I've been thinking about how fortunate my husband and I are to have moved to Canada just before we had our baby. Yes, it is thousands of miles from all of my family and the good majority of my friends but there are a lot of good things about being in Canada and also in Montreal.
1. Parental leave. This benefits me in a few ways. First, my husband has access to it all since I haven't worked a day in Canada. In his work, he doesn't get the time off really, but it alleviates some of the major projects. There were several weeks in there, when sleep was really bad, that his schedule was very flexible and it was really helpful. Second, this benefits me because other mamas have off to. Not just a few weeks or even months, they have a year off. They need to do something to fill that time so they're looking for other fellow mamas. Lucky for me I have the cutest little ice breaker.
2. Health care. I don't even want to think about how much it would've costs for all of our baby's health care needs. Many days in the NICU and many tests. And the tests are continuing and may continue. And it seems like the healthcare is good quality so that isn't compromised.
3. Linked to both of these things is the fact that I am here in Canada as a stay at home mom or I would be on maternal leave if I worked in Canada before the baby arrived. For me this is particularly good because I don't produce much milk when I pump. I need my babe there to do the work. Had I been in the states, I would've had to go back to work and more than likely use formula. And really what my baby needed was the best stuff.
4. Once my French improves I will feel better about living here but I know that it will be such a wonderful thing for my babe to be bilingual. It's so cool to be in a place where you can easily speak in English or French, in most parts of the city. Using that part of his brain at such a young age will hopefully help him learn other languages later in life too.
5. The countless events and things to do in Montreal, especially in the summer. I have taken advantage of the local wading pool a ton of times this summer. Also the myriad of parks in my neighborhood. The festivals, the library hours, free museum activities, discounted kid sessions....the things to do are actually countless, it's an amazing place for a kid!
More to come....
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