Work-life balance.

Do you pull it off?  What about this… are you happy?

A new study out this week finds the US ranks number 1 when it comes to compiling wealth – this according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.  MSNBC reported on the study which was intended to gauge well-being in more than 30 countries around the world.  Apparently the average household income here in the US came in at $102,000 – though this sounded high to me.

However, though the US ranked ‘above average’ in overall life satisfaction, there were many countries that came in higher….and it seems that ‘work-life balance’ is a sticking point.  This is the area we’re always aiming to make ‘perfect’, but somehow, we always feeling out of whack.

This phrase screams at us from magazine covers and we are constantly at odds with ourselves: how can we give everything we have to our families, to ourselves and to our work?  Sounds like an impossible task to me.  I say give up striving for balance.

We often hear ‘money can’t buy happiness’, but do you think it is possible to feel on track in all areas…. financially, personally and somehow manage to find that elusive balance between work and home?  Or must we sacrifice one for the other?

Read more from Danielle on Strollerderby and her personal sites ExtraordinaryMommy and DanielleSmithMedia.

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It has reached a point now that hearing about someone being charged for causing an accident while texting and driving barely raises an eyebrow.  You and I both know that texting while behind the wheel is clearly a poor move and it’s illegal in many states.

But what if states started to hold someone else responsible? Like someone NOT in the car who is knowingly texting the driver WHILE they are driving, thus creating the distraction?

A Superior Court Judge in New Jersey is considering just a case right now. It goes like this: An 18 year old is charged after he swerves into oncoming traffic while looking at texts sent by his girlfriend.  He hit two motorcyclists. While the teen has to pay a fine and must speak to the dangers of texting and driving, the motorcyclists have filed a civil suit and they wnat to include the girlfriend, claiming she KNEW he was driving and shouldn’t have been texting.

Whew. This is a tough one. How would she have known just WHEN he would look at the texts? Wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume he wouldn’t look WHILE he was driving and maybe at a stoplight? And what about EVERYTHING else people do in thier cars that could be cause for distraction?

Read more from Danielle on Strollerderby and her personal sites ExtraordinaryMommy and DanielleSmithMedia.

You can also follow her on Twitter.

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Photo Credit: Brett Deering/Getty Images

As if missing that last shot isn’t tough enough during a playoff game! After Steve Blake missed a last minute shot during Game 2 against Okalhoma City, his family received death threats on Twitter.

According to Yahoo Sports, Blake’s wife Kristen had to block more than 500 people on the social network for their nasty comments and threats. @JAMESALLONYOU, whose account has since disappeared (though his tweet is living in on RTs- retweets), tweeted, in part, “… I hope your family gets murdered…” And that is the CLEAN portion of the tweet. The rest is obscenity-laced and even more hateful.

What? Murdered? Obscenities? Name-calling? I will stop just short of the patronizing, “It’s just a game, folks.” Because truly, I understand people take this seriously. But to wish death on someone’s family? To threaten? This is the furthest thing from being sportsmanlike I can imagine.

And it isn’t a joke either. Do you remember Andres Escobar, the Colombian soccer player killed in 1994 after accidentally scoring on his own team during the World Cup while playing the United States? Colombia was eliminated and Escobar was gunned down for his “accident.”

My other problem with this? The threats, complaints and harrassment are being issued via social media. The fans claim they want access to the athletes, to the stars, to the celebrities. They want to know what they are doing, what they are thinking, etc. And then you treat them like this?

My thoughts in the video:

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I really shouldn’t be surprised. We live in a world that is constantly trying to be better, faster, stronger, and OF COURSE, more convenient, right?  And what is more convenient than 24/7 access to your cell phone?  We’ve had to suffer the indignity of flights WITHOUT the ability to place calls for long enough, now haven’t we?

Fortunately we have Virgin Atlantic to save the day.  According to CNET, the airline is planning to offer cell phone service on some of their flights between New York and London by the end of the year.  This will allow passengers to make calls, send texts and check emails when they are in the sky.  Naturally, it won’t be cheap – running about $1.20 a minute, but seriously, who wants to be sitting next to someone in such close quarters as they make a call?

It seems only 6 people will be able to make calls at a time.  Well, thank goodness. Can you imagine the VOLUME otherwise?

I just might have to add this to the list of things that make me crazy about my fellow passengers – coming in behind my seatmates who take their shoes off and fall asleep on my shoulder.

Read more from Danielle on Strollerderby and her personal sites ExtraordinaryMommy and DanielleSmithMedia.

You can also follow her on Twitter.

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I think I went to my first sleepover when I was five. And, if I’m not mistaken, that is the same age, I first allowed my daughter to experience the same.  I know that’s when my son first did. (since it was just in this past year… he’s been begging for longer after watching his older sister).

It never occurred to me to *not* allow sleepovers.

But after reading this post by my friend Jenny Ingram this week, I realized many, many parents not only dislike the sleepover, quite a few ban them.  Jenny’s post was sparked, in part by revelations about politcian Michael Gardner and his recent conviction for molesting two young girls at a sleepover for his daughter’s birthday.

In the post, Jenny expresses her hesitations about sleepovers, as well as her ‘Circle of Trust’ – those with whom her children are allowed sleepovers.  But within the comments, I will admit to being surprised to see, a flood of parents who either don’t allow sleepovers at all, or who only allow them with a very few families.

As I read, I realized how many people had poor experiences with sleepovers as a child – or who knew someone who had experienced the unthinkable.  It is natural for this personal experience to effect how we parent.

Since my sleepover experiences were all positive and we live in a very closeknit community – the kids we have over and who’s homes my children visit are all families we know very well – we haven’t hesitated.

I love that Jenny inspired greater thought in me and how she summed up her feelings in this comment:

I do think it’s situational. What I’ve seen in comments here and in a couple other spaces about this topic, those who have not had a negative experience are more open. Those who have, are more cautious. I have to remain very vague in the two instances that have affected me/people I have close connection with… and I just really can’t say much more. I just have seen the exception and it’s hard to not be affected by that.

What are your thoughts and experiences as they relate to sleepovers and your children?

Read more from Danielle on Strollerderby and her personal sites ExtraordinaryMommy and DanielleSmithMedia.

You can also follow her on Twitter.

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Growing up in my house meant Oreos were a special treat, soda was an ‘almost never’ and potato chips were served with Dad’s Saturday Night Hamburgers.

But, Sabrina…. my friend up the street?  Well, she had free reign of all-things-sweet-and-salty.  And my friend Michelle… well, yikes!… sweets were forbidden in her house.  Guess who’s house we visited the most often?  And guess who was constantly in the pantry begging for more?

I certainly loved the allure of the options at Sabrina’s house, but I always felt bad for Michelle because she had NO options – and it meant she stuffed herself whenever she had the opportunity – because she knew the treats were a rarity for her.

This is only ONE of my concerns when it comes to the state of Massachusetts banning bake sales at schools – and according to the Boston Herald, hoping to take further steps – like banning sweets 24/7 for banquets, door-to-door candy sales and sporting events AND even eliminating other ‘junk’ like 2% milk and white bread.

The Masschusetts Department of Health and Education apparently believes these steps are necessary as 1/3 of the school’s students are affected by obesity.

I worry not only that ‘forbidding’ sweets doesn’t seem like the logical answer…. not simply that banning bake sales eliminates what has been, for MANY extracurricular groups, a source of much-needed revenue that the state DOESN’T provide, but also that a child’s diet should be regulated, in my opinion, by their parents.

Read more from Danielle on Strollerderby and her personal sites ExtraordinaryMommy and DanielleSmithMedia.

You can also follow her on Twitter.

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My nearly 8-year-old daughter plays softball, soccer, and basketball.  She comes by her love of sports honestly: from her dad.  Since she was old enough to clutch a ball, they’ve been outside together throwing, kicking, hitting and pitching.

My husband is the kind of dad who continues to make Title IX and all of its strides possible. But naturally, dads are only a piece of the puzzle.

This week’s Sports Illustrated is dedicated to the 40th Anniversary of Title IX, part of the Educations Amendments of 1972 that reads, in part, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance….”

While reading the SI articles, I learned in the time since Title IX took effect, the number of girls in high school sports has improved dramatically from 294 thousand to more than 3 million last year.  Studies say that girls who participate in sports are more likely to graduate, have higher confidence levels and are less likely to fall victim to obesity, suicide, and drugs.

I’ll confess to tearing up as I read.  I’m amazed at how far women in sports have come….and how many roadblocks have stood in their way.  I’m overjoyed my daughter has the opportunites she does… and the role models.  She has never known a world where ‘athlete’ and ‘girl’ haven’t been used in the same sentence.

But there is still room for improvement….

Read more from Danielle on Strollerderby and her personal sites ExtraordinaryMommy and DanielleSmithMedia.

You can also follow her on Twitter.

More from Danielle on Strollerderby:

Pinterest Is Making Money From Your Posts: Sneaky Or Genius?
Will You Teach Your Kids To Give Like The Anonymous Kmart Donors?
McDonalds Outsmarts San Francisco Happy Meal Ban
Sticks and Stones: My Son Cut His Hair So Another Child Would Stop Calling Him A Girl

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