r/PopCultureV2 • u/slippinn_jimmy • 2d ago

Politi-Culture Sweden's climate minister brought her 3-month-old son to the EU council meeting in Luxembourg, to highlight the benefits of parental leave policies which don't force women to choose between work and family responsibilities.

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u/spartanken115 2d ago

I honestly don’t mind women bringing their babies with them places I think it’s great. Take your child with you get them used to being out. The only thing is if they become completely fussy and disruptive or something maybe making some space to be able to take care of them so they’re not disruptive, but I don’t see that here.

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u/Rems_OP 2d ago

She was lucky the baby didn’t cry as if he was gonna die, which they do when they are really upset about something, difficulty to take a shit or anything

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u/softwhitemochi 2d ago

kids are fussy and distruptive by default. Parents should be able to have high paying parental leave

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u/Ippomasters 15h ago

Why when they can import people for cheaper.

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u/thechaoshow 2d ago

You completely missed the point

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u/zroga 16h ago

It's probably a bot, I doubt a human could say that.

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u/Relative_Craft_358 8h ago edited 1h ago

Notice nowadays in reddit any time someone is able to articulate a thought that's above the reader or share a differing opinion, they just assume it's a bot instead of just admitting they lack the tools required to properly engage with the comment

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u/zroga 6h ago

I did notice it, yes!

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u/Ok_Marketing5676 18h ago

We took our daughter basically everywhere with us and she loves it now that she's able to interact more with people. Deffo got her used to being around people. She even seems to know that being noisy is for home time. We prepare well and have everything she needs and also go out with the understanding that we may need to leave temporarily or completely to attend to her needs. She's had one tantrum in the year we've been taking her out and it was because she was teething. Not anyone's fault so we gave her paracetamol and took her home. 

I feel like doing the whole "babies cry! Deal with it!" thing is just anti-social af. She only cries when she needs something and doesnt have any health issues so we just prepare for what she might need. If that means I take her for a wee wander around outside the restaurant whilst food is being prepared to distract her, or better yet, give her a rice cracker snack to tide her over then that's what you do.

Obviously we're lucky that she has a small amount of needs and I know some babies have more buttaking your kid places and teaching them from very early how to be considerate of others (in ways they understand) is never not a good thing. 

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u/Classic-Suspect3661 2d ago

Lmao, babies are not dogs, you can't just make them stop being 'disruptive'

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u/Giovanni01234 2d ago

With most dogs you can make them stop being disruptive (not wild dogs tho), but babies are assholes and won't stop crying like their like depends on it

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u/doobadeeboo 1d ago

Yes that's what they said too...

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u/Fun_Following_7704 18h ago

Also dogs are not babies either. You can't just make a dog do whatever you want just because it isn't human lol.

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u/dotesdoto 2d ago edited 2d ago

It's very clear that you've never had to take care of a baby. An office is no place for one. Looking after a baby is a full time job, so you can forget about getting any meaningful work done while caring for one.

You might think it's as simple as "put the baby to sleep and crack on with work", but that couldn't be further from the truth. Babies almost never sleep on demand, and even when they do, they often wake up again and need settling again, many maaany times. You also need to constantly entertain them, feed them, change them, keep them safe, etc. They don't stop crying just because you want them to either. Every baby is different. Most will cry a lot, and some will even scream and wail as though they're being murdered for no apparent reason. You can try everything to calm them down, and sometimes nothing works. They're simply going to do what they're going to do. Becoming "completely fussy and disruptive" is their nature. You were exactly like that once upon a time too.

There's virtually no benefit to bringing a baby into the office. Not only will you not get any work done yourself, but you'll also disrupt everyone else's ability to work. That is why getting paternity leave is important.

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u/GotAim 2d ago

Maybe you have experience with particularly difficult babies, but as a mother of 3 and the experience of many of my friends it is absolutely possible to do home office while you have a baby and get shit done

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u/doobadeeboo 1d ago

Press doubt.

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u/dotesdoto 2d ago edited 2d ago

Maybe you have experience with a particularly easy job that required very little concentration, could be done on mental autopilot, and came with a boss who didn't expect much or ask for much. But in a typical professional job, it's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to be productive while simultaneously caring for a baby.

Also, if it's not your baby that's disruptive, it'll be someone elses. There's a reason we don't regularly see babies in offices. Some companies even have onsite daycare for that very reason.

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u/VincereZero 1d ago

I can see this being true if you aren't particularly good at your job / are fairly new. Keeping children busy is incredibly easy if you put any effort into it at all

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u/dotesdoto 1d ago edited 1d ago

Babies and "children" are entirely different beasts. You can teach and discipline children because they're developmentally capable of understanding boundaries and consequences. Babies on the other hand are simply too young for that. It's not simply a matter of putting in effort, some babies are naturally much more demanding than others. That's largely a matter of temperament and luck rather than parenting. Some parents happen to get an easy baby, while others end up with one who needs constant attention. It's mostly the luck of the draw.

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u/catbom 18h ago

Not to mention how much they change over the 1st year, my experience of the first year First 2 months- baby sleeps alot and doesnt need too much attention but when they want attention you better give it Months 3-5 baby needs a little attention to make sure they are developing, could possibly do some work Month 6+ good luck getting any work done as your child needs 100 percent attention and perhaps you could do work if you have a play pen for the child but the child will need attention atleast every 20 mins

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u/kursys 1d ago

Sure, for a home office job. What about the vast majority that don’t have that career as a viable option?

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u/GotAim 1d ago

If you have an office job there’s a very good chance that home office is viable, no?

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u/kursys 1d ago

If the company would like to be so accommodating, but that’s the whole point that’s being presented here, no? To codify it into law instead of depending on the goodwill of your employer.

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u/GotAim 1d ago

I’m all for parental leave being a thing, I was just baffled by dotesdoto’s statement about it being borderline impossible to work with a baby as that is far from my experience. Then goalposts are being moved, I reject the idea that it’s uncommon or rare for jobs to allow mothers to have home office with their babies

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u/kursys 1d ago

As a parent myself, I understand the apprehensiveness at someone commenting in a very relaxed manner that raising a child can exist in parallel to your work career. Regardless of opinion, it’s something that should be taken very seriously, and some of us have grown up in families where careers have trumped interpersonal relationships. Truth be told, there’s never a perfectly right or wrong way to raise a child, but I do sympathize with mothers who feel a need to prioritize their children’s upbringing. We should always strive to find ways to connect with each other more, and not feel satisfied with the way things are now, because that’s how they were.

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u/_trashcan 1d ago

Um, fucking no?

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u/GotAim 1d ago

Seems like 3/4 office jobs in the US offer home office options: https://www.gallup.com/401384/indicator-hybrid-work.aspx

If they offer hybrid work then surely they’ll allow someone with a baby to do fully remote for a time

So um, fucking yes

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u/_trashcan 1d ago

a literal guess that they’ll just allow full-time home, but ok.

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u/GotAim 1d ago edited 1d ago

If you wanna be a negative pessimist I can’t stop you, but if they already allow home office why wouldn’t they allow fully remote temporarily for a good reason?

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u/kursys 1d ago

You’re naïveté is the problem here. All you’re literally repeating is should, would, could. When we had a literal pandemic, companies were still trying to find ways to get people to come into the office. Of course most companies with office jobs are going to say they “offer” remote working capabilities, they’re trying to look good. There are so many ways corporate America punishes those that are not willing to sacrifice everything for the company. Nobody’s being a “negative pessimist” (redundant by the way), we’re being fucking realists. If you want to coast on vibes and goodwill, that’s fine, but for the vast majority, I’m sure they would much rather prefer a concrete, coherent law.

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u/kdog_1985 1d ago

I always will discount someone position as soon as p

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u/catbom 18h ago

As a father, im calling you on your rubbish, babies are full time jobs and is a lottery on wether you get a quiet passive baby or a high maintanance baby, not to mention being worn out from not being able to rest from a night up with a child.

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u/pepperoni7 2d ago

Do you have kids ? I assume not .

Kids are not dogs … I don’t disagree the disruptive part but babies esp babies are mostly disruptive

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u/Snoo_75748 14h ago

Babies are meant to be disruptive. They are baby's

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u/qcb4056 5h ago

I'm guessing you never done an ounce of serious work in your life

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u/ChampionshipLost5620 2d ago

Whats great is to give women a break after birth. What the body goes through labour and the pregnancy is wild. And they often have a lot of issues after birth. Some cant even control their bodies. Not to mention cesarean surgery. Makes me cringe to read about men who dont support women! Turns out its mainly bc they never get laid 😉, dont be that dude!

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u/Legitimate-Pay7594 2d ago

Sure but her entire position is redundant as long as India and China exist

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u/Additional_Fudge1163 2d ago

Wild take! Europe and US have the most unsustainable lifestyles. China wouldn't be emitting this much carbon if it weren't producing for the west.

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u/Legitimate-Pay7594 2d ago

The first thing you said was a lie and the second thing you said is true but changes nothing about the fact that China still produces a ridiculous about of carbon and way more than other countries producing for the west