I believe a husband taking paternity leave is the greatest expression of love for his wife and child

My lovely husband's paternity leave just came to an end the other day.
It lasted about half a year, with a few business trips sandwiched between his paternity leave and childcare leave.

Even before we were anywhere near pregnant, we had talked about it often, asking, "Will you take paternity leave?" So when I actually got pregnant and he decided, "I'm going to take six months!" I was incredibly happy. And in reality, he was an immense help.

Within himself, he had various struggles—how to tell his company, what the duration should be, and since his work is highly specialized, how to ask for his tasks to be distributed—but in the end, the thought that "there are plenty of people who can do my job, but I am the only father to this baby!" seemed to win out.

In my favorite manga, "Do Not Say Mystery," there is a line from the protagonist, Totono-kun:

There is that quote, and I often think that this is exactly it. My beloved husband has the right to spend time with our newborn child, and I feel like he has the right to be there for every moment of growth, from the trivial discovery of their hands to the moments they roll over or crawl, and to share in the joy of it all.
It's not about helping with childcare because he's afraid of his wife, or taking care of the child because he has no choice; I wanted us to share a fresher, heartfelt joy and fun as we raise our child.

During the six months he took paternity leave, what my husband did was all the housework and everything related to childcare except for breastfeeding. In other words, almost everything. I slept a lot, breastfed, played with our son when he was awake, occasionally wrote on note, and read "Dragon Ball" at my husband's recommendation (I want to write a separate article about that).

Since I wake up many times at night to breastfeed, my husband would watch our son, who wakes up around 7:00 AM, hang the laundry, cook rice for breakfast, and make miso soup. Around the time our son started getting hungry, he would gently wake me up, and for lunch, he would skillfully serve leftovers from dinner or buy something for us. To match the 8:00 PM bedtime routine, he would wash the bathtub at 5:00 PM, cook dinner centered around fish or chicken with breastfeeding in mind, wash the dishes, occasionally clean the drain, take out the trash, and go grocery shopping... After I finished breastfeeding, he would make the remaining amount of formula, and changing diapers was a breeze for him. Washing the baby bottles was my husband's job, and boiling them was also my husband's job...

Wait? He really is doing everything... My husband, even though he originally had zero housework skills... My husband, who has an anecdote from his student days about eating frozen fried rice as-is because using the microwave was too much trouble (...wait?)... he even started setting up new trash bags perfectly after taking out the trash...

This is... the greatest expression of love...right???

Because my husband does everything that is difficult, I can have the peace of mind to love our son with all my might, I don't get frustrated at all no matter how many times I'm woken up at night, and then our son is always in a good mood. My body also recovered quite quickly, and I hardly ever felt that my body was in terrible pain after giving birth. Of course, I'm going to love my husband even more for cherishing me and loving our son, and the whole house is a space of happiness in every corner.

A husband who provides such happiness to both me and our son, a husband who works hard to do things he would never do on his own...
If this isn't love, then what is...?

Taking paternity leave isn't something you can just do on a whim; it requires planning and courage, and there are aspects of the system and society that are just plain awful. But since that is the current reality, I truly believe that taking paternity leave to slowly and thoroughly face your postpartum wife and newborn child and do everything you can is the first and greatest expression of love after a child is born.

It was a six-month period where I thought that many times while watching my lovely husband fall asleep while soothing our child.

I can't say "Men with children, you absolutely must take it!!" but I think you get back hundreds of times more love from your family than the effort you put into the struggles before taking it and the housework and childcare after taking it. And I think that love is a lifelong love that doesn't diminish for either the giver or the receiver. I am full of love, gratitude, and respect for my husband who took paternity leave, enough to say that.

A husband taking paternity leave is the greatest expression of love for his wife and child.

Wow, I wonder if I said everything I wanted to convey... I feel like I could still say more, but for now, this is it. Thank you to everyone who read this.
I know what this is about, but since this is ultimately 100% me bragging about my husband, I will add the hashtag #WhatIsThisStoryAbout lol

◎ Other articles overflowing with love for my husband can be found below
This is a magazine for venting the "cuteness" I feel for my husband that grows every day. It's best read with half-closed eyes.

◎ I have published a collection of short stories!
A total of 30 stories. These are fictional yet somehow realistic tales where my growing "love" for my husband day by day seeps into the writing.
If you are registered for Kindle Unlimited, you can read them for free, so please check them out. A paperback version is also available.