I love IKEA. I think that every store should model their philosophy off of IKEA’s. It isn’t just the rock-bottom prices or the prettily decorated rooms and mattresses with marshmallow-like consistency, but the overall philosophy concerning shoppers and their kids.
For starters, there’s an enormous daycare room with a plastic tree house for little ones to explore and play in. It reminded me of Discovery Zone with all the fun gadgets. You can drop your child off, provided they are potty-trained, for up to an hour.
Upon retrieval, there’s interactive puzzles and games at check-out then, if you’re hungry, there’s adult food and 99 cent kids meals comprised of grilled veggies, mac ‘n cheese, chicken fingers and fries. I was especially impressed with the jars of organic baby food near the check-out as well.
Before leaving the east coast, Jude and I made a trip into NYC for a last day with several of my college friends. All was going smoothly until Jude pooped and we embarked on a half-hour long detour in search of a bathroom or changing facility. Three restaurants claimed their bathrooms were out of order, and a fourth was so dirty and grimy with a particularly lewd illustration on the wall that I left within moments of stepping inside.
As a last resort, with Jude screaming after wallowing in excrement for longer than usual, I glided across the slippery-shiny floors of a mall. The cubish bathroom opened into an enormous space, with wall-to-wall tiles, halogen lights and mirrors that make one appear flatteringly thin. Long story short, there was no changing area and I had to hold squirming Jude with one arm over the toilet while maneuvering the diaper down his legs with the other. I remember wishing in that instant that I could sprout Octopus limbs to help. It certainly left an indelible impression in my memory.
IKEA, by contrast, has its own changing room designated for babies in addition to a separate washroom facility. A mobile hung over the changing table along with complementary sheets and wipes. Need an extra diaper? Not a problem- they had extras too!
Honestly, I can’t recall the last time I actually enjoyed shopping with Jude. Usually, it’s a matter of strategically planning a shopping trip around his meals/naps, otherwise a potential disaster could strike. At least I’m not breastfeeding anymore. Shopping trips turned a lot of heads when I began lactating upon Jude rooting against my chest.
After feeding Jude some veggies, I commented to an IKEA employee about how accommodating the store is towards children.
“You’re never been to Sweden if you think this is great,” she replied.
Later that day, I began doing some research on Sweden’s maternity laws, as compared to the USA and other countries throughout the world.
In Sweden, according to Wikipedia and a much more credible NYTimes source, parents receive 18 months paid time off. Dads must take a minimum of four weeks off. I remember Matt not even having one day paid time off after Jude was born, plus he missed most of our prenatal doctor’s appointments because he wasn’t covered to take off any time during the day. The beauty behind Sweden’s system is that employers don’t have to personally pay out of pocket for their employees time off- it comes straight from taxes.
Other European countries have generous maternity policies it seems. Norway offers 52 weeks at 100% coverage, as does Denmark. Hungary and Finland tie at around six months paid leave and most Eastern European nations provide between six months and a year. The UK provides 39 weeks.
What about other, less developed countries? Afghanistan has a pretty generous policy at 90 days with 100% pay, along with Iran, China and Cambodia. Zimbabwe offers 90 days as well and Brazil gives 120 days, five of which are for dad. I’m sure that our Brazilian friend who recently had a baby girl in the states wishes the US followed the same policy as her home country.
Even Guatemala provides 84 days.
In fact, scrolling down the list of countries, we’re one of the only ones that offers no guaranteed pay for time off from work. Could this perhaps contribute to American’s overall dissatisfaction with quality of life?
Looking to our neighbors to the North, those lovely Canadians who always seem to be globe-trotting the world, they provide 35 weeks, upped from 30 at the start of the millenium. The more I looked, the more countries I saw that offered some form paid maternity time off.
Unless you live in the United States, Liberia, Swaziland or Papua New Guinea, you will receive some form of parental paid time off. In short, we are one of the only four countries in the entire world that doesn’t provide any time off.
Clearly, we are not as progressive as we claim to be when even third world countries are leaps and bounds ahead in this respect not to mention the whole healthcare/educaiton debacle we've gotten ourselves into over the past eight years.
Obama, please win and do something about this!