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Some of the articles of interest to working mothers that we’ve seen around the web recently…
- Real Simple lists several good beauty buys at Target.
- Anna Davies writes about “meternity” leave in The New York Post, while in Glamour, a working mom responds.
- The BBC reports on the mom who had to throw out 500 oz. of breastmilk at Heathrow, while New York magazine’s The Cut reports that even celebrities face difficulties as traveling pumping moms.
- The Washington Post offers tips on beating procrastination.
- A mom of five writes in The Huffington Post about worrying that she’s raised a Mean Girl and how she addressed a problematic social situation involving her daughter and her friends.
- Geeks with Juniors rounds up several storybook apps that feature strong female characters.
- Joanna Goddard writes at A Cup of Jo about ways to enrich your relationship with your spouse after having kids.
- The New York Times looks into the improved versions of the breast pump that are on the horizon or already available.
- Check out this fully-funded Kickstarter for Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, a “children’s book that reinvents fairy tales, inspiring girls with the stories of 100 great women from Elizabeth I to Serena Williams.”
- New York magazine’s Science of Us looks at how opportunities for creativity are lacking in typical arts-and-crafts projects used by preschools.
Do be sure to check out the news update over at Corporette!
On Corporette Recently…
- We talked about a marriage mindset, making time for therapy appointments with a busy job, and being friends with your assistant.
- Weekend Wednesday rounded up good travel dresses.
Did we miss anything? Add ’em here, or send them to [email protected]. Thank you!
WTF? says
Did anybody read the “meternity” article? This woman just does not get it.
Parenthood provides flexibility? No, it reduces flexibility at work because you have to prove that your kid is not interfering with your job. The guys I work with are always taking time off to go mountain biking or whatever, but if I take the afternoon off to take my kid to the doctor I get all kinds of comments.
Having margaritas with a friend “ghosted” by her date is as “valid” as picking your kid up from day care? Uh, no, if you fail to pick your kid up from day care you will be getting a call from CPS.
Motherhood teaches women to “self-advocate for their families”? Again, nope. It teaches you to put your personal needs last, not first.
Maternity leave refocuses women on what they really want in life and that’s why they sometimes change careers afterwards? Yet again, no way! It’s just that it’s impossible to be successful at both motherhood and a demanding career, and some women get fed up with it and have to step back. It’s not maternity leave that “refocuses” women, it’s motherhood itself.
Yet another example of an entitled childless person thinking that childrearing is just a selfish hobby. You just don’t get it until you are actually responsible for the life of another human being.
Anonymous says
The Glamour response was great. That article was ridiculous.
Anonymous says
Agreed on both counts. The “meternity leave” idea is just rebranding an idea (sabbatical) that’s been around for ages. It has absolutely zero to do with maternity leave, she’s just trying to capture a market of childless-by-choice people who see parents as entitled and feel like “special treatment” for them is unfair, because hey, it was their choice to have kids. I know I used to feel that way when I was younger, so I get it, even though in retrospect, it was a really bratty attitude. As a parent I now understand that no one (especially not a woman!) is coming out ahead in terms of money, mental space, career prospects, free time, flexibility, you-name-it by taking advantage of maternity leave or subsequent the “special treatment” afforded to parents in the workplace. To claim otherwise is astoundingly ignorant.
Meg Murry says
Exactly. Maternity leave is not a vacation – it’s time to recover from childbirth and then to take care of a squalling infant. If you want to advocate for your company offering sabbaticals, go for it – but don’t pretend like you earned it because you’ve never taken a maternity leave.
Also, this line really got to me: “From the outside, it seemed like those few weeks of them shifting their focus to something other than their jobs gave them a whole new lens through which to see their lives.”
It’s not the maternity leave that caused that. It is that a person only has so many f*cks to give, and once they have a baby they have to spend a lot of those f*cks on juggling working and parenting. The exact same situation that would have been “stop the presses, customer has an emergency!” in my 20s is now “you know what, we aren’t doing organ transplants here. No one will die if we tell the customer no, they can’t have that until tomorrow. Everyone go home at a reasonable hour and be prepared to go 100% first thing tomorrow”. And for the job where everything was an emergency, yes, I moved on, and maybe kids spurred me to do that – but maybe I would have burned out and been ready to move on my my early 30s kids or not.
Pigpen's Mama says
I agree with the idea that EVERYONE needs work/life balance, not just people with kids, but her way of coming to that conclusion was so freaking obnoxious I kinda wanted to punch her in the face.
I made the mistake of reading her article (and some of the comments, even though I should know better by now). And she really doesn’t get it — I don’t think you have to have kids to ‘get it’ at all, just some self awareness that other people are real people and not just supporting fictional characters.
This quote really drives that home:
” Women are bad at putting ourselves first. But when you have a child, you learn how to self-advocate to put the needs of your family first. ”
And she doesn’t get that putting the “needs of your family” isn’t the same thing as putting yourself first.
pockets says
and assumes that such self-advocacy is without consequences.
There was a post on Above the Law several years ago about a woman at a big law firm (maybe Quinn Emanuel?) who sent an email saying that she was going to a concert and that people should treat it as if she was having a baby and not question her right to the time or bother her during that time period. One of the male writers (Elie?) took her down.
pockets says
http://abovethelaw.com/2014/06/worklife-balance-biglaw-women-and-katy-perry/
Maddie Ross says
I scrolled through just a couple of comments out of curiosity and was heartened by how many of the comments were from men, who at least understood the medical necessity of maternity leave. So that’s something…
MomAnon4This says
I just hope it was Clickbait, and that her own mom calls her out on it (just in time for USA Mother’s Day…)
NewMomAnon says
You know, I think it would be great if we offered childless employees the opportunity to experience a true maternity leave, with the 6-12 months of chaos after returning from said leave, at least once in their careers. This is a great idea. I volunteer to appear in their bedrooms for an hour each night between midnight and 4 am to scream, cry, pee on them, and spray warm, curdled milk on their chests. I bet we could put together a core of volunteers and make this a super realistic simulation that would help her develop a better sense of direction and refocus her life.
Anonymous says
Slow clap.
Laura L says
This comment wins the internet today.
Amelia Bedelia says
Thank you. Just, thank you.
Nikki says
Thank you for posting about the children’s book Kickstarter project! I’m pregnant with my first (a girl). Just backed this project and super excited about the prospects of reading it to her as it comes out.