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Some of the articles of interest to working mothers that we’ve seen around the web recently…
- Racked rounds up non-itchy sweaters and asks, “Why Is It So Hard for Women of Color to Buy a Nude Bra?” (image maybe NSFW).
- The New York Times Well blog explains how to lose weight in a safe way while breastfeeding.
- Speaking of breastfeeding, Above the Law reports on “Latham & Watkin’s breast milk-shipping program, “the first of its kind among all Biglaw firms.”
- The Dallas News reports that many grandmothers today are opting out of being called “Grandma.”
- New York magazine’s The Cut shares an essay from a mother whose baby has cystic fibrosis; she struggles with how or whether to tell people the news. Also from The Cut: an essay from the mom of a 3-year-old that contains this perfect section: “Do I really want to go out on an evening when I could be with her? Of course I don’t. Of course I do.”
- Common Sense Media, which is a great resource in general, recommends 10 websites for preschoolers through high schoolers.
- Benjamin Bergen writes in the Los Angeles Times about cursing in front of you kids: “[W]hen I happen to swear around my kid, I provide some coaching. I engage him in an honest dialogue about why some words are OK in some places, but not others.”
- Last week we shared the photo of the marathoner using a hand pump while running — this week we have a photo of a “doctor who is 35 weeks pregnant and working as the team physician to a high school football team while carrying her 3-year-old daughter on her back.” (Her childcare fell through!)
Do be sure to check out the news update over at Corporette!
On Corporette Recently…
- Kat looked at the Friends & Family sale at Last Call and rounded up backpacks for work.
- Kat answered a reader question about how to tell your boss you’re not her personal assistant.
- We recommended six things to have at work when you’re sick.
- We took a look back into Corporette history.
Did we miss anything? Add ‘e m here, or send them to [email protected]. Thank you!
Faye says
Re: Grandparents opting out of “Grandma” and “Grandpa”. What a sad comment on our obsession with uniqueness and youth. So weird. Is the next step a bunch of 20-somethings who think they’re too young to be mothers, so call them Kiki/Lala/Coco instead?
I don’t get the problem with being called what you are. I grew up with 7 living grandmothers/great-grandmothers. I called them all Grandma, it wasn’t confusing at all.
(End of my crotchety old lady rant)
MomAnon4This says
Well, I know a Granny and we have 2 Nanas in my family, and the other one goes by a variation of Grandma that includes her name (think Nan-ma or Grand-Nan if her name was Nancy) and I know a lot of Bubbie (Yiddish for Grandma) and Safta (Hebrew for Grandma) and Oma (Greek for… yep). So, I don’t think it’s all about not wanting to be old.
Did you do Grandma Firstname? We do Nana Firstname.
PhilanthropyGirl says
I had a friend who called her grandparents Omama and Opapa – she claimed it was a family adaptation of the German informal terms Oma and Opa. I didn’t realize that was also Greek.
CHJ says
I also feel like this trend has come out of nowhere. Baby boomers are so weird.
Anonymous says
Ironically ‘Grandma’ is the new trend with baby boomers where I am because previous generation used ‘Nanny/Nanna’ so that’s associated with being older but ‘Grandma’ is younger *eyeroll*
PhilanthropyGirl says
This is a strange Boomer thing I think.
I referred to my grandparents by Grandma Surname and Grandpa Surname.
I was so stunned when my 60 something parents told me they weren’t old enough to be called grandma/grandpa. We have a Nana and a Granddad. MIL goes by “Mom mom” which I found really odd (and a touch annoying when I go by Mama – to a toddler they’re identical); but discovered that her mom and her grandmother also went by “mom mom” so at least it isn’t a new thing.
PhilanthropyGirl says
As another note, my FIL is deceased, but we refer to him as Papito (the same as his father and grandfather). He was Ecuadorian, and that was the phrase his family used.
Anons says
Oh h-ll no to “Mom mom.” You are “Mom” and “Mama” and all of that. That one would really upset me.
Anonymous says
I don’t think it’s a “trying-to-remain-hip-and-young” thing at all, more that the grandmothers want to be called the same thing they called their own grandmothers. My mom called her grandmothers “Grandma,” so she is Grandma. I called my paternal grandmother “Grammie,” so I want to be Grammie if I am ever lucky enough to become a grandmother. There is a long line of Nanas on my husband’s side, so his mother is Nana.
What not to do: Letting the kids name the grandparents. My in-laws detest the fact that one set of adult grandkids still insist on calling them “Gee-Maw” and “Gee-Paw,” which they never wanted to be called in the first place.
Annoying says
Ugh, my mother let me know long before I was ever pregnant that she wanted to be called “nana” (okay, fine. Normal enough). She also wanted her awful husband with whom I don’t want our future children to have any real relationship with to call him “papa”. NOPE.
NewMomAnon says
I still struggle with referring to my parents as either “Grandma” or “Grandpa.” When I was growing up, my mom’s parents insisted on “Grandma Lastname” or “Grandpa Lastname” and my dad’s mom was Southern so she went by “Grammaw.” For some reason, I have hard time referring to my parents by the same moniker as I used for my maternal grandparents, but I also can’t bring myself to call them “Grandma/Grandpa Firstname.”
Anonymama says
I don’t think this is a new thing: I think most of my friends and family called grandparents something other than just straight grandma or grandpa. For a lot of people, it is a preservation of culture, or a result of baby mispronunciation, or just a nickname that seems to fit someone better. I mean, why do you care what people call their family members? Do you judge everyone who calls their mother something besides “mom” because that’s what you call your mom? So weird.
Rachel says
That Latham breast milk shipping service isn’t a new idea. My employer (a Southern regional bank) has offered that to new moms for about a year through a company called Milk Stork. I took one business trip before and one after the service had been implemented. It was amazing not having to take your milk through TSA coming back. Such a great benefit that more companies should offer. I think it was only around $150 a trip.
Sonny says
Did you use Milk Stork? Did you like it? I’m thinking about using the service for an upcoming trial.