolving status of my young family’s health and circumstances but also encourages me to succeed by providing me with the flexibility I need to continue moving forward. While, of course, this takes commitment to delivering on my deadlines, we have implemented systems that make it just as easy to conduct work from home as in the office. So, I have never had to feel bad about my circumstances. I am provided a supportive, nurturing environment that affords me the freedom to perform despite the unpredictable hurdles.
One of the most important takeaways that I have gleaned from this stage of my own life, as well as the feedback we all receive working in legal recruitment, is that some flexibility fosters success and the opportunity to continue working with momentum.
If you are considering starting a family soon, now is a really good time to ask yourself whether you have the flexibility you will need to get through the first 4 years of that stage in your life.
Author - Kirra Parke