Our son was born in February of last year. After he was born, I was only able to take two weeks off from work. I used all of my vacation time, and then I had to go back to work because they couldn’t pay me to stay home.

I work in a warehouse six or seven days a week. I work ten to twelve hour days. We are understaffed, so I take on a lot of overtime to help out my coworkers.I love my country, and I want to do what I can for my neighbors and coworkers. Child care is too expensive, and so my wife and I work alternating schedules so that someone is always home with our son. We’re piecing it together, but we barely see each other. I work from 4:30 in the morning to 2:30 in the afternoon. When I get home, she goes to work for the evening.

I am not the only parent who has to do this, but it is so hard. If Congress decreased the cost of child care, and made sure that all working families had paid time off and paid leave, that would be a good step. My family and I could spend more time together. Everyone should be able to spend time with their family without worrying about how they will pay their bills.