Kristin's blog

Juggling work, kids, and summer camps takes the skills of a Detective (What summer programs are good?), a Financial Analyst (Which camps can I afford?), and a coordinator from the Presidential Advance Team (How the heck do I get to the camp, anyway? And what supplies are needed?).

We moms have lots of practice dodging sneezes. But how long can you really last without getting sick? Play our new, wacky, addictive, nation-changing, sneezing nose game, "Don't Get Sick," at http://www.momsrising.org/dontgetsickgame

We woke up this morning to an article which made us think the calendar had been switched back 50 years while we were sleeping. On Wednesday, the Senate failed to pass the Fair Pay Act. What was almost worse than that defeat were the out-of-touch, misinformed -- and downright insulting -- statements about women.

The image of Silda Wall Spitzer--corporate lawyer, mother of three, and wife of now former New York Governor--standing silently next to her husband as he publicly confessed is now etched in our national consciousness.

The candidates are all talking about Change (with a big "C"), and we applaud them for that because real families need real change. Now let's get the candidates talking about how exactly they're going to make those Changes.

After watching the debates, tell us how the Democratic and/or Republican candidates scored on your MomsRising Candidate Bingo card! (Don't have a Bingo card yet? Get yours by clicking here.) Who scored highest? Lowest? Who surprised you?

Written by Mary Olivella, Joan Blades, and Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner

Every once in a while a word or phrase is introduced into the lexicon that sheds light on a widespread practice which hasn’t yet entered the national consciousness. These phrases take hold because we need them.

Do you have a scary story to share about the hurdles you’ve faced raising children? Help MomsRising.org collect real life stories about how scary it is to raise a child without adequate family-friendly policies. We’ve found that sharing true stories about the hurdles we face with parenting--from overly expensive healthcare and childcare, to a lack of time with children when they are born or sick--bring the issues to life better than any fact sheet could.

For the next two weeks, we have to pull out all the stops for the State Children's Health Insurance Program -- we need to get a 2/3 majority vote in the House and Senate to override the president's veto. Your letters and stories are an essential piece of this work! Send your personal story about children's health care to Congress here (don't worry, if you don't have a personal story about children's health care, you can still submit a letter - it is written and ready to go! All you have to do is hit "send"): http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1768/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=14806