[Fictional] A Timeline Where I Didn't Take Paternity Leave [Diary]

Fictional: Monday, March 10

5:00 AM. My daughter started crying, so I rubbed my sleepy eyes, changed her diaper, and asked my wife to breastfeed her. I opened the curtains to let the sunlight into the room. I went back to sleep while leaving the breastfeeding to her. I woke up to my 7:00 AM alarm. My daughter, who is over a month old, was sleeping again after her feeding.

I got ready for the morning, looked at my daughter's sleeping face, gently touched her cheek, said "I'm off," and left the house. I worked for about an hour at a cafe near the office before heading to the office for a 10:00 AM meeting.

During the day, my wife sent me a photo of our daughter. I received a LINE message saying that the constipation that started two weeks ago still hadn't cleared up, so I replied, "Let's wait and see."

I worked at the office until 7:00 PM and arrived home at 8:00 PM. When I got home, she had finished her bath and was breastfeeding. I am so grateful to my wife, who had also almost finished preparing dinner.

After breastfeeding, I took over putting her to sleep. We moved our sleeping daughter to the bedroom, turned the TV volume down, and ate dinner together.

She told me about how things went during the day, saying, "She was in a good mood today," and "Recently, she's started smiling when I talk to her."

We cleared the dishes, watched YouTube for a while, took showers, and spent some time relaxing. After midnight, I changed her diaper, asked my wife to breastfeed her, and went to sleep.

Fictional: Tuesday, March 11

She started crying at 4:00 AM. I changed her diaper, asked for a feeding, and went back to sleep.
Woke up at 7:00 AM. My daughter was awake too. I changed her diaper, wiped her face, applied moisturizer, ran the washing machine, and hung the laundry.

Before 9:00 AM. I woke my wife up and asked her to take care of her. I decided to work remotely today, so I moved to another room and started my tasks.
During the day, I could hear crying from the living room. Every time I went to the living room to get coffee, I ended up stopping by to see my daughter's face.

During my one-hour lunch break, I moved to the living room and played with my daughter while eating lunch. It was hard to leave, but I went back to the other room and started my afternoon work. I worked until the evening.

It was 5:30 PM, so I interrupted my work for about an hour to give her a bath.
Meanwhile, my wife prepared dinner.
I finished work at 8:00 PM and returned to the living room. My daughter was still awake.

It took an hour to put her to sleep after dinner, but the way she cried loudly, drifted off, and fell into a deep sleep was just so adorable.

A little past 1:00 AM. She started fussing a bit, so I changed her diaper, asked for a feeding, and went to sleep.

Fictional: Wednesday, March 12

Woke up at 7:00 AM. Since I went to sleep at 1:00 AM, I didn't notice her crying in the early morning.
My wife had already changed her diaper and breastfed her.

I got ready for the morning and peeked at my daughter. She was in a good mood right after waking up, and she smiled when I talked to her a few times.

I took the train to the office and started work.

Since her constipation had been continuing, I received a LINE message reporting that she had successfully pooped after stimulating her anus with a cotton swab.

Worked at the office until 9:00 PM. I took the train and got home just before 10:00 PM.
Since it was late, my wife was taking a nap before her shower.
I looked at my daughter's sleeping face and gently held her hand, careful not to wake her.

I ate dinner alone. It was 11:00 PM in the blink of an eye.
I took a shower and spent the rest of the night.
My wife said, "She'll probably wake up soon, but I'll handle the feeding and diaper change," so I went to bed a little early.

Fictional: Thursday, March 13

Changed her diaper at 5:00 AM, asked for a feeding, and went back to sleep.
Woke up at 7:00 AM. My daughter had her eyes wide open; she wasn't crying, just staring blankly, but she reacted when I spoke to her.
She smiled at me, so I couldn't help but hug her.

Since I had to leave right away today, I just finished getting myself ready and headed to the office.

During the day, we exchanged LINE messages about the date, time, and restaurant for her first meal ceremony (Okuizome). I feel bad for leaving everything to my wife. She even handled the reservations.

I finished work at 8:00 PM today and got home around 9:00 PM. I immediately went to see my daughter's sleeping face. Everything around the house, including putting my daughter to sleep, was mostly finished, so I ate dinner alone.

Since I got home an hour earlier than yesterday, my wife told me about how things went during the day.
Apparently, they tried tummy time today. Her neck strength is still weak, but it seems she made a movement to lift her head for just a second. She said it was so quick that she couldn't even record a video.

I took a shower and waited for her to start crying. As expected, she started fussing at 1:00 AM, so I changed her diaper, asked my wife to breastfeed her, and went to sleep.

Fictional: Friday, March 14

My daughter woke up and started crying just after 6:00 AM. Since it was a little later than usual, I got up and started getting ready for the morning.

I had an online meeting first thing in the morning, so I started working remotely and then took the train to the office after 11:00 AM.

During the day, I got a message saying, "I think she laughed out loud for the first time today."
While I replied with joy, saying, "Oh, wow!"
I thought to myself, "I wish I had been there, I wish I could have seen that too."

I had planned to go home in the evening to give her a bath and then work remotely until night, but I couldn't leave the office due to an emergency, so
I reluctantly contacted my wife and had to ask her to handle the bath as well.

In the end, I worked at the office until 10:00 PM. Several colleagues were also leaving around 10:00 PM, so we left the office together. The train schedule didn't line up well, and I didn't get home until 11:30 PM. Both my wife and daughter were already asleep.

After I finished dinner by myself and took a shower, my daughter started crying.
Since I have tomorrow off, I changed her diaper and waited until she finished nursing.

She didn't fall asleep right after nursing, so I took over putting her to bed.
I went to sleep just after 1:00 AM.

Before going to sleep, I heard about how her day went from my wife.
She had been constipated for the past few weeks and couldn't poop without stimulating her anus, but apparently, she managed to poop on her own today.
I was very worried, but I felt relieved. I'm at ease now.

Fictional: Saturday, March 15

Woke up at 8:00 AM. Today is the first day in a week that I can spend the whole day with my daughter.
She's in a good mood and laughing since the morning.
Maybe she really is making some sounds.
I changed her diaper, wiped her face, and applied moisturizer. I finished the laundry in the meantime.

I wanted my wife to sleep in during the morning, so I spent time with the two of us to keep her from crying. She looked like she was about to start crying, so I hurriedly prepared milk and fed her.

She was in a better mood and seemed sleepy, so I held her to put her to sleep—but when I put her in the crib, she opened her eyes wide and started crying. I repeated the process of holding her again... I was very satisfied to see her happy face, her crying face, her face while gulping down milk, and her sleeping face all in the morning.

My wife woke up, so we had lunch together and spent the afternoon relaxing.
The weather is nice today, so we decided to take a 30-minute walk around the house.
My wife pushed the stroller. My daughter's face looking dazzled by the sunlight is also cute.

It became evening in the blink of an eye, and it was bath time. While I gave her a bath, my wife prepared dinner.

While we were eating dinner, she fell asleep on her own, and we spent a relaxing night in the living room. As it approached midnight, I waited, thinking she might wake up soon... but she didn't wake up for a while.
In the end, she didn't wake up even before 2:00 AM, so I decided to wake her up while changing her diaper.

Fictional: Sunday, March 16

Just like yesterday, I took care of my daughter in the morning so my wife could have some time to relax. It was the same routine as yesterday, but since she fell asleep right after drinking her milk, I had some free time in the morning and took a nap myself.

In the afternoon, we went to a shopping mall as a family of three for the first time to buy baby supplies. I prepared plenty of diapers and changes of clothes just in case anything happened. I also brought milk.

We walked past the arcade.
I talked with my wife, saying, "Once you start liking this glittering place, it's hard to get out of it. When should we show this kind of world to our daughter?"

I hadn't paid attention to it before, but when you move around with a child in a stroller, the locations of elevators and baby rooms become important.
I realized that unless you are in that situation, you don't notice anything, nor do you realize the importance or the hardships involved.

To finish dinner early, we each ordered what we wanted at the food court. It's hard to go into a restaurant to eat out, but I had a new realization that we can eat out if it's a food court!

I get home, tidy up in a rush, and give her a bath. The evening hours end in the blink of an eye. Since tomorrow is Monday, she told me it was okay to go to bed early, so I went to sleep before midnight.

Why did I write a diary like this?---.

Time flies, and a month and a half has already passed since I started my paternity leave.
There is data showing that the average number of days men take for paternity leave at companies is 46.5 days,
and I feel that the time ahead will gradually become time that is not the "social norm."

So that the days spent with my child during paternity leave, and the days spent watching their growth up close, do not become something I take for granted, I wrote this to try and focus on the gratitude of my current life by imagining, "What would my life be like if I hadn't taken leave?"

For those on paternity leave, I hope this serves as an opportunity to be grateful for the days you are currently spending.
For those who are hesitant, I hope this serves as an opportunity to imagine how you would like to be involved.
For those who have not taken paternity leave, I hope this serves as an opportunity to imagine, "What would it have been like if I had taken paternity leave?"

If this can become a small catalyst for someone, for something, I would be very happy.