Building a village isn't easy — especially when you're parenting in the US

As an American mom, I know building a village in the US is tough. At times, I wish we'd take notes from countries like Sweden.

Getty Images; Tyler Le/BI

My husband and I had our first fight about childcare before our baby was even born. His small company offered four weeks of paid leave, and he'd be the very first employee to use it. The details were fuzzy, but my position was unequivocal: TAKE ALL OF IT.

He still hesitated, wondering aloud why the company, or his coworkers, should...