Real Life Support for Moms

This Website is Semi-Retired (Even Though I'm Not)

2011-07-21T23:35:00.004-04:00

A fake date appears above so this post will appear at the top of this blog.Original pub date: February 1, 2010Hello! Thank you for visiting "Real Life Support for Moms," a sister website, so to speak, of the website for my book, The Stay-at-Home Survival Guide.As some of my readers know, I returned to the "traditional" workforce last year. By "traditional" I mean a job for which I dress, leave

10 Simple Pleasures of Returning to the Workforce

2011-07-20T20:32:00.001-04:00

A fake date appears above so this post will appear at the top of this blog.Original pub date: January 29, 2010After several years of stay-at-home motherhood and work-from-home freelancing I recently returned to the full-time, office-based workforce. (Hence my absence from posting on this site.) So far so good, at the job and on the home front. My three children are school-age now, and unlike in

A Devoted Mother

2011-07-18T23:38:00.000-04:00

My friend Beth is a divorced, remarried mother who happens to be gay.However, according to her home state of Virginia, because Beth is gay, she's not divorced, she's not remarried and she's not even a mother.In the eyes of the law in Virginia and much of the United States, Beth's eight-year live-in relationship with Donna was not and could not be a marriage. As such, Beth and Donna's painful

Why You Can't Get Anything Done

2010-11-27T21:11:00.000-05:00

Have you ever asked yourself, “Do I Have ADHD?”It’s a thought that crosses the minds of many stay-at-home moms. Why?Because they think about the number of chores they need to do but don’t get to, or the projects they start but don’t finish, or the tasks they actually do but don’t do well.“I don’t have a job. I’m home all day,” you may tell yourself. As such, you think you should be able to

Wanted by Daytime TV: A Mom in the Midst of Divorce

2010-08-31T23:05:00.000-04:00

A popular, nationally-syndicated daytime TV show with a beloved hostess is looking to feature a woman who is in the process of getting divorced or is newly divorced. A producer emailed me today to ask for help in spreading the word. She writes:"We will follow one mom’s journey as she starts over, figures things out with children, finances, friendships, family and dating, and ultimately picks up

Happily Ever After? The Fallen Princesses

2010-07-07T19:43:00.005-04:00

I saw this picture in a magazine. I think is says so much about the fantasy—the fairy tale—versus the reality of love, marriage and motherhood. I'm pretty sure most women who have a spouse and children can relate to Snow White's post-Happily Ever After life in this shot. Not that every day is like this, but even the most charming Prince Charming isn't charming all the time. And a frazzled,

A Girls' Night Out with Edward and Jacob

2010-07-04T14:56:00.016-04:00

Six fortysomething friends and I went to see Eclipse, the third Twilight movie, last night. Since work and kids had prevented us from making it to the film's midnight premiere earlier in the week, we made a full night of the gathering by going to dinner before the movie and out for drinks afterward.When I made the dinner reservation the hostess asked if we were celebrating a special occasion. "

Tackling Hair Tangles in 7 Seconds

2010-06-23T23:04:00.009-04:00

Since returning to the full-time workforce I haven't had a lot of time to blog. (Obviously. My last post was in April.) So instead of over-Einsteining what to write about, I'm just going to pop in from time to time when I have a useful tip or information to pass along. Hence, I'm writing about hair tangles.If you have children with long, tangled hair, you might want to make the investment in a

If you could hire one household helper ...

2010-04-29T19:26:00.010-04:00

When my son was younger, he used to say that if he was rich, he'd buy me a butler. Why a butler and not a maid? I'm not sure, and he doesn't remember the reasoning behind his imagined gift. But I've often wondered, if I could have a household "servant," what kind of helper would I want?A housekeeper? A gardener? A chauffeur? A personal secretary? A personal trainer? A handyman? A nanny?Rich or

24 hours left to get a free copy of "Courageous Parents, Confident Kids"

2010-04-19T22:47:00.005-04:00

Courageous Parents, Confident Kids came out today, and the 30,000-odd people who signed up for the free digital download were emailed the special link today. Editor Amy Tiemann says visitors to www.mojomom.com can receive the download (it's a PDF, so you don't need a Kindle or similar reader) until the offer expires tomorrow night, Tuesday, April 20, at midnight. Thank you to Jennifer Ford of

Get Your Free Download of Courageous Parents, Confident Kids

2010-04-09T23:38:00.006-04:00

I just received a copy of Courageous Parents, Confident Kids: Letting Go So You Both Can Grow. I wrote a chapter for the book ("The Courage To Become Your Own Parenting 'Expert'") and am super impressed by the company I keep. The book, which will be sold as both a paperback ($15.95) and downloadable e-book, comes out on April 19. It looks great and is already starting to get buzz. (Here's a

Lice Happens, and you can hire a nitpicker when it does

2010-03-25T22:08:00.013-04:00

A few weeks ago my friend M.J. Eckert emailed our book group to announce that she would be quitting her job at a private school (walking away from discounted tuition for her child) to become a full-time nit-picker. Yup, nit-picker, as in lice!"I love ridding the world of head lice," wrote M.J., a registered nurse who has spent years as both a school and summer camp nurse. "It involves all the

Stay-at-Home Moms say Thanks for "The Stay-at-Home Survival Guide"

2010-03-21T16:30:00.019-04:00

I wasn't paid much to write The Stay-at-Home Survival Guide. In fact, the money I earned was poured right back into marketing the book. (Although The Guide wasn't self-published, small publishers don't put a lot of effort or funds into promoting their titles.) My profits from the book have been personal. I'm still amazed by having actually written a book and I'm so appreciative of the many

Knitting more than baby booties

2010-03-10T23:45:00.013-05:00

Jane Pauley, formerly of NBC's Today show, was on NBC's Today show yesterday to talk about "Your Life Calling," a series of reports she's doing in partnership with AARP, the nation's largest membership organization for people age 50 and over. Pauley is exploring how people are "reinventing" themselves later in life—sometimes by choice, sometimes by necessity—in order to change the way they live

Courageous Parents, Confident Kids

2010-03-01T22:24:00.004-05:00

The book I recently wrote a chapter for—Courageous Parents, Confident Kids: Letting Go So You Both Can Grow—will be published on April 19. Editor Amy Tiemann, the brains behind this project, just revealed the cover, which I'm sharing at left.A paperback edition will be sold through Amazon, and for a limited time the book will be available via a free "e-book."If you'd like to be included in the

In praise of Parmalat

2010-02-10T11:56:00.016-05:00

It's Day 6 of managing Snowmageddon 1 and Snowmageddon 2 here in the Baltimore-Washington area. Before we lose power (we haven't yet at all, knock on wood), I figured I'd sing the praises of "shelf-stable" milk. We keep the Parmalat brand of shelf-stable milk in our pantry at all times, as a back-up supply of fresh milk. When your house is surrounded by three feet of snow as mine is now, Parmalat

A decade of change

2010-01-03T20:29:00.006-05:00

I was recently describing to my 11-year-old son how, when I was pregnant with him, I rented a pair of pagers so if I went into labor and wasn't with my husband or couldn't reach him by phone, I could page him.Of course if I were in such a situation today (won't be, but if ...) I'd just call my husband's cell phone, or email him, or send him a text, or I'd reach out to one of the dozens of other

"Why can't boys be doctors?"

2009-12-21T16:42:00.012-05:00

When I write my family's annual holiday card letter, I'm writing for two audiences. The first consists of our far-flung friends and family, the people we no longer get to see on a regular basis. The second group is composed of my three children—or, rather, my children's future selves. My hope is that my yearly recaps will help them remember their childhoods and our lives together. I can't fit

Just one hospital bill ...

2009-12-11T23:26:00.014-05:00

I never take having health insurance for granted.I volunteer at a health clinic where I routinely take phone calls from uninsured people canceling their appointments because, as the date nears, they realize they won't have the cash on hand to pay for the office visit. (Even though patients are charged on a sliding scale based upon income, everyone needs to to pay something.)I recall the hardship

Fame as a career path

2009-12-02T21:21:00.024-05:00

This week's "I Want to Be Famous" Hall of Shame winners are (so far) White House party crashers Michaele and Tareq Salahi. The Salahis claim to have been invited to last Tuesday's State Dinner. Media reports are that the couple are aspiring socialites and serial celebrity-chasers who want to land a TV deal with Bravo. (The buzz is that they're lobbying to be on Real Housewives of D.C.) Click

Book preview: "Courageous Parenting"

2009-11-23T12:01:00.012-05:00

As I've mentioned before, I'm honored to have been asked to write a chapter for the upcoming anthology Courageous Parents, Confident Kids, which is the brainchild of Amy Tiemann, author of Mojo Mom.Last week's story in Time magazine about overparenting (the plastic wrap boy at right appears in a photo from the article) touches on the issues the book will be addressing. As Amy explains, "Our goal

Team Edward's Cougar Den: The movie version of New Moon will have moms purring

2009-11-18T13:20:00.007-05:00