Author Archive
Posted September 28th, 2010 by Katrina Alcorn
I recently got an email from a blog reader who said she had been obsessively reading and re-reading my first post, and all the comments that followed it. After years of managing what sounds like a challenging career and raising young children, she said she feared she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. [...]
Posted August 11th, 2010 by Katrina Alcorn
Under health care reform, all employers are required by law to accommodate the needs of breastfeeding employees. But ignorance about breastfeeding still prevails in the workplace. Here are the basics that every employer should know. Please send it to your boss, your HR director, and anyone who is in a position to support women breastfeeding when they return to work.
Posted July 27th, 2010 by Katrina Alcorn
A quiet revolution has been taking place in Sweden for 15 years, affecting everything from the gender pay gap to workplace culture to relationships between parents and children. It all started at home. Here’s a link to the fascinating New York Times story about this phenomenon. Now here’s my distilled version—with original illustrations! This Swedish [...]
Posted July 19th, 2010 by Katrina Alcorn
Thanks to everyone who took my “Who clips the nails?” survey. The results are in! Below is a summary. I’m posting the detailed results, comments, and analysis now and throughout the week on my blog: workingmomsbreak.com. Overview Even though studies show fathers are changing more diapers and folding more laundry than ever, mothers are still [...]
Posted July 14th, 2010 by Katrina Alcorn
Many of our employers and coworkers remain woefully ignorant about breastfeeding; without realizing it, they put us in situations that can be thoroughly humiliating.
Posted June 15th, 2010 by Katrina Alcorn
Studies show today’s fathers are doing significantly more child care and housework than their fathers did. Here’s my question: Are these dads just folding more laundry, or are they also taking responsibility for the complicated logistics of family life? And here’s my other question: Do heterosexual couples divide up chores differently than gay and lesbian [...]
Posted June 2nd, 2010 by Katrina Alcorn
Working mothers are not crackheads. Having children is not just another lifestyle choice. If we want to keep this little human experiment going, then we need a sizable chunk of the population to keep having children.
Posted May 20th, 2010 by Katrina Alcorn
The media is our society’s muse. It attends to our collective consciousness. Whether we watch it or not, like it or not, it propels (or limits) our collective imagination. So when our society is bombarded with images of madonnas and primadonnas, princesses and whores, these images worm their way into our understanding of what a woman is.
Posted May 11th, 2010 by Katrina Alcorn
I can’t think of a better way to say this. I had a truly crappy Mother’s Day this year. I think Anna Jarvis would understand. Inspired by her own mother’s life, she started a campaign in 1907 to recognize mothers for their contribution to society. She was successful in making Mother’s Day a national holiday, [...]
Posted April 9th, 2010 by Katrina Alcorn
For six years, I “balanced” a demanding job, a commute, and raising young children. All things considered, I thought I was managing really well until just before my last child turned one year old. Then, the stress and exhaustion I’d been holding at bay engulfed me. I could barely get out of bed, or eat, or think.
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