The stomach flu hit our house this week and we fell like dominoes; first my husband, then me and then my toddler daughter.  You have been there right?  Comforting each other, lots of (icky) cleaning up, crackers and water the meal of choice for days.  To add it to it all, I had bouts of anxiety about the amount of work I was missing managing this round of illness. 

Returning to work is challenging on so many levels - conquering the guilt, managing home life, keeping the house clean, juggling everyone's schedules, handling the curve balls (aka someone is sick), getting up to speed at work...

Yes, women are great at multi-tasking.  But should we be?

Ever wonder how your husband does it?  My husband could probably never stay at home.  He LOVES working.  Don't get me wrong - he LOVES his kids.  In fact, what I love about him is that when he gets home, he turns OFF the work switch and turns ON the Dad switch.

Cover letters are the trailer to your resume (the feature film).  And you want readers to feel like they've been invited to a star-studded premier, full of A-listers.  Something they just can't WAIT to go to, I mean read.

If you have been in the workforce for a while, it is easier to extol your accomplishments, lead with one-liners and entice potential employers to review your resume.  But if you have been out of the workforce, moms tend to err on the side of caution.  They write cover letters that explain their absence from the workforce.

After being OUT of the workforce for a few years, a mother's sense of value and worth changes.  We tend to place a high monetary value on our careers, but that value diminishes with each passing year.  Many mothers think that if they were earning $50k before they stopped working, they probably need to earn a little less than that when they return to the workforce - until they get up to speed.

WHY????

Yikes!  He asked you what?!?!?

Have you ever experienced that reaction or had a friend exclaim that to you?  

When interviewing for a new job - especially after staying at home to raise children - potential employers may be curious about your loyalties and commitment.  They may wonder how many days a week you will be late because a child needs you...or when you need to leave early because someone is sick...or if you are going to start full-time and then request part-time work or ask to work from home.

Last week we started to uncover your incredible secrets for creating Work – Family Balance by:

1.  Identifying some of the times in which you notice more work – family balance in life.
2.  Strengthening the muscles that you use to create that balance.
3.  Committing to continue the process by taking small steps forward.

As working mothers we don’t have fires to put out – we have bonfires to put out. Every day and twice on Sunday we dash from blaze to blaze trying to create order out of the chaos. So when do we have three hours to go get our hair cut, colored, and blown out? Or an hour and a half to get a mani-pedi?

Tip of the Week - Protect Childhood

Safety for all starts here

What it is:  To shield from damage the freedom to be a child.  For the purposes of this week’s tip, let’s consider childhood as ages 2 to 12.

Why it’s important:  Childhood is a safe haven of time during which children are supported as they experiment with the world. 

Experimentation is the pathway to understanding who they are, what they’re good at, and what makes them happy. 

Usually, New Year's resolutions mean defining what you should NOT be doing any more.  Resolutions are traditionally about "taking away" our vices:

1. Stop smoking

2. Stop eating - lose weight

3. Stop being lazy - exercise more

When it comes to work, we sometimes make resolutions like:

1. Stop complaining

2. Say "no" to extra projects that require working above and beyond the call of duty

3. Stop gossping

4. Stop feeling guilty about being at work

5. Stop feeling guilty about NOT being at work