Three years ago in August, the week I was supposed to be getting my daughter ready to start 5th grade, her first year in middle school, I found myself in a children's hospital going through the first definitive biopsies and tests that began our worst nightmare. My nine-year-old had cancer. ...

We have a poll on workingmother.com that asks: “Are your kids studying over the summer?” And as of today, more moms answered: “No, they need a break.” My kids are getting a break, too, except that it’s very normal for them to read. We go through a lot of books–so ...

Phew!  A national study confirms working moms don’t hurt their kids just by working!  Once in a while we need that affirmation.  Once in a while we need to be told it’s okay to work outside the home at the end of maternity leave.  Once in a while it's nice ...

As a working mom, I have had my share of summer babysitting help. They were usually college students who would hang out at the local pool and get the girls to swim team practice, sports lessons or plan fun in the pool or elsewhere if it rained. No one ever ...

If there is even a remote connection to soccer in your life, you have been living with World Cup fever. Men from every nation which plays the sport have been running around fields non-stop for days on our television screens. We even had a cable-guy come to the house on ...

All over the country schools are ending. For some the wrap up of the year is over – the multiple days of “endings.” For working moms it’s the juggle of what to attend, how important is it, shall I say a final goodbye to a school my child is aging out of ...

I gave a pillow to my sister once with an embroidered saying on it: “Moms Make Memories.” It’s very true – whether memories are good, bad, joyous, ...

Health care reform in America has begun! This Monday was the ultimate day after.  Exhausting for some. The day after history was made in Congress. The day after America watched a galvanized House of Representatives square off over what is good for the health of our nation. The House passage ...

It’s March—the month of St. Patrick's’ Day on the 17th—a day for the wearin’ o’ the green. And while my Irish roots run deep, my March now takes on a new focus and a reminder of what it will take to cure childhood cancer. It focuses on the needed support ...

American TV viewers love the drama of babies. Characters like Pam in The Office go through her work-mom-to-be motions in the fictitious workplace.  It becomes the subject of laughs and sweetness.  It also allows for a big public countdown – with great love story promotional videos and web devices leading ...

We have heard a lot of talk about how women have tipped the balance in the workforce. There are more working women in the US than there are working men.  Seventy-percent of working women are mothers.  That certainly wasn’t the case when I was growing up.  We all knew working ...

Look at the calendar already!  It was Christmas and then I blinked and the pages flew past New Year's Day (though there is still a Santa Cookie Jar standing on the hall table and boxes of decorations that have not made their way to storage).  Already this weekend is the ...

I am not one for making resolutions timed to a date on the calendar.  That doesn't mean I shouldn't make changes in my life.  But I am a realist.  Change happens when it can and when it should not because we are ringing in the New Year. Realizing I am ...

Every parent who has pushed a baby carriage in the last 20 years owes a thank you to Senator Ted Kennedy.  You may think that is a crazy statement.  Health care reform bills have nothing to do with strollers on the street.  That’s true.  But they do owe gratitude to ...

It's Monday with a countdown to Christmas and New Year and lots of talk of 2010 calendars and what's next on our to-do lists.  Yes, that was a run-on sentence but I am in run-on mode.  I am thinking about all the stuff i wanted to write about this year.  ...

As of December 1st, 2009, bloggers fall under a new set of rules. While bloggers are busy writing their thoughts on everything, there are some bloggers who only write about stuff they get to keep or use for free.  In general, the writers who write for Working Mother Mom Blog ...

This is not a fantasy story.  This is a story abour true evil in the world.  The evil is not in the child accused of being a witch but in the absolute poverty where they live, in a part of the world where civil war and famine take the lives ...

Picture for a moment manic Robin Williams in his tour de force role as Mrs. Doubtfire .  He alone made it a family favorite.  We can watch him dancing to Aerosmith’s Dude (Looks Like A Lady) over and over. Williams’ zany antics made the sad truth to the story palatable.  ...

Just the name makes me laugh: Working Mother MeTime! Twitter Party.   When I became a serious journalist and even six months ago when I took this job, I never thought i would be involved in inviting other working mom writers and friends to join me in Twitter Party.   ...

Halloween was always my favorite Day of the year.  I felt like I owned it more than other holidays. This year, with my youngest already 12, and working on the Working Mother WorkLife Congress for most of the week, I have not even had a chance to savor it.  We ...

When we find ourselves running on a workday schedule - 40 or more hours in a workplace, plus our commutes, it feels impossible to get to the homework, the weekend events, the laundry and all the other tugs on our time.  Often working moms complain they cannot volunteer during school ...

I remember watching the movie The Four Seasons , starring Alan Alda and Carol Burnett, when it was first released in the early 80's.  The Four Seasons was a movie about mature marriages -- of which I had no experience at the time -- the things couples did together.  But ...

I woke up listening to news radio early this morning as I always do and it struck me that this was an interesting week already for women in the news.  Here are some of the notes that caught my ear: The Supreme Court takes it seat this week ...

Every mother is a working mother - it's true!  But many of us compound the 24/7 of motherhood with a career outside the home. It can be a very complicated life with pulls and tugs from little hands and big hands all at the same time. The whole work-life dynamic ...

This mom's got game! The US Open tennis ended with a working mother moment Sunday when returning tennis champion Kim Clijsters won the grand slam tournament after returning to work post-maternity leave. she held the trophy high as her toddler ran around center court in New York's Arthur Ashe Stadium. ...

I listened intently to President Obama speak to Congress this week urging them to do their jobs and put Americans first before partisanship, before special interests.  Health care insurance reform and health care medical reform need to go hand in hand. It's a big job and just sorting through the ...

School officially starts tomorrow in our town but today was a big day.  Our new 9th grader headed off to High School for a freshman welcome barbeque and orientation.  On the phone she told me, the afternoon gathering meant another tour of the buidlings and a "giant" picture of everyone ...

So many of our memories center around pancakes!  When I was little my grandmother's kitchen smelled wonderful when she made her special German pancakes with homemade applesauce, sometimes for a Sunday night supper. She sprinkled powered sugar on top. It was both supper and a treat before we piled into ...

Some of you, in states outside New York, have already sent the kids off for their first day of school.  You walked through the streets holding hands with a little one, or stood at the bus stop to get a look at the driver and the older kids on the ...

I have written and talked about the way women lead and how they take on careers and work-life differently than their male colleagues.  Now a lot of that is changing. Men are getting the hang of it and this recession is teaching them a lot.  For a generation that did ...

I got an email from the White House!  It's about Health Insurance Reform.  It came after a week of misinformation, shouting matches in public and lots of behind the scenes work in Washington to continue hashing out Health Care Reform. Much of this reform revolves around insurance coverage - getting ...

I have a stack of books on my desk all about working mothers and work-life balance. (No surprise there.) Working Mom's Survival Guide, Happy at Work-Happy at Home, What Happy Working Mothers Know name just a few.  Smart people, some with PhDs and others with lots of experience tackle every ...

We women who began careers in the 70s, at a time when the trailblazers were standing right in front of us, did not think we would still be celebrating incremental growth of women at the top a generation later.  In my first broadcasting job, as a desk assistant (a term ...

I looked at the calendar this morning and realized we are at the midpoint of summer or so it feels. Those few days as July turns into August weigh heavily.  Will the next few weeks rush buy as the kids look forward to their scheduled camp trips or our long ...

A lot of work was accomplished at the Working Mother Media Best Companies for Multicultural Women National Conference.  It started with the drumming of the Drum Cafe and opportunities for networking among the participants.  But it was the speakers that held our attention. The opening keynote address was ...

The morning began with the dramatic sounds of The Drum Cafe - a rythmic throbbing beat that grabs the participants, wakes us and our senses to prepare for a couple of days of learnning more about diversity in the workplace and celebrating the 7th year of Working Mother Media's Best ...

The story that stands out from my listening to all news radio as I got ready for my day yesterday and today is the Senate confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor.  The discussion of tactics for those who would keep her off the High Court Bench became the subject of ...

  The recession has caused families across America to rethink how they deal with child care.  It's never an easy thing for working parents as we all know.  And every year the demands are different, depending on the ages, stages, and numbers of your children.  The current recession is ...

No, it's not the end of the month yet. But we have already had a week's vacation with the family - the week leading into the 4th of July,  And I have returned to the office (did you miss me?) to find a pile of projects and steady deadlines that ...

My lunch time musing today centered around this headline: Sotomayor quits all-women’s club   GOP senators had made an issue of court nominee's membership. Judge Sonia Sotmayor is having her entire life dissected for an opportunity to serve on the top bench of the Judicial Branch of the ...

A few items have crossed my desk that may make a difference to your Father's Day weekend.  1)  Nestle' has recalled its ready made Toll House Cookie packages - the kind you find in the refrigerator case at the market.  I tell you this because I do not bake.  ...

Dawn in an amazing mom faced with the kind of challenges none of us should have to face in a country as well off as this one.  One night, Dawn’s daughter had a stroke of sorts.  This young teenager fell into a coma.  Dawn and her husband both work but ...

As a working mom, one of the first people I get to know in a company is the Human Resources professional who handles health benefits. So far, none of them has run the other way.  But it's quite telling when you receive two insurance cards because the names of covered ...

Funny, when i began this blog as editor of workingmother.com, I thought about how i would approach my topics. As a career journalist, I thought I would enjoy commenting on the news of the day, the week, the year. News and ideas that affect working mothers and working families. The ...

I had a business trip this week to meet with some of my colleagues at the Bonnier Corp headquarters in Winter Park FL not far from Disney World. It was a fantastic trip, busy.  We rain between buidlings in afternoon rainstorms, and an hour later walked outside in sunshine.  For ...

Every now and then I come across something that I think my friends, busy working women like you, might find interesting, not earth shattering, but something I come across in my news peruse of the day. So I thought I would share. Researchers say, that a manuscript dating to ...

President Obama has chosen another Latina woman for one of the highest positions in the land – a Puerto Rican American raised in a Bronx Housing project has been nominated to the Supreme Court.  Judge Sonia Sotomayor sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit based in ...

One day your life changes. And one day, you need more people - doctors, nurses, healthcare professionals of all stripes - in your life than you ever dreamed.  It is the day your child is diagnosed with a serious or life-threatening illness.  You can never be prepared for that moment.  ...

I listened intently to President Obama speak to Congress this week urging them to do their jobs and put Americans first before partisanship, before special interests.  Health care insurance reform and health care medical reform need to go hand in hand. It's a big job and just sorting through the ...

Maternity leave hit the headlines this past week when the Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling saying the time given to women as maternity leave before the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act that institutionalized maternity leave cannot have that time retroactively added to their pension benefits. There are other ...

The old boys club has been an issue for women in the workplace for as long as any of us can remember.  But like early quilting bees, many of us have found other women in the workplace to connect with, relate to and mentor.  But a new study conducted by ...

Mother's Day is a week away. But, a world away from last year's Mother's Day. It was a difficult one for me, shared with my youngest daughter, aged 10, who was in the middle of chemotherapy treatments, battling osteosarcoma, a bone cancer. By May, she had already faced nine months ...

Fordham University sent me a fat envelope recently.  Much fatter than the one I received when they told me I was accepted to Fordham College a generation ago.  This was an invitation to join in the Jubilee weekend, held to celebrate the reunions of every five years.  The year I ...

Last Friday, our editorial assistant handed me a book due out in time for Mother’s Day. She said she wasn’t sure if it was the kind of thing we review but thought one of the older editors might find it interesting. Yes, I qualify as ...

Addicted to our computers! This seems to be the latest pop concern going around the Internet. But what are those worrisome statistics counting really? How many hours a day does a working mother have to be on the computer outside the office (whether that?s at home or in someone else?s ...

Hopefully, many of us have already prepped if not filed our tax returns but its more than the IRS that reminds us April is the month for money matters.  (see: Time Is Money )  No, I am not Suze Orman. I cannot give advice on money.  But  I, like you, ...

Your daughter has a one day school event and you have a business commitment.  How many working mothers have been faced with that choice?  In the end, we know it comes down to weighing both sides. Andrea Jung, the chairman and CEO of Avon Products, Inc., was the keynote speaker ...

Two of our daughters have been performing in school plays for the last number of years.  Big muscial productions with 60 to 100 kids in them.  They are the kind of school plays where title roles are split on different nights and acts, filled by different performers; ensembles become choruses, ...

I have been reading some of these great blog posts here on MomBlog  (momblog.workingmother.com).  You are writing about women in leadership, the power of Mom's purse, the questions of life/work balance.  These are the kinds of conversations we should be engaging each other with, so the many voices grow louder ...

She was a working actress and the mother of young two sons.  And now she is gone.  Natasha Richardson was the beautiful woman, remembered by many for her different roles.  In my house, we described her as the working mom in The Parent Trap. In that role she was a ...

I spent last night writing an opening speech for a Girl Scouts Corporate luncheon I am speaking at this week in New York’s Hudson Valley.  The council, called Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson, just above New York City, serves 34,000 girls and countless volunteers who ...

White House Council on Women and Girls announced today by President Obama. It would be nice to think that my daughters live in a world where we do not need councils to help the world remember that women and girls should be treated fairly, and by fairly, we mean ...

Today's Daily Bread — a little food for thought. Are you swimming underwater? Not in a pool. In red ink?  The last few days I have been reading lots of news stories based on Core Logic's real estate survey that pointed to where the most precipitous drops in housing ...

Welcome to  Daily Bread - the place to get a daily helping of news pertinent to all of us... This Week's headline: US Unemployment hits 25-year high.   8.1%  That means many working mothers are out of work and in some cases, a lot of dads have become at-home ...