Friday November 20, 2009
For the last 32 hours I have had no Internet access. You can imagine how hard it has been to work! Oddly enough, though, I found that the site I missed the most was Pandora. I could access Google and some email (limited attachments) on my Blackberry, until it ran out of batteries. But without my instant online jukebox I had no running soundtrack to play while I worked.
Earlier this month I was in Asia, where I was distraught to find that I couldn't access Pandora! Something about international copyright licenses, but all I could think was that I should've loaded more tunes on my MP3 player before I left.
I also use Pandora when I'm trying to get dinner on the table and the kids are driving me crazy. I can select a channel with a favorite song or artist of theirs (Sesame Street or High School Musical) and let Pandora do the song selection. As I type this, my 5-year old and her friend are jamming around the kitchen to the Michael Jackson channel.
What are your favorite online addictions?
Follow me on Twitter | Join my Facebook page
More:
Wednesday November 18, 2009
I was at the playground with a stay-at-home mom friend on a sunny summer day chatting as we watched our two-year olds climb the jungle gym. Our conversation ranged over the usual topics: the news, politics, movies, books. Then she brought up her decision to put her daughter in preschool -- and things got ugly.
"I don't see how I can leave her for three hours every day; she's so little!" my friend agonized. I was struck dumb. "Really?" the voice inside me said. "How do you think that comment makes me feel when I've been leaving my daughter at daycare for 9 hours a day since she was 6 months old?"
But I let the moment pass with some sympathetic noise. It wasn't the first time someone's thoughtless remark brought the blood rushing to my face and make me want to launch into a defense of working moms. Now, over a year later, my friend raves about how much her daughter loves preschool -- and probably doesn't even remember that conversation.
If you're a working mother, chances are you too have heard annoying comments about your decision to work while raising children. These remarks can range from ignorant to deliberately insulting, but their commonality is the ability to twist the knife of guilt deep into your belly.
Here's your chance to sound off! Please share the working mom comments you hate the most -- and read about the outrageous things other working mothers have heard.
Follow me on Twitter | Join my Facebook page
Photo credit: Stockbyte/Getty Images
More:
Monday November 16, 2009
Sarah Palin's new book, Going Rogue, will be released tomorrow. So naturally, the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate is appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show today as part of the publicity around the book's publication.
Unfortunately, the clips of the show that were released in advance don't look that exciting. Palin acknowledges that her disastrous interview with Katie Couric "wasn't a good interview" and says she doesn't want to go "down the road of controversy and drama" regarding Levi Johnston, the father of her grandbaby. Really? Is that the best you could get, Oprah? Do I have to watch the whole show in hopes that you'll provoke a sniffle or two?
I certainly am looking forward to cracking open Going Rogue, myself. Palin received an initial payment of $1.25 million for writing the book, according to news reports that said she's likely to get another check when the book is published, as well as royalties.
Will you watch Oprah today? (Or catch a recording of it after work...) I admit that I've set my DVR to record it -- I just can't resist.
Photo credit: Getty Images/William Thomas Cain
Follow me on Twitter | Join my Facebook page
More:
Friday November 13, 2009
I've blogged before about how I think the mommy wars are a media myth. So it's no surprise that I gravitate toward voices that speak to our different phases of life -- at-home, part-time work, and full-on career woman -- rather than viewing mothers as fixed in a category of working moms or stay-at-home moms.
One of my favorite proponents of this view is Hybrid Mom, the About Working Moms Site of the Week. Both a Web site and a glossy magazine, Hybrid Mom appeals to mothers who are working or thinking about work or starting a business or pursuing volunteer opportunities. You can read a working mom's must-have list, find like-minded mothers in the Hybrid Mom community or browse the marketplace.
If you visit, please let me know what you think!
Follow me on Twitter | Join my Facebook page
More:
