Laurynas and Gilė

“Since Gilė was born during the quarantine and the specifics of my job allow me work partly from home, parental leave was not relevant for me at all. It so happened that I was at home for the first few months anyway, and now that my daughter is 6 months old, I still have the opportunity to spend a lot of time with her. Instead of simply helping my wife to take care of our child, I strive to become fully involved – it is very important for me. I’m glad that I have the opportunity to keep a close eye on the changes that are apparent every single week, if not every day. Our daughter is only 6 months old, so the real challenges of parenting are still ahead, but what has really changed for me is my attitude and respect that I now feel toward people who are raising children. Until Gilė was born, it was hard for me to imagine what it was like to be a parent. They were pretty much invisible to me before whenever I passed them on the street. But now I notice all parents with children and I respect them very much for taking on the responsibility of parenthood.”