Picture this: torrential rainstorm, pelting winds, two cheaply made, defective umbrellas, one stroller, one Ergo, three children under the age of three and two bare-faced, jeans-clad WoMos braving the inclement weather for the four block walk to one of our city’s most notorious tourist traps and an afternoon of “kiddie fun.” If it sounds like a nightmare, it actually was not. Once inside and after shedding all the soggy jackets, we managed to eat up a good two or three hours of a crappy afternoon with nary a toddler tantrum or a glance at email. Sure, the attractions were a bit shopworn, and the “soup in a sourdough bowl” was not exactly the most balanced lunch I could be feeding the T-man. But the sun eventually made an appearance and cast a gorgeous light across the rain-slicked pier as our boys raced to the sea lion viewing area to catch a glimpse at the barking creatures. And boy did my boy sleep like a baby in a marathon nap that stretched from the car ride home into the dinner hour. more...
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Tags:Bad, Bad Mommy, Guilt: The Bad G-spot, Juggling & Struggling
Do you ever reflect on all the things you know now as a grown-up working mom that you never knew in your younger, childless days?
The other day while doing research on a new business prospect, I found myself poking around a website geared at baby boomer women and saw a column that invited women to write a “postcard” to themselves as young women. Some of the messages were practical, i.e., “Don’t ever forget to label your boxes before you put them in the attic,” and others were poignant, “Don’t waste a minute of your precious time.” It got me thinking about what I might tell my own younger self – particularly the self that existed pre-WoMo days … even pre-mommy days period. Here’s what I came up with for me – how about you?
- Don’t ever complain to your (WoMo!) boss about insomnia … or wonder why your habit of falling into head dips during long meetings pisses her off. There’s a reason she drinks 10 cups of coffee a day and still taps her fingers impatiently when more...
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Tags:Just For Laughs, Looks: Is This Mirror Working?, On The Career Track, Travel Tales: Are We There Yet?, WoMoLists
If I work, it will be bad for my kids. Wrong. Sorry, Dr. Laura. If I was a lame, lazy ass it would be bad for my kids. Hydrogenated fat is bad for my kids. If I’m working, it will teach them some pretty essential life lessons: independence, socialization, contribution, gender equality, mommy looks pretty when she dresses up, and most importantly, we all have to work for things in life.
If I work, I will miss all the important stuff. Wrong. Children don't grow and develop in incremental single acts. Milestones often look more like a path. A child will take first steps for days, perhaps a week or more (and they could occur when you are home but not looking). A first word will be uttered time and time again... Does that indiscernible “daaa” count? Or was it a few days later when he said “dadaaaah”? And remember, a first tooth can be lost at school as easily as at home, and that certainly doesn’t make your child’s teacher somehow better than you for being there. more...
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Tags:Colleagues & Coworkers, Guilt: The Bad G-spot, On The Career Track, SAHM Sisters, School Daze, Time Is A Four Letter Word, WoMoLists
There was once a time – what seems like a lifetime ago – when having friends over meant some semblance of an actual dinner party with cute new outfits, prepared entrees, nice plates and matching silverware, lots of red wine and probably a start time later than 8 p.m. Sometimes after the dishes were cleared we even – gasp – headed out the door to take the party to a bar or club. Looking around my kitchen last night made me realize how much things have changed in just the past few years.
Picture this: Saturday night, three late thirty-something couples standing, clustered around a brightly lit kitchen nibbling pizza and gulping sips of white wine at 7 p.m. in our stocking feet. At regular intervals, a member of the group would dash into the living room at the sound of a child’s wail or a scuffle breaking out, or grab a small child who had wandered in looking for another “treat” or a glass of juice. Not one friend wore more than a smidgen of make-up and everyone heaped more...
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Tags:Girlfriend Gab, Just For Laughs, Looks: Is This Mirror Working?, Party Girl, Time Is A Four Letter Word
It’s not all woe is me in WoMoland. There are a few little advantages we enjoy over our stay-at-home sisters, such as …
- Coffee and the newspaper (or CNN online) before starting the day instead of “Dora” or “Diego”
- An office full of younger colleagues who will indulge your “Twilight” obsession without ever turning the topic to preschools or potty training
- The ability to greet your husband at the end of the day somewhat gussied up in make-up and heels (rather than smudged with applesauce, bare-faced in sneakers!)
- The world’s best excuse for postponing indefinitely the need to learn to cook
- Escape from dull playdates with your kids’ classmates whose moms bore you to tears
Okay, it's not such a long list, but maybe you can add a few to my list?
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Tags:Express Male: Hubby Talk, Just For Laughs, Looks: Is This Mirror Working?, SAHM Sisters, WoMoLists
November 10th, 2009, posted by Marcie, Tags: SAHM Sisters
I had SAHM-envy. There, I said it. Now can we just talk about this honestly without assuming there’s some impenetrable wall of resentment and anger? Seriously, I’ve been postponing this post for weeks now. Impeding my own thoughts with ridiculous wordsmithing and lengthy rewrites. Why all the hesitation? Well, it’s the first time I’m voicing the struggle I face with a lot of the moms I know. Yes, the vast majority of them are SAHMs, but there’s more. Are you sitting down? Many of them also have nannies 30- or 40-hours a week. Yes (gasp) stay-at-home with full-time childcare. No, I don’t live in Orange County. And yes, this lifestyle does occur outside of reality TV and celebrity moms.
So who wouldn’t feel just a teensy-weensy bit jealous over that everyday reality? I’m like “Where’s Waldo WoMo?” at school drop off every morning… the only one not sporting Lululemon or a tennis skirt. Obviously, this arrangement enables freedoms that very few mothers (working or not) are fortunate enough to experience: workouts, manicures, shopping and other activities, completely unencumbered by an more...
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Tags:SAHM Sisters
Are you a bad mother? And what exactly is a bad mother, anyway? This seems to be a hot topic these days, with some like writer Ayelet Waldman (famed for admitting she loved her husband more than her kids) taking a more serious approach with her recent book of the same title, and funny blogs like Bad Mothers Anonymous going the funny, outrageous route. Either way, it seems to be hip right now to admit your parenting skills may be lacking. Just go out one night with a bunch of WoMos and the confessions are likely to come flying out.
But here’s the thing. Most of the real life confessions I hear – and the ones I am willing to admit out loud to myself – are much worse than those Waldman or the majority of the anonymous posters on that blog are serving up. For example, Waldman frets about the fact she was unable to provide breast milk for one of her four children past six months – a child with a cleft palate for peet’s sake! more...
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Tags:Bad, Bad Mommy, Guilt: The Bad G-spot, Juggling & Struggling, Pop! Culture
