CurrentMom

Brunch Recipes for Kid-Frazzled Dummies

Meal Monday

Guest post by Stephanie Gallagher.

Brunch. 

Smooth jazz. Freshly-brewed coffee. Porcelain cups with saucers - the kind that make pleasant clinking sounds when you pause to take a bite of your croissant. Intelligent conversation…

OK, so that's my brunch fantasy. 

It hasn't been a reality for me since the first time breakfast meant a handful of saltines washed down with a swig of seltzer water (which is, by the way, a sure-fire cure for morning sickness, should you be in need of such a tip).

But brunch remains one of my favorite meals (the others being breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert).
And if you find yourself in the position of hosting brunch, as many of us do in the spring, whether for Easter, Mother's Day or just for fun, consider yourself lucky. For it is truly one of the easiest, most fun meals to make.

Crack a few eggs, saute a mushroom or two, maybe flip on the blender to whip up a smoothie, and voila! You've got brunch.

And if you're having the kind of crowd who doesn't have Lidia Bastianich Tivoed, brunch is one of those meals where you can make a big splash with very little work.

Here are a few of my favorite brunch recipes.

Responding to the Japan Earthquake

Message Monday

Guest post by Chiaki Kawajiri

I was awoken by a friend’s phone call that day. “There was a big earthquake in Japan.”

I tried to find out where it originated, then called my family and friends.The phone lines didn’t work. I couldn’t get hold of anyone.

Next day, I was able to talk with my family and friends except two of my dear friends. One lived near the fire explosion, and the other lived in the closest town to where the earthquake originated. I kept calling all over the place  and searched the web to find my friends, but he was nowhere to be found.

I cried for two days. On the third day, when my son came home from school, I asked him how his day went. "We studied about Tsunami today," he said, then stopped. When I asked why he stopped, he told me because the words "tsunami" and "earthquake" make me sad and cry.

With my son’s words, out of respect for the sufferers, I decided to stop crying and began constructing a simple, easy-to-navigate, to-the-point information website for Japanese. From thousands of miles away, that is the least I could do. 

Donna Summer Was Right: Moms Work Hard

Family Friday

Guest post by JJ

I remember hearing "She Works Hard For The Money" on a regular basis when I was about seven years old, when my mom had the song on her workout cassette. Yes, cassette. 

I'm not sure if there have ever been truer words spoken, or for that matter, sung. I recently returned to work part time after being home with my son for a year and a half. Making this decision was not an easy one, especially knowing that my son will most likely be our only child and I want to savor every moment with him. But life gets in the way, and working becomes a necessity. Although I had hoped to remain at home with him full time, with the recent economic changes we made a family decision that I need to return to work to help with costs. 

I felt very overwhelmed starting the job search again: refreshing my resume, writing a cover letter and the whole art of searching for jobs for which I was qualified. I kept thinking, "Why can't I put my job as a mom at the top of my resume?" I know the description would look a little something like this:

Mother to Active, Lovable Boy, February 2009 - Current

The Work-Life Balance Myth

Work Wednesday

Guest post by Heidi Isenberg-Feig.

If you were to ask me how I describe myself, in no particular order, I am: a mother, wife, doctor, sister, daughter, manager and friend.  Each of these roles is first in line at least once a day as I contemplate the notion of work-life balance. I'm about to shift them around again, as I close my solo medical practice in search of more family time.

I love having three kids.  I knew when I was pregnant with my second that I wasn't "done," with kids and I continued to feel that way despite his lack of sleep and refusal to eat.  When I became pregnant with my third, I panicked.  Although she was very much planned, I wondered, "What if it is another boy?" I struggle keeping up with the physical energy of our three-year old son, which calls to mind the Tasmanian Devil from Warner Brothers. Then I fretted, "What if it is another girl?" I can’t deal with the drama -- our six-year old daughter could write her own soap opera AND star in it. 

At 38, I was tired, but I knew that I couldn't handle being over 40 and pregnant (I know a bunch of women who could and did, but I am not one of them) and I knew we wanted a third. (I negotiated it down to three -- my husband wanted four!) I obsessed for a while and had CVS at 13 weeks or so, followed my doctor's orders, took Pilates classes for the entire nine months and had baby number three in August: another girl -- more drama! 

What Does Workplace Flexibility Look Like to You?

Work Wednesday

Guest post by Kathleen Christensen

Just about every working mom will tell you one of the things she wants most from her workplace is flexibility in how, when and where the work gets done. (For that matter, most working dads, working single people, and – well, everyone – now says the same thing.) So it’s no surprise that companies large and small have started to view workplace flexibility as an imperative to attracting and retaining good employees. Firms of all sizes now offer creative options like telecommuting, part-time work, paid leave and career breaks, and it seems every day we read about a new company or industry that has embraced workplace flexibility and realized it’s good for the bottom line.

So – employees want flexibility, companies want to offer it –problem solved, right? Not so fast. When I talk to working parents today, I still see a major disconnect. Most people are employed in jobs that don’t offer them the kind of flexibility they feel they need to properly attend to work and family life. Whenever there is a story in the papers about workplace flexibility, most working parents read it and say, "that sounds great -- but how come I don't have it?"

A good example is the recent New York Times article that cited many real-world examples of accounting firms that offer flex programs. Yet many of the comments on the Times Web site read like this:

"This has got to be an April Fools joke. There is no flexibility at big 4 accounting firms. They advertise flexibility, they don't practice it.... When I worked at a big 4 accounting firm, you'd get dirty looks if you were to dare leave the office before 6pm. That is not flexibility"

"I can tell you, it's not really like this. Many audit teams have mandatory 60+ hour weeks plus weekends. And if you're productive and get your work done quickly, they will reward you with someone else's work."

Apparently, there is a big flexibility gap in this industry, with a lot of people saying "hey, why not me? Where's my flex?" But the gap is not limited to accounting. Recent research shows that while 80 percent of workers want flexibility, only about a third have it. So what gives? If employees want flexibility and employers know it works, then where is this disconnect coming from?