Navigating the Balance Beam of Motherhood

Maybe more than anyone, Moms need balance. Yet with the multitude of never-ending tasks and responsibilities, balance can be hard to find. This problem becomes enhanced when a full-time working woman becomes a full-time Mom, sometimes leaving her feeling like she has no time for either.

In many cases, women in this position of striving for balance find it difficult to cut back on their work hours, accommodate their children’s schedules, and give full attention to both jobs. Thus, many women give up their professional careers to become stay-at-home moms and focus on their children. But, besides the fact that many of these moms miss the challenges and adult interaction that comes from their prior jobs, this also means that companies miss out on the skills and expertise these women possess.

Yet Another Danger of Connectivity

We tend to believe that our children remain unequivocally safe at home, whether playing catch in the yard or zoned-out in their own world, playing video games quietly upstairs. Yet this may be changing. Video game consoles such as Xbox, Wii, and PlayStation now all have Internet access that enables a gamer to connect with other players through chat rooms or text and video messages. Games such as Halo and Grand Theft Auto have become community games where users can log-on via the console and chat with other users or message each other for tips. And not only teenagers use these features; even kids elementary school aged and younger have used the chat capabilities on games rated too mature for them to play. Yet, even knowing this, I still found a recent USA Today article shocking. The article outlined the newest version of a parent’s worst nightmare: child predators using this new form of Internet access to prey on children.

Rules of the Office: To Be or Not To Be

The age-old question, to be or not to be? At Mom Central, the answer remains clear: not "to be."

I couldn't help but notice recently that passive verbs run rampant in our office. The verb "to be" makes its way into nearly every sentence and thought. And, as language makes up the base of all that we do, it became time to institute new rules. What follows, therefore, represents Mom Central's newest set of rules to live, work, and write by.

Online Grade Checking

With back to school season upon us, both parents and kids will start worrying about homework, tests, and report cards any day now.