In a change of events to my personal plans (read: need sleep, stop nursing), I can no longer use the awesome nursing supplies provided to me to review by the ever so generous folks over at Bravado.
But, as the saying goes, my loss is your gain.
If you’re nursing and can tell me your MOST embarassing nursing in public story (I didn’t say it would take nothing), you will win a FREE NURSING BRA from Bravado! Winner gets to pick their own size and color and will get the tank within 2-4 weeks (go to - www.bravadodesigns.com to pick).
I’ll say this contest ends next Friday, mmm k? Good luck!
Back about 8 weeks ago, I was singing my own praises about my abundant milk supply and breastfeeding prowess. Now, I’m just a regular-old nursing pro. But while I have mastered the hooter-hider, (I highly recommend the Bebe Au Lait ones, and I’m not being paid to say that.) I have not mastered the attractive or comfortable other nursing gear.
Tempted not to spend a lot of money on a product, like a nursing bra, that I might have only used for a week or two, I bought a few cheapie ones at Target. Ten weeks later, they are still highly unattractive and not very comfortable.
Which is why I jumped at an offer by my friend Beth to test out (and giveaway) a new nursing wardrobe by Bravado. (I am being compensated to say this.) Bravado, apparently a well-recognized brand in the lactation nation but unknown to a rookie like me has come out with an affordable line of nursing gear at Target called Basics by Bravado. Yay! Just one more thing I need to add to my cart.
The stuff looks totally comfortable, and I like how on their website Bravado itemizes each item’s use and purpose.
See? She didn’t cheap out on nursing gear like I did.
I’ll tell you how it lives up to its promise when I get my gear to test out.
But, in the meantime, you can enter to win $500 worth of must-have baby items by entering the Basics by Bravado “Spot a Mom” by following these easy steps:
- Find the nearest Target store in their area offering Basics by Bravado nursing wear.
- Visit the store and snap some pics of themselves finding the Basics by Bravado store display.
- Email their photo, along with their name and contact details to basics@bravadodesigns.com.
Let me know if you decide to do it! If you do, I’ll put you in a pool to win Bravado nursing gear plus a DVD. I NEVER do contests like these, but now I’m like a member of La Leche or something. Well, not quite, but who doesn’t like free stuff? Good luck!
Disclosure: I am being compensated for writing a review of Basics by Bravado and conducting the contest. Not for breastfeeding, although if I was I’d be a bizillionaire right now.
I always thought Disney on Ice was just for girls. Twinkling lights, skating princesses, fairy dust. Please. But when I was offered tickets to the troupe’s show in Chicago from the lovely folks at Feld Entertainment, I just couldn’t say no. Princesses and all.
So we invited a little girl friend of my son’s and checked out the show yesterday at the United Center. And you know what? Even though there was a pre-show princess exhibit inhabited with replicas of Belle and Cinderella, and every girl I saw was dressed up as Ariel, I have to say the show was fit for kids of every size. And gender.
It also helped that we sat front row.
We were so close I could almost touch Goofy’s ass. Not that I wanted to or anything.
Plus, because the show veered more towards the Princess theme, I didn’t have to get suckered into buying any of those $20 glow wands which were all pink and stuff.
On the other hand, my friend got suckered into the purchase.
We all had so much fun that by the end of the show, my son knew the names of at least two of the princesses we saw perform. Here’s to more tutus and translucent sparkly wings in our future.
I just finished watching the premiere episode of TLC’s new show, “The Secret Life of a Soccer Mom,” and I have to be honest – I liked it way more than I thought I would. I knew plenty about the show after talking to the host, Tracey Gold, yesterday, but typically I don’t let my DVR record things that have the words “Secret” and “Mom” in the same title (sounds kind of like a bad Lifetime move, don’t you think?). However, after whizzing through the show in about 45 minutes, I found myself with a bit of a lump in my throat and a little more happiness about the choice I made to be a SAHM.
The first episode centered on Adrian Stark, wife of a doctor and a mom of three. A wannabe fashion designer before she had kids, the show gave Ms. Stark the opportunity to work for fashion designer Bianca Nero for a week under the guise that she was “going to a spa.” (Hence, the “secret.” Lifetime references abound.) So while she went off to her new “job,” her husband stayed at home watching the girls. It was your typical here’s-what-happens-when-the-mom-works-scenario with the kids running wild and the house in disarray. Let’s just say if there are assistants who cook the food all day while you’re away it’s not that realistic.
And watching Ms. Stark do her assignment was kind of like watching a summer intern at work. The bosses came down hard and fast and Ms. Stark looked frazzled and nervous. I can only imagine, though, how she must have felt, considering before I interviewed Ms. Gold yesterday (my first “real” story since I stopped working) I was sweating like a pig. The point? It’s hard to rejigger your brain into work mode after you’ve been in SAHM mode. I thought the show treated that shift well.
Some folks were a little bothered by the secretive nature of the show, but I just chalked it up to the fact that it’s on TV. I mean, how else were they going to get those moms out of the house? I know if I want to leave for a day I have to book it like 3 weeks in advance, call in major reinforcements and clear it with a slew of people. Anyway, *spoiler alert* at the end of the show, Ms. Stark does a great job, gets the job of her dreams and accepts a full-time position with the designer. Dad seemed truly happy for her and the kids were thrilled. (This is the part where I got a lump in my throat.)Â It was sweet, really. You could tell that she loved staying at home with her kids, but wanted to try something new, so kudos to her!
This show isn’t going to be for everyone, though. Some will think it’s going to fuel the Mommy Wars and devalue women’s choices. But I’d like to think more positively about it after watching it. It gives a little insight into a typical my SAHM life and what can happen down the road. And I think it’s good for moms in general to watch other mothers go through what many of us think about as well as show employers that even if you are out of the workforce for awhile you still got ’skillz (er, skills.)
So if they have to throw in a few television cliches in the process I’m not going to sweat it. I’m going to record it again next week and maybe catch a good movie on Lifetime while I’m at it. Hey, we all have to live vicariously once in awhile, right?
Tags: The Secret Life of a Soccer Mom,, celebrity+moms, Tracey Gold, mommy wars, working moms, SAHM
I think my last post was a bit of a bust (why does no one else get that joke!?), so for right now I’m going to stick with the basics.
First, I thought I’d tell you exactly what I do for work. Hell, one of you actually asked me, so that warrants at least some sort of response, right? And then, because it’s been nagging me for awhile, we’re going to debate if working part-time is working half-assed. Sound fun? Great!
Technically, I help companies “strengthen their relationships with their employees to achieve business objectives.”  Really, what I really do all day is try to convince companies why employees matter to a company’s bottom line and why ignoring them is really dumb for business. Get it? Great. Let’s move on.
What’s really been nagging me the last few days is the notion of working part-time equals working half-assed. When my friend quit her part-time job, she mentioned that she felt that she couldn’t give work her “all” and couldn’t give her home life her all either. She felt that working part-time wasn’t really “working” because she had to give up esteemed projects and not be in on everything possible at work. Another friend of mine, who recently went back to work and is contemplating quitting said that she doesn’t like to do anything “half-assed” and that working part-time feels like she’s doing it half-assed.
Well, duh.
No matter how you slice it, I’m not sure you can work part-time and:
1) be involved in every major project at work
2) be privy to every important conversation
3) be looked at as a go-to person for every last minute project, crisis, etc.
And I’d like to emphasize that I don’t think these are necessarily negative things, but they are points of consideration that one should think about when working a reduced schedule. I mean, let’s be honest (I’ll be honest), there is a reason one chooses to come back to work part-time after maternity leave. Because you’re NOT READY or willing to give 100% of your life to work. I think as long as you set your intention this way it’s ok.
And I don’t think this necessarily means you’re a slacker.
I know that right now, with my reduced schedule I am contributing to major pieces of business, winning new clients (i.e. convincing them that investing in employee communications is not dumb), and am a valued part of the team. I don’t work on my days off (usually), but when I’m at work I give it my all. So I guess if you slice it this way I am half present at work.
This most likely means I am not on the fast-track to a promotion. Or that I will lead our group’s “marquis projects.” But that’s not my intention right now. My intention is to create a career path that I’m comfortable with for employers who can work with me through my “decelerated” times (to borrow a word from some smart ladies). Most likely, at some point, I will ramp back-up my schedule and it will ultimately pay off for my employer because I’ll be more loyal to them and the company I work for. I hope it works out this way. Maybe that’s why I’m in the kind of work I’m in. To be living proof.
I know some of what I say here is counter to things I’ve said before. But the more I work part-time, the more I see its reality, both good and bad. No matter what you do, or how you decide to live your life as a mom people will judge you. In this way, I’m sure to some people, my ramblings prove that I’m just half-assing it. But I’m ok with that. Because really, at the end of the day, I’ll do pretty much anything to keep my backside slim.
Tags: part-time work, flexible work schedules, maternity leave
I can’t stay away from the blog for long. Not when Working Mother magazine comes out with their 100 Best Companies List and I miss posting about it by one day. I HAVE to make my second (or is it third?) re-entry during a week when something actually newsworthy comes out about us working moms. (Isn’t that my thang?)
So here’s the scoop.  Devra pointed out that the list is stretching the notion of third-party credibility a little too far. Susan doesn’t think that the “best” will get better without some pushing from the government. Me? I know deep down that these lists are just a massive PR effort put forth by some low-level hack right out of college. No, sorry. Three years out of college.Â
My major dilemma with such lists is why do people take them so seriously?  The criteria probably isn’t too rigid (I wish we could see the whole form on their website somewhere without me having to register). And I’m actually thankful that companies on this list probably are doing more than most companies at least by the fact that they have the goal to be on this list in the first place. There are worse things a company could pay a PR firm to do with its time do with its time.
That being said, I do see some room for improvement. Some questions I’d love to add to the survey (of which I have never seen):
- How often does your boss roll his/ her eyes when you ask to leave 10 minutes early to pick your kid up from school?
- How often do you let your subordinates “work from home” on last minute notice?
- How many workers in the office have “I love mom” posters hanging on the wall?
- What is the ratio of women who are ”skinny bitches” vs. “trying to lose the baby weight”?
- What is the percentage of men who know not to ask a woman if she’s pregnant 10 weeks post-partum? (this one assumes a long, paid, restful maternity leave. Ha!)
- Do you have someone on staff to ensure that the snack machine doesn’t have any food with more than 5g of fat in it?
Who’s welcoming me back to the blogosphere? Can I get a woo-woo?
Until I feel like blogging again…
Tags: working mother magazine, 100 best companies for working mothers, flexible work arrangements, working moms
