2008-05-15T10:58:35Z tag:blog.washingtonpost.com,2008:/onbalance//95 Copyright (c) 2008, WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive 2008-05-15T10:58:35Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-15:/onbalance/2008/05/why_youre_not_the_worst_workin_1.html

In trolling for good pumping stories on mommy blogs for Privacy, Pumping and Protection, I stumbled across a section on Mommy Track'd (The Working Mother's Guide to Managed Chaos) devoted to the dumbest, funniest, most cringe-inspiring things we've done as moms. It is amazing and has changed my life. Bye-bye, Prozac! Because next time I do something terrible (probably within the next two hours before I go pick up the kids from school) I'm heading...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Leslie Morgan Steiner 2008-05-14T10:41:46Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-14:/onbalance/2008/05/privacy_pumping_and_protection_1.html

Virginia Woolf made famous women's need for A Room of One's Own. We've come a long way since 1929 when the book came out. Now we're all getting a room of our own -- to pump breastmilk at work. And it's about time; reading comments on Mommy Track'd about bosses barging in or co-workers wondering what you're doing in the bathroom for an hour is enough to show you why. According to yesterday's Washington Post...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Leslie Morgan Steiner 2008-05-13T10:39:27Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-13:/onbalance/2008/05/the_green_argument_for_telecom.html

By Rebeldad Brian Reid Last week, oil prices hit another record high, topping $126 a barrel and leading to a new rash of stories about gasoline spurting over $4 a gallon. Coincidently, my company opened a DC office last week, meaning that I'll be commuting (by car, rail and bike) at least part-time from now on. And that gave me plenty of time to think - while I sat in my car - about the...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Brian Reid 2008-05-12T16:09:04Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-12:/onbalance/2008/05/keeping_your_sanity_as_a_new_m.html

Ahhh ... those blissful early days of motherhood. My boobs looked large enough to feed half of Detroit. Flaps of fat swung around my belly like leftover gefilte fish. I was afraid to look down below; a simple trip to the potty required an inflatable donut, a sitz bottle of warm water, and endless courage. I cried like a wild animal when dusk fell. I screamed at my husband when he brought me a fax...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Leslie Morgan Steiner 2008-05-08T11:03:21Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-08:/onbalance/2008/05/mothers_day_1.html

I recently had the pleasure of joining the Mocha Moms on National Public Radio's Tell Me More program to discuss how our moms shape us as mothers and what gifts we'd like to pass on to our children, in honor of the upcoming 100th Mother's Day on Sunday. I talked about an epiphany I had when I started my anthology Mommy Wars, which explores the challenges women face in juggling work and family, I didn't...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Leslie Morgan Steiner 2008-05-07T10:57:09Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-07:/onbalance/2008/05/swat_moms_1.html

According to The Wall Street Journal in How Stay-at-Home Moms Are Filling an Executive Niche: "Lots of employers would like to be able to hire cheap, temporary teams of seasoned pros with experience managing $2 billion investment portfolios, running ad campaigns or earning Ph.D.s in neuroscience," I agree -- although I'm stupified that corporate America has been so slow to locate these ideal teams of temp employees, since all of us know where to find...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Leslie Morgan Steiner 2008-05-06T11:06:22Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-06:/onbalance/2008/05/athome_dads_not_kissing_under.html

By Rebeldad Brian Reid The usually spot-on "Brazen Careerist" Penelope Trunk dropped a bomb on my little corner of the blogosphere last week, putting up an anonymous guest post from an at-home dad who she said was "more honest with me about his life than any other stay-at-home dad I know." The honesty in the guest post that followed was mostly in the form of a confession of sorts about the time he cheated (or...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Brian Reid 2008-05-05T11:14:35Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-05:/onbalance/2008/05/top_10_tips_for_finding_the_ri.html

In 12 years raising three kids, I've sent my children to four different day-care centers in three states and hired at least 25 babysitters. I used full-time day care when my children were infants, as well as a patchwork of relatives, friends and paid in-home care. Our primary babysitter moved from Minnesota to D.C. with us, staying for seven years total. Finding -- and keeping -- good child care is one of the hardest, most...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Leslie Morgan Steiner 2008-05-02T11:02:54Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-02:/onbalance/2008/05/whats_your_bumper_sticker_1.html

Oh, the joys of Friday. No serious teeth-gnashing topics today. Let's talk about...bumper stickers and balance. Driving my kids around D.C., to and from doctors' appointments, school and play dates, I've been reading the bumper stickers on cars, imagining the drivers inside. "Soccer mom," one sticker said in deadpan black and white type. "Soccer dad -- and proud of it!" a truck cheerfully declared in fire engine red. My favorite, sure to slow my blood...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Leslie Morgan Steiner 2008-05-01T11:17:10Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-01:/onbalance/2008/05/do_dads_and_mom_have_the_same.html

By Rebeldad Brian Reid This is apparently the season for at-home dads to consider returning to work. First, M.P. Dunleavey penned a piece for the New York Times about her at-home husband's impending move to go back to work full time. Then, The Washington Post Health Section, Mark Trainer raised the question of when his stint at home would end. Both Dunleavey and Trainer make similar points by the end of their respective pieces: At-home...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Brian Reid 2008-04-30T11:02:34Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-30:/onbalance/2008/04/do_parents_have_the_right_to_f_1.html

My Southern Baptist father and WASP mom raised us kids with exposure to many religions -- I went to Catholic, Presbyterian and Jewish services with relatives and family friends -- but they invoked little religious influence. I'm technically Presbyterian and I married someone Jewish; our kids are "half and half," which so far has worked out fine in our non-denominational urban universe. So I guess I am naturally baffled by parents who feel it is...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Leslie Morgan Steiner 2008-04-29T11:07:12Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-29:/onbalance/2008/04/breast_cancer_survivor.html

Welcome to the "On Balance" guest blog. Every Tuesday, "On Balance" features the views of a guest writer. It could be your neighbor, your boss, your most loved or hated poster from the blog, or you! Send me your original, unpublished entry (300 words or fewer) for consideration. Writers need to use their full names. Obviously, the topic should be something related to balancing your life. By A.A. Camp Four years ago, I had thyroid...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Leslie Morgan Steiner 2008-05-14T00:25:48Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-28:/onbalance/2008/04/top_10_tips_for_equality_at_ho_1.html

If your boss treats you unfairly, you've got options: You can quit, file a lawsuit, call in sick, or, at the very least, complain incessantly to co-workers. When your home life feels unfair, your options are more limited and more complicated. It's harder to find and maintain equality at home amidst the chaos of working, tending a marriage, raising children and managing a semi-sane household. Unequal division of chores and child care tends to creep...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Leslie Morgan Steiner 2008-05-14T00:25:48Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-25:/onbalance/2008/04/using_the_internet_to_find_bal.html

At a recent conference, I met a young woman who didn't have kids. She works at a public relations company and her card indicated she was an expert in "social media," a fancy word for...blogging, Twittering, IM-ing and chatting online. "When I have kids," she said. "It will be so different from my mom's experience. I'll just be able to Google 'how to get rid of diaper rash' at 1 a.m. and have thousands of...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Leslie Morgan Steiner 2008-05-14T00:25:48Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-24:/onbalance/2008/04/by_rebeldad_brian_reid_so.html

By Rebeldad Brian Reid So the fates, after reading my post last week on my to-and-fro travel schedule this year, decided to turn the tables on me. My wife is out this week on business. She now has the business-trip-gift dilemma, and I am reminded of how much more tricky work-family balance is when you don't have a partner. It has been a fortunate aspect of my life that she hasn't had to travel that...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Brian Reid