working mothers

Mommy Dearest,

My son is entering a new school for kindergarten and we have received several notices about the school's parent teacher association. I would love to be one of those mothers who organizes the bake sales and volunteers in class, but I work full time. All of the PTA meetings are held during business hours (immediately after drop-off or before pick-up) and after speaking with the president of the organization, it sounds like that is when the committees meet as well.

I don't want the school or other parents to think that I don't care, but I just don't see how I can become involved. How do you ensure that your child isn't penalized by your lack of participation in school events?

– Non-PTA Mommy

To see the response from Mommy Dearest, read more

How did parents manage before cell phones? That was the question posed to me the other night by a friend who called to cancel our mom and tot dinner plans after finding herself in the midst of a work crisis du jour. She relayed a story to which some moms may relate.

After dropping her children off at camp, she phoned the pediatrician to make check-up appointments while en route to the airport. While waiting for her flight to a business meeting, she sat a catalog on her lap and proceeded to place school uniform orders over the phone. After landing at her destination, she fielded several calls from her child care provider and then her own children, regarding a disagreement about whose turn it was to pick out the dinner entree. While waiting on a delayed flight, she recited her daughters' favorite bedtime story over the phone so she could "put them to sleep." Her situation is not ideal, but technology allows this mama to pursue career goals while maintaining constant contact via cell or iChat with her family.

Mommy Dearest,

I have an overseas business trip coming up to a beautiful European city. While I will be working during the day, my evenings and weekends will be free. In the past, I have used this time to sightsee and shop for gifts for my family back home. This time, I'd like to mix work with pleasure and bring my elementary-school-aged kids to experience a new country and culture. My husband would watch the kids during the day and we could take family adventures in the evening. He doesn't like the plan because he thinks a vacation should be free of distractions and that my colleagues will think it's unprofessional. What do you think?

– Jet-Setting Mommy

To see the response from Mommy Dearest, read more

Working parents know that there are choices and sacrifices that must be made when juggling their home and office commitments. Our own Commander-in-Chief recently lamented the events and milestones he missed while on the campaign trail or attending meetings, but whether or not those choices define success in the business world is still up for debate.

As the number of dual-income families continues to rise, many employers are trying to help mom and dad maintain some sort of work-life balance with programs and tools designed to reduce their levels of stress. The White House has given aides with tots priority in receiving laptops and has offered for aides' children to use the newly installed swing set and swimming pool in hopes that parents will see their offspring more. Many private companies offer flex hours to allow parents to work from home or finish up work once the kids have been tucked into bed. What benefits would be most helpful to you as a working parent?

Pack your briefcase and don't forget the sippy cup. While the debate over the success of working mothers rages on, many mamas seek out jobs that allow them to work from home in order to achieve the balance they desire. Having the flexibility to conduct their business as their wee ones wander about sounds like an ideal situation until the kiddos refuse to take their naps and mom is forced to conduct a conference call hiding on the floor of her closet.

Babysitters, nannies and traditional day care centers may be available to watch the kids, but where does that leave the work from home mom? Cubes and Crayons is one solution. A Bay Area co-working space, the first of its kind, offers on-site day care for members. The mostly female members can use desk space, WiFi, communal kitchens and lounge areas while their lil ones enjoy all of the benefits of day care right next door. Members pay based on the frequency with which they use the space and are surrounded by parents in similar working situations.

Would you consider joining a co-working day care center to allow you to maintain your career while still spending as much time with your children as possible?

Voices of authority can often validate one's beliefs or make them feel empty. Jack Welch, a successful businessman and former CEO of GE, told a crowd of human resource specialists:

There's no such thing as work-life balance... There are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences... We’d love to have more women moving up faster... But they’ve got to make the tough choices and know the consequences of each one.

Stay-at-home moms may find comfort in these words while a working mommy questions her nine-to-five routine. Working mother Alexandra Lebenthal, Chief Executive Officer of Lebenthal & Company LLC, took the time to respond to Mr. Welch's claims. To see what she had to say, read more

Reaching into a briefcase and pulling out a sippy cup instead of a document on deadline is one of the laughs a working mama endures as she juggles office tasks with raising children. Though almost three-quarters of lilsugar readers believe that working moms are treated unfairly on the job, a new book argues that being a parent may make women better bosses.

Shari Storm's Motherhood Is the New MBA: Using Your Parenting Skills to Be a Better Boss, which will be released in September, suggests that bringing the skills we develop as parents into the boardroom gives ladies the confidence to be more effective leaders. Skills like standing one's ground during a temper tantrum and using polite language make mothers more effective on the job. There are many reasons to love being a working mom, but is being a better employee one of them?

Leaving baby to return to the workplace or steal a few minutes of mom-me time can be tough on a new mother. While there are many gadgets on the market to ease women into motherhood, there are also numerous mobile gadgets available to keep baby close. Here are just a few to lessen the pain of leaving the little one.

• Special ring tones: New services, like Ringtonebang.com, allow parents to record their lil one's gurgling sounds and squeals of delight and make them ring tones for their phones.
• Cell phone photos: Digital mobile photography has made snapping a shot of lil ones easier than ever. Whip out a cell phone and snap a photo to create a current photo album that can be carried wherever you go.
• Digital key chains:  Mamas will be careful about misplacing their keys when they have a digital photo album filled with photos of their wee ones attached.
• Screen savers:  Let everyone in the office catch a glimpse of the growing babe by updating the computer's screen saver on a weekly basis. It only takes minutes to do so, and both mamas and their colleagues will appreciate the changing scenery.