After the fact I just want to note that Paid Family Leave passed in Washington State!  There was a lot of last-minute lobbying - including our whole family trekking down to Olympia to deliver bags of home-made cookies to legistators.  The lawmakers make some cuts and changes but in the end, Governor Gregoire signed the bill into Washington State law and we got to change into something besides Moms-rising t-shirts.

 

First of all I have to say that this happend much faster than I expected.  I was prepared to wear the shirts for at least a year - if not longer.  I am very pleased to be able to vary my wardrobe now but even more so that there was enough support in Washington state to get Paid Family Leave passed into law.

 

Second I was a bit disappointed in myself for not being more diligent about adding blog updates, posting photos or being more active in the many events on the way.  The gap between intention and capacity can be wide.  After thinking about it for awhile however, I realize it's better to have turned out this way. 

 

We all are busy people and the thing that impressed me the most about participating in the Mom's Rising effort in Washington was that the sheer number of volunteers ensured that the ball kept rolling all the time.  I might be able to join one event or two but there were ten other people who stepped up when I wasn't available.  Great ideas were generated and executed on in parelell with so many people involved.  The best part is that there were so many things to do that people were able to join to whatever level they had capacity for.  Some folks wrote an email, some went to meetings, some sent in onsies, some wrote dispatches to the press and some went to Olympia several times to persuade lawmakers that Washington voters were passionate about the cause.  It really brought home to me the power of organizing and that every bit helps.

 

On the day of the signing we had a great plan to drive to Olympia and dramatically change clothing once the bill was signed.  Unfortunately we got our travel times wrong and ended up stuck on the wrong side of a ferry boat and never made it to the formal event.  In the spirit of collective organizing and doing what you can with what you've got, we drove home, changed shirts in the driveway and had our celebration there.  Afterwards we went out for ice cream.  It wasn't a big deal but felt in the spirit of our whole experience.

 

Congratulations Washington - paid family leave is on the way.