Last week’s 58 minute presidential address to Congress included a few electrifying moments on early childhood education. It was glorious to hear the most powerful man in the free world talk about taking time with his kids, and how important it is for all parents to read to their kids and help with homework (take note, helicopter parents: don’t help too much). more

I hear the anecdotes everywhere: so-and-so’s husband lost his job can you believe it?; my neighbor’s book group spent two hours talking about mortgages, private school tuition, and how to update a resume instead of dissecting Snow Flower and the Secret Fan; my cousin, who planned to go back to work next year, just took a job she doesn’t want because it is so rare to get any job in this economy. more

Snow in the weather forecast  – particularly in Washington, DC, which gets crippled by a few flurries – makes work/family balance precarious in a way that I doubt employers, our government, or people without young children will ever comprehend. more

I buy my family’s groceries mostly at large chain supermarkets like Giant and Safeway. When you go through eight gallons of milk each week, economy is essential. But the freezing cold aisles and excessive neon lighting ruins the shopping experience for me – I’m in and out as fast as possible. more

“Equal pay is by no means just a women’s issue,” President Obama declared on Day 10 of his historic presidency as he signed into law his first bill, The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. “It’s a family issue.” more

Lately I’ve been haunted by Adult Education, a plea published in the Washington Post by a male teacher of 30 years. His request: for the Virginia public high school where he teaches to stop supporting teen moms with daycare centers, tutors and baby showers. more

Washington, DC is my family’s hometown, so we didn’t make elaborate Inauguration plans in advance.  The days leading up to January 20 looked typically crazy.  We had basketball practices, a book party, an ice skating lesson, play dates, work deadlines. My husband had a business trip on Inauguration Day – which strikes me as unfair, if not unpatriotic.  So we decided to celebrate Barack Obama’s historic presidency by going together as a family to Sunday’s free Inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial about two miles from our home.

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Two of the smartest women I know – one a Harvard-educated pediatrician, the other a Yale-educated Manhattan realtor – told me last year they were starting their own business. more

Childcare, like many industries, is getting crushed by the current economic recession. Recent Wall Street Journal articles estimate that nanny hiring is down between ten to thirty percent in "When the Going Gets Tough, Some People Lay Off The Nanny" and that demand for daycare for young children is declining too... more

In 2004 Lesley Stahl reported an intriguing 60 Minutes segment on stratospherically accomplished stay-at-home mothers in their early 30s titled “Staying at Home.” The moms’ collective accomplishments made me feel like the ultimate slacker – think Stanford, Yale, Harvard Business School, McKinsey consulting, Goldman Sachs investment banking, Oracle sales force, clerking for Ruth Bader Ginsberg. more