I fully agree that we all need more time off. The average person is like a hundred times more productive than they were a hundred years ago, so we should be living like the damn Jetsons at this point. That said, I’ll continue to think parents should get more leeway than non-parents even if we all had more than enough personal time off, for the simple reason that parents aren’t taking personal time when they have to care for their children. If your kid has a doctor’s appointment, then you aren’t taking off work, you’re working a different job. We all need more time off, and the extra time parents get away from their primary job isn’t really time off. And yeah, telling rather than asking makes a lot of sense. Takes more effort to deny a statement of fact than a request. “I’m going to be out of town from May 4th–6th” is a lot harder to say no to than “can I take off May 4th–6th?” That question mark basically invites a denial Congrats on your first seizure! Don’t have a second one!