Pete Buttigieg on How Parenting Changed Him

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By Andrea Delbanco Editor in Chief, TIME for Kids In a new installment of The Parent Files, Charlotte Alter talks with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about how he’s changed since becoming a father. Buttigieg opens up about his son’s health scare, what it’s like to travel with twins, and how parenting has changed his ambition. Buttigieg also talks about parental leave. “Handling becoming a parent and taking care of your children takes time,” he says. “It takes time to do that work.” He put words to something many of us have experienced: “Leave is work. I am used to working very hard. And the hardest I’ve ever worked was during that leave, because the kids’ needs are unrelenting.” Buttigieg’s experience of parental leave is obviously not representative of the way most people experience it, if they’re lucky enough to experience parental leave at all. But there’s camaraderie in commiserating about it, and—moreover—there’s joy in sharing moments of success. If you have memories of leave to share, write to me at andrea@time.com. And if you’re in the midst of it, I wish you luck both savoring and surviving it. Best, Andrea

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