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Tell Share Parental Leave how the parenting is shared out in your family: win a £200 voucher

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  • My daughter's dad lives on the other side of the country. He loves her dearly and cares very much about her but has always spent time with her only when it has been convenient to him. (That is my view - he would give a very different answer!)
  • After an eventful pregnancy and emergency csection I was glad my husband had just over 2 weeks off with us. Unfortunately the start of my maternity leave and husband's paternity started with our little girl in the children's ward. Once we got home it felt like a relief. That's when it dawned on us how hard and beautiful it is caring for a newborn. The next few weeks were a haze of chaos and visits from well wishers. My husband went back to work while I continued maternity leave every day is a challenge and a blessing I can't believe at 35, with prievous health issues that we managed to convince so quickly after our wedding, as the odds were against us. She's our little miracle. My maternity finished on Christmas day but I decided to not work untill just after her 1st birthday. She is now 10 months now and fills our life's with mischief,  and laughter. I love being with her for every milestone. And after my nans recent passing and my mum's terminal illness, she brings joy even in strained circumstances. We are lucky that in England we have maternity leave, some may say it's not enough or it's too short a time period. I just count my blessings that we get the prevledge at all. 
  • Dads do at least their fare share of all the chores - except possibly the nappies. They are great for doing all the little thungs that otherwise might not get done.
  • Sorry, no experience of this.
  • I’m on mat leave at the moment but when OH is home we share parenting duties equally. When I’m working we have also both adjusted working hours to have a weekday each with the children. This is great for the kids as they have more parent time but also get interaction with peers the remainder of the week.
  • We shared parental leave with our first son, I took the first 6 months then my husband was supposed to take 3 months. He then changed job and didn’t take the 3 months. It did not go down well. 
  • My kids are older now but my hubby would do the morning school run, as he worked nearby and I'd collect after as I had a part time job. It worked very well
  • I do pretty much all the childcare; my husband works full time and is also doing a Masters part time, so he's hardly ever at home, even at the weekends. I'm not working at the moment so it's quite full on for me without the hope of a break!
  • We try to share everything we can. We split our working week, so things such as school runs are shared, as is the cooking and cleaning.
  • My husband has always been supportive in our family and when the kids were small he has helped with feeds and play. I am a stay at home mum so mainly take care of the children, however, he still gives lots of support when he can and is not working
  • We're separated now so my ex-husband has the kids from Friday to Sunday evening every other week.  I do everything else childcare-wise, but luckily my new partner is fantastic with them & really eases the load!
  • My husband has always been a hands on dad and taxi on call. Plus he does most of the housework.
  • I enjoyed my maternity leave but was glad to return to work. My husband only had a couple of days off work.
  • We didn't do shared parental leave as my husband earns a lot more than me so it just wasn't viable. I work 3 days so on the days I work he is the one the does nursery drop offs and pick ups. Working less than him I do the lions share of looking after the kids I'd love a lie in more though ha ha! 
  • He does no childcare on his own, we obviously share when he is home, but there are still tasks he automatically leaves to me.
  • We didn't know about shared parental leave when we first had the twins. I had the opportunity to earn more than my hubby so when the twin were 6 months he gave up his job and I went back to work. He decided to try an better his education whilst he was home with twins, nutter! And re did some GSCEs, completely amazing. Our world changed when I accidentally fell pregnant again soon after, I did qualify for mat leave from work and spent all our saving on the first mat leave, so I had 6 weeks off and went back to work. He now had 3 under 2. He carried on studying and applied to college in an evening to train as a teaching assistant. By the time the youngest was 3 and could spend some time at pre school he completed voluntary training at a local school. We thought life would be simple then kids at school he gets a teaching job but no couldn't find anything. He was qualified to level 3 and no one could afford him! At that point we had a 4th baby and again after 6 months I went back to work, my husband decided to set up a small business from home. He amazes me every day, his strength, determination to carry on and resilience. The kids have the best dad in the world so literally did every for them and strives to give them a better life.
  • I went back to work after a year. He worked from home, so became the house husband.  He still does more than me in holiday time.  
  • Always liked the idea of SPL but it wasn't viable for us financially. Has not stopped my partner being very hands-on and involved in our son's life though! 
    We both used to work full time, so childcare was very evenly split outside of work. Now he still works full time and I do 3-4 evening shifts a week, so I care for DS during the day and when Dad comes home he takes over so I can work. At weekends we love to do things as a family, but I also really appreciate some alone-time, so he'll often take our lad out on errands/to the park/ on 'dadventures' just to give me a bit of precious 'me time'.
    It's lovely to read through these comments- so many of them are positive, with dad's being equally involved in their children's lives (as they should be!). All too often all I seem to hear about are stereotypical useless lazy fathers and women who are matyrs taking up all the slack
  • I do all the childcare while my husband goes out to work. However, as he’s self employed he is a great help when I need him! He always stays home with the kids if i’m ill or if I need to go out somewhere. He often takes the kids out to give me a break! And before when I was working he used to do the childcare whilst I worked every other weekend too!
  • not a great deal!!
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