Author Archives: Morra

Dual-Income Parents: The Exhausted American Middle

By Morra | Published: March 4, 2010
I posted this on BlogHer.com this week. Back in the mythic 50s and 60s, housewives like Betty Friedan and Betty Draper were very bored. The Feminine Mystique opens with this description of an average housewife’s day: “Many women no longer left their homes, except to shop, chauffeur their children or attend a social engagement with their husbands.” Contrast [...]
Posted in Child Development, Early childhood, Economy, Families, Flexible work | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Listen to the “What Kids Really Think About Their Working Parents” Podcast

By Morra | Published: February 10, 2010
Great discussion with Ellen Galinsky, Lisa Belkin, and Dr. Joshua Coleman: click here for the podcast. (Note: the Talkshoe service doesn’t like Firefox, for some reason. If the link doesn’t work, try another browser. Sorry). Lisa Belkin blogged about the show here. For highlights, check out the live Twitter feed on Fem2pt0, with good quotes, including: # [...]
Posted in Child Development, Early childhood, Economy, Families, Flexible work, Men/Fathers, Mind in the Making | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

What Do Kids Really Think About Their Working Parents? Tune in Wed. 1pm to Learn

By Morra | Published: February 8, 2010
This Wednesday, February 10, 1 PM EST, join us on Talkshoe.com, as Ellen Galinsky, president of Families and Work Institute and author of Ask the Children and Mind in the Making, moderates a discussion with Lisa Belkin, New York Times writer and author of the Motherlode blog on nytimes.com, and clinical psychologist Joshua Coleman, author [...]
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Homemade Playdough and other snow-day projects

By Morra | Published: January 18, 2010
Here in Boston it’s a snowy, cold day and we’re inside. On a day like today you need an activity that engages kids and the grown-ups. A project to stick with for a little while, no pun intended. A friend suggested the toddler and I make homemade play-dough today. So I asked for recipes on [...]
Posted in Early childhood, Families, Mind in the Making | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

“The House of Work Is a Tear-Down”

By Morra | Published: January 14, 2010
Arresting title, and absolutely thought-provoking post from Chrysula Winegar here: “Adjusting for both factors (of access to better childcare and equal pay for the same work), I still will not be enticed back into full time work right now. Possibly not ever. I simply do not want to be away from my children for all those [...]
Posted in Families, Flexible work, Men/Fathers, Women/Mothers | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Why Did Alec Baldwin Want to Return to Meryl Streep?

By Morra | Published: January 12, 2010
We loved this Huffington Post piece from Sharon Meers, co-author of Getting to 50-50. Sharon asks, “Why does Alec Baldwin fall back in love with ex-wife, Meryl Streep, in the new movie “It’s Complicated?” All the problems (AKA, three kids) are now gone, she’s no longer stressed out — and that’s very sexy. It turns [...]
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Surgeon General “struggles” with her weight

By Morra | Published: January 11, 2010
The US Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin said this morning on Good Morning America, “I’m just like 67% of Americans- I struggle with my weight, just like them.” During the confirmation process this past summer, Benjamin came under fire and many accused her of being “too fat to be Surgeon General.” But from her interview [...]
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“Motherhood wasn’t just all about me as one person”: Mojo Mom Looks Back on the 2000s

By Morra | Published: January 4, 2010
This retrospective piece from Amy Tiemann, aka MojoMom, crystallizes what so many working parents face as we think about the larger meaning of our own, cobbled together work-life situations. Amy writes that when she became a mom in 1999, from her own “ruggedly individualistic” perspective her choice to opt-out for a bit wasn’t so bad. [...]
Posted in FWI news, Families, Flexible work | 1 Comment

In Good Company: Inspired Coworking Environment

By Morra | Published: December 14, 2009
Working for yourself can offer many benefits, but can be lonely. Until you start working on your own, it’s hard to realize the camaraderie that comes with working in an office environment. And you often have a built in kitchen cabinet for getting advice and support, bouncing off new ideas, and learning. That’s why the new [...]
Posted in Flexible work, Women/Mothers | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

How to Think About Marketing Work-Life Programs

By Morra | Published: December 4, 2009
Any work-life program is only as good as the number of employees who know about it. At the Working Mother Work-Life Congress this October, Dell’s Rolando Balli shared his team’s innovative approach (you can see his presentation here) to creating and communicating work-life programs that engage employees. Balli regularly surveys Dell employees to find out [...]
Posted in Workforce/Workplace | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment