Most of us reading this have been hearing the phrase “mommy track” at least since beginning our careers, if not longer. As a refresher, the term refers, somewhat derisively, to the idea that employees, especially female ones, could follow the typical workaholic American track if that was their desire, and women who want a little more work-life balance could have flextime, job sharing, part-time work, and so on. The idea was posited by Felice Schwartz in a 1999 article in Harvard Business Review, which was prompted by the idea that companies were losing talented women because of their inflexibility.

This article in Slate notes that the “mommy track” turns 21 this year. Angie Kim, a Harvard Law graduate and hugely successful person, writes about feeling like the only person in her law school class who has stepped off the go-go-go success track, Continue reading »

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I hate money. I don’t hate having it on the rare occasion when I do, and it’s the one thing I would probably hate less if I had more of it. But I hate thinking about it, stressing about it, wondering about the best way to manage it, etc.

But financial experts say this attitude is pretty harmful to my kids — that teaching them about money, and how to deal with it, is one of the best things we can do for them to start them on the right path in life. And given that my five-year-old just asked for an allowance, I found this week’s Wall Street Journal article on “15 Money Rules Kids Should Learn” enormously timely.

One of the most interesting ones, which writer Jeff D. Opdyke talks about in his post for The Juggle, Continue reading »

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The people in charge of our school lunches are having a tough week, as this New York Times story points out. First, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution (which you should be watching, it’s awesome) tackled an elementary school in Huntington, W.Virginia. His attempts to get the lunch ladies to cook healthy foods, and to get the kids to eat it, were simply heartbreaking if you care about feeding kids well. Continue reading »

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The New York Times “Well” blog has uncovered lots of little known provisions in the health care bill, including one that’s going to be outstanding news for working and nursing mothers and their advocates.

According to the blog, employers are now required to provide breaks for nursing mothers to express milk as often as neccessary, and better yet, to provide space for them to do so that isn’t a bathroom. Continue reading »

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Do you find yourself frequently auditioning for the role of “favorite parent” in your house?

That’s actually not all that healthy of you, or good for your kids, according to this Psychology Today blog by Dr. Ellen Weber Libby, a psychologist and author of the book “The Favorite Child.”

For example, she said, a parent could try to woo the chld over to their side by enforcing limits lackadaisically or not at all, or by literally trying to buy love with toys or treats. Continue reading »

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Most adoptions from China now are of special-needs children, versus the girl infant that most of us probably think of.

There’s lots of reasons for this. The government has loosened the one-child policy that led to girls being abandoned and eventually adopted out to foreigners. Also, there’s been a growing demand for domestic adoption within China, making fewer healthy infants available for international adoption. And the wait for adopting internationally from China used to be about year — now, it’s stretched to four.

Meanwhile, Continue reading »

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What if bad mothering — the truly shocking, sickening kind, the kind that leads to child abuse or even worse — was something you were hardwired for?

Some researchers say they think it is. According to this Times of London story, neurologist Craig Kinsley believes that the brain creates a new cluster of cells during pregnancy that appear to be related to good or bad parenting behaviors. These “maternal neurons” get switched on after birth — and too few lead to bad mothering behaviors.

“We believe that a certain number of these ‘maternal neurons’ need to be ‘switched on’ for good mothering to take place,” Kinsley told the Times. “Our research showed Continue reading »

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