A Must Read - The Care Crisis

A baby is born. A child develops a high fever. A spouse breaks a leg. A parent suffers a stroke. These are the events that throw a working woman's
delicate balance between work and family into chaos.

This is how the article The Care Crisis by Ruth Rosen begins. You can read it in its entirety at The Nation.

It's a really interesting article and touches on many topics that we often talk about, discuss, and experience. My favorite part of the article would have to be the following paragraph:

Men in dual-income couples have increased their participation in household
chores and childcare. But women still manage and organize much of family life,
returning home after work to a "second shift" of housework and childcare--often
compounded by a "third shift," caring for aging parents.

I say that's my favorite part because I can completely relate. That is exactly how I feel most days. Yes, my husband pitches in and does a really good job in being a "team member" when it comes to the housework and such, but I still feel highly overwhelmed most days and like I'm at a second job. I haven't yet dealt too much with having to care for aging parents, but I see hints already that this will one day fall on my lap also.

After reading the article, let me know what you think.

technorati: the care crisis, ruth rosen, the nation, parenting, aging parents, motherhood, working women

Video of WAHM Tips

Take a break from your daily activities and watch this cute video of work at home tips. You'll be sure to get a good laugh. After watching the video, my first thought was, she doesn't even have kids around her! That would definitely be even more distracting!

Enjoy and have a great Monday!



technorati: WAHM tips, work from home

Sure Mami. I'll show everyone what I can do...riiiighhht

Why is it that kids just aim to embarass you or make you look utterly stupid? They do all these cute things at home, then when you get them in front of other people, they act like the little WB frog who would never sing for anyone else.

My husband brought baby girl to both his and my job today and at both places she clammed up. She acted really shy, didn't say a word, no waving hi, nothing. She normally doesn't act like that. She waves to cars as they pass by when we're out. She waves to animals at the park. She says hi to people in the store. But, introduce her to your co-workers and she buries her head into your shoulder.

I can only imagine the day when she gets older that she'll blurt out something really embarassing and will act the fool when I want her to do the opposite. Ah, so much to look forward to.

technorati: embarassing kids, wb frog, shy kids

5 Minutes for Mom is having another contest!

Just a quicky today...

5 Minutes for Mom is giving away the Rhyme-N-Tyme game. Apparently it's a mom-designed game similar to Pictionary.

You can read all about the contest here.

*****Don't forget to vote for me on TopMomma.com!*****
My picture is the cute little girl wearing a red dress with a flower in her hair. ;)

technorati: 5 minutes for mom, top momma, contest

What is up with Lost?

Is it just me or does Lost seem kinda eh this season? After waiting for the 3rd season to come back from its break, I'm a little disappointed. It's just not holding up my interest like it used to. Plus, they changed the time! I gotta fight to keep myself up until 10 and then it's not that exciting? I know I know. You have to fight to stay up until 10, you say? Yea, well you'd be falling out at 9 also with a lil monkey who wakes up at 5 am almost every morning.

Anyway, what do you make of Lost this season?

technorati: lost, lack of sleep

New widget allows you to share files

I love new gadgets, don’t you? The Box.net company has come up with the box.net widget, a widget you can plug in to your blog, MySpace, or anywhere else you like. I’m trying it out – see it down there on the bottom?

I like the concept, but it seems a bit hard to customize. I was able to change the color, file names, and title of my Box, but I couldn’t see how to resize it to fit properly on my sidebar. I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that it’s probably just because it’s in Beta right now. Hopefully they’ll get those little kinks worked out soon enough.

Seems like a cool concept, though.

What do you think? Would you use something like this on your site?

technorati: box.net, widgets

Free Affiliate Magazine

Go on over and visit All WAHM for your FREE Affiliate Classroom Magazine.

Topics include:

1. Adding Revenue Streams
2. Conversion Fundamentals
3. Merchant Tips

technorati: affiliate, free, magazine, wahm, affiliate classroom magazine

Nothing to say...

I have nothing really to post about today, but I thought I should post SOMETHING. So, here goes.

• I got a laptop! Yay me! Now (provided I find something to write about) I can hopefully post more often, since I can post from the comfort of my bed if I want. We'll see how that goes.
  
• I was actually able to see a movie this weekend. Like at a movie theater. The husband and I went and saw Smokin' Aces, which was actually pretty good.
  
• I'm still on the front page of TopMomma.com! Thanks to everyone who has clicked! :D
  Keep me there by following this link and then clicking on my picture - it's the cute little lady wearing a red dress with the flower in the hair (#221). While you're there, why not sign up and see how long your blog lasts?

technorati: top momma, smokin aces, movies, laptop

I'm a Moms United contributor!

I'm definitely excited, honored, and just blushing, because I am now a contributor for the Moms United in Business Blog!

The Moms United site explains their concept best:

We are not merely a business community, promoting WAHMs and their
businesses. We are a community offering inspiration and support not only as
a wife, mother, sister, daughter, and/or friend, but as a woman in your own
right!

Go on over and check out my introduction to their community and my first post. The blog has a lot of good topics - business advice, inspirational posts, and parenting - just to name a few.

technorati: moms united in business, wahm, motherhood, business, women

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just wanted to wish everyone a


Myspace Layouts

I'm on the front page at TopMomma! Please stop by and click on my blog. I'm #221!

technorati: happy valentine's day, valentine's, myspace layouts

Thanks Ciara. That's all I needed.

Maybe you've seen the latest Ciara video. The one where she looks like a mix between Aaliyah, Janet Jackson in her Control days, and short-haired Toni Braxton.

My husband has now fallen in love with Ciara. I mean he liked her before, thought she danced good and such, which I agree, but now he's in love. I like the song too, but the video is clearly meant for men such as my husband, so they can salivate all over themselves. What's bad is that my husband loves to share. He loves to share so much that EVERY.TIME the damn song or video comes on, I MUST hear ALL about it. It's down right sickening. :eyeroll:

If you haven't seen the video, just take a look and see what I mean.

***WARNING: Do not watch in front of your husband for he may drool all over you.***



Now tell me, how am I supposed to compete with THAT? :sigh:

Don't forget to vote for me on TopMomma!

technorati: ciara, promise, aaliyah, toni braxton, janet jackson, husbands, men, music videos

Own a piece of the Internet - you know the one Al Gore invented?

The newest buzz is Agloco.

The concept is simple. You will get paid for surfing the web. You know, for reading this blog, commenting on MySpace, and whatever else you do on the internet.

I'm not sure if it will truly be a hit, or if you'll actually make tons of money, but I figure, what the hell, it's worth a try. It seems like it will be a small enough toolbar that won't really get in the way.

See it down there on the bottom? It's so tiny, you can barely even see it!

Why not join me and see if Agloco really comes through for us? Just think, if you wait, how many people did you let slip by that could have signed up under you? ;)

If you want to join, just sign up here!

name tag image via Albert Cervello's flickr page

toolbar image via Agloco.com

technorati: agloco, own the internet

Become a TopMomma

Here's a pretty cool new site that you can join to add traffic to your blog

TopMomma



Try it out - it might be fun!

technorati: top momma, increase blog traffic, add traffic

When's the last time YOU partied?

It's been forever hasn't it?

So why not join the Ultimate Blog Party from 5 Minutes for Mom?

See the banner on my side bar? You'll have to scroll since it's a bit down south.

Go on over and join the party!

technorati: 5 minutes for mom, ultimate blog party

New Site for Business Moms (and dads)

The owner of MommysCompany.com has recently launched a new site!

Called BusinessMom.net, it can probably be best explained in her own words.

From the site:

Welcome to BusinessMom.net, the social and business networking site designed
especially for mother entrepreneurs.

All are welcome to join

BusinessMom.net is a place for you to meet other business oriented moms,
network, trade services, and much more. Getting the word out about your fabulous
business is easy!

Go take a peek!

http://www.businessmom.net/

technorati: business moms, business dads, mommys company, entrepreneurs

Wooo Hooo!

I've lost 6 pounds so far on South Beach!

Small feat, I know, but still something worth celebrating.

technorati: dieting, south beach, losing weight

Quick question on finding out how people land here

I know you all know how to do this. I've seen some of you post on the weird searches that land people on your blog. It's probably really simple.

But, for the life of me, I need it explained.

Can you all enlighten me? How can I find out what type of keywords and searches send people to my blog?

Thanks so much! That's all.

technorati: weird searches, meta tags

Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us

I came across this video on Luisa Boricua's blog.

Isn't this a very cool way of interpreting the web, online communities, etc etc?

I promise it won't disappoint. ;)

technorati: youtube, web 2.0

Time and time again

Who has time? Certainly us parents don't. If you work, whether as a WAHM (or dad) or outside the home, you have even less time to keep your business and personal lives in order. You'll need to rely heavily on organization and everyone has a different method.

Well, Alice Seba has done it again. She is now offering the Organizing Minds Want to Know Guide. You can read all about it here. It's perfectly free and may help you in your quest to become the organization guru you know you can be.

Related to time management and organization, check out this survey I found through Busymom.net. You could possibly win a $100 Amazon certificate.

In other news...

Baby girl had a fever yesterday and no other symptoms. Turns out she's battling some kind of infection, possibly a throat infection. She had blood taken from her tiny little finger and did not cry ONCE. She just watched the nurse do her thing and watched as the blood poured out. Ok, not poured, but it seemed like it to me. She's such a strong girl, much stronger than me apparently. The fever seems to be getting better and hopefully the antibiotic will kick in and work it's magic. The crazy thing is she JUST got over an ear infection in both ears. And, when I say just, I mean JUST, like I took her Friday for her followup and Saturday was the last dose of that antibiotic, JUST. So, there we were again 4 days later at the doctor's and getting more antibiotic for a new infection. :sigh:

Don't forget! LOST begins the second part of season 3 tonight!

technorati: lost, wahm, time, organization, alice seba, busy mom

Choice in dolls says a lot about race issues

I'm way behind on reading blogs and past posts, but I'm desperately trying to catch up. Today I caught a post on Because Mom Said So from Jan. 23 about a high school student's documentary and the debate it's sparking up. Titled, Student's documentary on Race has people stunned, the post links to a news bit on the documentary.

View it at http://www.komotv.com/home/video/5001856.html?video=YHI&t=a

After watching the video, I am not surprised at all, but at the same time am sad that children so young already have these ideas about what is "nice" or "good". So far, baby girl has dolls of all colors and her father and I have purposely done this, just for this reason. We want her to get used to seeing dolls that are more in her liking and embrace that image.

Make sure to watch the video and let me know your thoughts.

technorati: because mom said so, high school documentary, race, parenting

MySpace has...

TA.KEN O.VER THE WO.ORLD!

It's official.

The other day I saw a tv commercial for Chili's, you know, the restaurant. Well at the end of the commercial instead of plugging in their corporate website, they showed the link to their MySpace page. I couldn't believe my eyes! They were forsaking their own website to promote their MySpace site. WOW!

Now, I'm not complaining about MySpace, I just simply couldn't believe that it was being used as the main connection to Chili's on the web.

How many of you have joined the MySpace craze?

technorati: tv, chili's, myspace