Now, a few words on maternal leave.

Federal law requires employers to grant all employees up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave to care for newborns or sick relatives — Bradley plans to take six weeks, and I took three days — after which time they may return to their same job without penalty.

That seems fair, right? I mean, sure, we’d all love to have paid leave, but surely no employer in any nation could afford to do that! ‘Cept maybe those few remaining Communist regimes. Or Europe.* Right?

Now let’s all take a little trip over to the Wikipedia entry for parental leave, which has a very helpful comparison chart of allowed paid and/or unpaid leave organized by country. As expected, both Communist and European countries are well-represented in the “Paid Leave” columns; what’s surprising is just how much the parents get. Vietnam gives up to six months at 100% pay, while China gives about three months. Sweden and Norway give more than a year at 80-100% pay, split between both parents (to encourage involvement of the father). Germany and France give about 3-4 months at 100% plus two or three years of unpaid leave. Russia? Twenty weeks at full pay.

“Sure,” you’re thinking. “But what about the countries a little closer to our high American wages and productivity, like Japan, England or Australia?”

Japan gives 14 weeks at 60% pay. England gives 6 weeks at 90% pay, plus 20 weeks at a fixed rate (currently about $200/week). Australia is about the only other industrialized nation that doesn’t require paid leave, but they’ll let you take a whole year off without penalty.

If fact, there are only a couple countries with parental leave policies equal to or ‘worse’ than the United States: Lesotho and Swaziland are the same with twelve weeks of no pay, and Papua New Guinea is worse with six weeks unpaid leave. Am I alone in thinking we should maybe have better peers with regard to our new parents and the care of our future generations?

* …But then, who would even notice if a European didn’t show up to work? Am I right, fellow Americans? High five to our awesomeness! Wooooo!

Our second child, Carey Washington (”Wash”), was born February 13, 2007 at 12:03pm. He was 8 lbs, 4 oz.

Bradley was in labor for about 14 hours — without an epidural — and is recovering quickly and happily.

Like his sister, he was born with a lot of personality, and it’s hard not to contrast them. Whereas Tori was curious about everyone and everything around her — and could make a heckuva noise if she wasn’t happy — Wash seems quieter and more focused. (Last night he was entranced by the pattern on his mama’s hospital gown.) He’s a good looking boy with a shock of long dark hair. His facial features are very similar to Tori’s and to a couple of his cousins.

Click here for pictures!