Today is Kid’s Day.
Here at #AltDevBlogADay we’re going to celebrate by talking about a couple of the kids in our group to represent the many, many children loved and adored by parents who post on this site. And to remind ourselves that our kids probably teach us more than we could ever teach them.
Since our daughter is only days old and I have still to wrap my head around the fact that I’m the father of the little gorgeoud creature above, I thought I’d just share some thoughts on paternal leave, and how it works here in Sweden. Parents get 480 days of paid paternal leave by the government, during which you get 80% (roughly) of your normal income as benefit. The days can be divided freely between the two parents, and if you split them equally the government give you some extra cash as equality bonus. You also get 10 extra days in connection with the birth, to allow you to stay at the hospital for a couple of days and get everything sorted at home. Oh, and of course all the care and services at the hospital is free.
The paternal leave is protected by law, the employer cannot deny you your days off. Not that I would have any issues with that, since Starbreeze is very parent-friendly. As an added perk, after the 10 days leave in connection with the birth I get one month where I can work only 80% but still get paid 100%. Yay!
All in all, I’m very happy with the Swedish way of doing things, and I’m really looking forward to taking care of my newborn daughter. I’m sure it will be a blast, and that I will actually end up with a healthy new way of looking at work and my passion for programming.
I have 3 kids, pictured (attached) playing in my parents garden from left to right: Dylan (9), Karl (6) and Rose (2).
Dylan was born severely premature, and has been diagnosed with Dubowitz Syndrome.
Karl is a normal little boy. Rose was not premature, but has some developmental delays that suggest she may also have mild Dubowitz.
The boys are at school right now, and I’m looking after Rose (I have the day off work). My wife is some kind of saint/ miracle worker looking after them full time!
This email has taken me something like 30mins to write just looking after Rose, and I have no idea how working from home can be productive with kids in the house!
The boys love playing DSi, Wii, and web-games. The “Lego” games (Batman, Star Wars, etc) are their favourites on DS, and on Wii they like to play Ben10, Gormiti, Sonic Colours, and Wii Fit.
As a parent, gamer, and game developer, I feel strongly that game age ratings should work, and be respected by both the industry and consumers. Adult themed games have as much a place in society as equivalent movies, and that it is a parents responsibility to audit what their children are exposed too, on TV, games, and the internet.
Our kids
Now get to bed! Clean your room! Do your homework! :)
Mike.
PS: My own daughter says I should add: “Good dads would want to give their daughters rides early tomorrow morning. And would want to give them some spending money.”