In this thread, I notice a lot of comments talking about how men who don't take six months off (or don't see the point) lack 'love', want to leave mom 'exhausted', not wanting a 'healthy family life', etc.<p>These are all misguided.<p>Indeed, I levy the exact same claim on all those comments.<p>To claim that men not seeing the point of taking six months off don't want a healthy family life is a symptom of an American / Western family life gone <i>horribly</i> wrong. Mom should have lots of family, friends, etc, who are able to help her with the female aspects of being a new mom, such as breastfeeding, post-birth care, etc. Try as I may, as a husband, I cannot fully give my wife what her mom, my mom, and her female friends can give her. I'm useless at practical breastfeeding advice (and frankly, most lactation consultants are too), don't know how to advise her on vaginal healing, etc. I can read all day long about these things, but I would never think of the stuff her practiced friends and family would tell her.<p>Because we have a strong family and community, mom doesn't need to rely on dad for child care help. Dad can instead do other things, which are also useful for the family (like making sure mom has enough food to eat). That many women are relying on their husbands for this sort of support just shows the problems with the isolation of the American family.<p>When I took paternity leave with my youngest daughter (four weeks, and will probably do less next time), I was still working with my eldest daughter. She would help me with various tasks around the house, various projects that I needed help with, etc. In fact, I think I was out of the house more during paternity leave than when I'm working (since we're all WFH during COVID anyway).<p>Instead of overly long paternity leave (and again, I am not against paternity leave in general, just the months long ones), we need flexible hours for new fathers (way more useful than full day leave) and a culture that embraces actual community (not the forced government community either, but actual human connection).