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 Focus on You - Secrets to Tame Your Life |
| Working moms talk about being overwhelmed by competing demands on their time. Here are some tips to get you through. |
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By: Mary Elizabeth Williams,
Illustration: Keiko Morimoto
If you've ever felt like Silly Putty that's pulled in too many directions, imagine this: You can calm the madness with these tactics from moms who know your pain. It all starts with remembering to breathe.
By the time I start work in the ...
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| Featured Articles |
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Anatomy of Working Mother Guilt  |
| Working-mom guilt can be hard to shake, but knowing that you’re not alone, and taking some cues from those guilt-free men, can actually help you ... |
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| Soft Addictions: Are You Hooked? |
| Do you crave a caffeine fix? Eating or texting to excess? These soft addictions can take a toll on your health and prevent you from ...
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| Guys and Guilt |
| You’d feel like a failure for forgetting to pack your child’s snack, but your husband would just shrug and say whoops. it can be maddening. ... |
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| Deadly Distraction | |
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The dangers of cell phone talking and texting while driving.
Linda Doyle set out in her car for her daily volunteer work at the Oklahoma Humane Society, feeding a population of feral cats. The light turned green at the exit from her Oklahoma City community, and she drove out. Moments later, a 20-year-old driver who’d been talking on his cell ...
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| Reader Rant: Ready, Set, Eat! | |
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She fought to get food into her son-and then found the one things he hated more than eating.
Before my son, Jay, learned to say “no,” he learned the international expression for “yuck”: scrunching his nose at every plate of food put before him. Snow peas, organic spinach—those were one thing, but he also sneered at kid-friendly staples like pasta, pizza and mac ’n’ cheese. I soon learned ...
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| Sticky Situation: My In-laws Wouldn't Leave | |
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When the in-laws overstayed their welcome, one mom learned to stand her ground despite cultural differences.
I love my husband but am less enamored with having his parents as a fixture in our home—and a relationship with his mother that’s the stuff of Bollywood dramas.
Newly married, my husband, Deepak, and I were still unpacking all the boxes in our tiny one-bedroom New York City ...
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| What's Hot This Winter | |
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The weather outside is frightful, but we'll keep you looking (and feeling) delightful with these frozen weather finds that are oh-so-chic this season.
Gadgets
Smart phones are great for lots of things—calling, organizing, taking pictures, or even video. But if you’re a true music lover or cinephile, an all-in-one gadget probably isn’t cutting it. Enter the Zune HD (from $220, zunestore.net ). The widescreen display gives you a premium viewing experience on the ...
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| Take A Moment for Yourself | |
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Creative strategies sure to bring you a little peace
Feeling overwhelmed? Block the steady stream of life’s slings and arrows with this relaxation regimen. With practice and a few stolen moments, you’ll discover a state of inner calm.
3 minutes...
Get Grateful
Focusing on what goes right in your day (and pushing aside what goes wrong) flips ...
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| Best Holiday Greetings Tips | |
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Sharing holiday wishes could not be easier.
Christmas is coming quickly. Picking out cards or making copies of photo cards addressing and stamping them and getting them into the mail keeps falling further and further down the to do list. The US Postal Service notes this fact on its website: The Postal Service expects 16.6 billion cards, ...
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| The Easiest Way to Do (Almost) Everything | |
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How do experts tackle daily tasks? Their secrets may get you some (gasp!) free time.
Being a working parent means multitasking, squeezing every minute from a day, pleading with our bodies to fall asleep fast so we can wake up early and find that extra hour. But hold on there, warns Samantha Ettus, mom of two, author and TV correspondent. It isn’t about working harder, ...
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| Detox Your World | |
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Harmful chemicals lurk in everything from coffee to cleansers. Fight back with these easy ways to stay clean and clear.
Cathy O’Rourke found comfort in scrubbing, spritzing and spraying her home with an arsenal of cleaning supplies she stored under the sink. But things changed when her 6-year-old son developed asthma. “I started reading the labels on things I was using. The long lists of crazy-sounding chemicals made me think ...
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| Are You Linked In? | |
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How to connect, friend and tweet your way to social-networking savvy.
If you’re job hunting (and who isn’t these days?), social networking sites are the place to prowl. Learn how to link, friend and tweet your way onto the radar of top recruiters and hiring managers.
When Stephanie Frost started looking for a full-time job after freelancing for a few ...
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| What's Hot This Summer | |
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The style buzz you need to know. From fashion to mobile phones, here's what hip moms are wearing, buying, craving and raving about.
Gadgets
Sadly, this season the biggest trends revolve around cutting back and recession proofing. Before we buy, we ask: What happens if I lose my job? On the brighter side, technology is adapting to this need as well. The Motorola Clutch i465 ($130, boostmobile.com ) cell phone costs just ...
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| Summer "Not to Wear" Guide | |
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Casual fashion may expose the wrong B's for women in business.
Oh the weather outside is… frightfully hot. On days like this, all you want to do is throw on a tank top, pair of shorts, cute sandals and head out to the beach. Except (sorry to burst your bubble), it’s actually Monday morning and you’re deciding what to wear to ...
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| When Baby Arrives, Keeping You and Your Relationship Afloat | |
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Working Mom's Survival Guide: Paula Peters' new book makes working motherhood workable
Making Mommy Time
If there is one thing that is absolutely critical to maintaining your sanity as a working mother, it is finding some time for yourself. By “yourself,” I mean not with your partner, not with the baby, and not doing chores.
You probably think that’s impossible. Especially ...
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| Shop Smarter | |
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Looking for the latest styles at a fraction of the price?
There’s an overlooked upside to the financial downturn: bargains galore. But don’t just fall for every sale sign you see, says stylist and professional shopper Karen Kleber. To discover the true brag- worthy deals, you have to know when to shop for them, which bargain bins to dig through and ...
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| Winning Moms Share Their Secrets | |
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How to Keep Your Household Running Smoothly
Betwixt and between – that’s how most working moms feel as they balance domestic issues with career requirements. Quick tips are the order of the day (there’s no time for any other kind!) – our winning moms tell us how they keep their home life running smoothly:
“Create ...
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| Moms' Guilty Confessions | |
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Even the Best Parents Make Mistakes
No one’s perfect – not even our Working Mother's of the Year . We asked them to share some of their guiltiest moments (their kids can use this as blackmail when they’re older!):
Left her child with grandparents for a short visit. Then: “Bad weather - car problems ...
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| Then & Now and Beyond | |
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A guided tour of Working Mother's birth and growth.
Working Mother ’s longtime leader reflects on the magazine’s birth, its profound impact on millions of women over the past three decades and how much we have to look forward to.
Eight years before I became a mom, I fell in love with Working Mother magazine. Though I was ...
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| 30 Years of Working Mothers | |
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The good, the bad and the best of office policies, culture and family life.
Working Mother's reader survey highlights 30 Years of changes, revealing how workplace benefits have revolutionized our lives. Now if we could only stop the clock.
A friend recently told me that she’s definitely going to take a course in time management—just as soon as she can find an open ...
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| Clutter Control | |
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Easy, breezy spring-cleaning tips and tricks for the messiest spots in your home.
Most houses have them: hot spots where the family dumps everything from homework and bike helmets to sneakers and cell phones. We offer fast fixes for organizing the messiest, my-home-is-out-of-control spaces.
Behold the picture-perfect home: Appliances sparkle, plates and utensils gleam, pillows are forever fluffed, the floors are so ...
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| Hot Mama | |
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Frumpy, Frazzled and uninterested? No way. Working moms are way more into sex than anyone might think.
In an online sex survey, we asked you to share what goes on in your bedroom—and wow, were we surprised!
A month or so ago, at my friend Mary’s wedding, my inner circle of college gal pals came together from across the country to do what we’ve come to ...
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| Defining Depression | |
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Workingmother.com's breakdown of depression types and treatments
Major Depressive Disorder (major depression) Characterized by multiple symptoms that interfere with the ability to work, sleep, eat, enjoy once-pleasurable activities or function normally. When very severe, one may feel unable to get out of bed, sometimes called vegetative depression; when symptoms include hallucinations and delusions, called psychotic depression.
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| You and your Caregiver | |
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The good, the bad and the beautiful of this oh-so-important relationship, and how to make it even better.
It’s one of the most important, intimate and challenging connections you will ever have. What makes this partnership work, what messes it up and how to get it right from the get-go.
I was on my third caregiver (yes, they do leave you, and I do have four kids) ...
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| Back to Life | |
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Depression strikes many working moms, but too few seek help. The hidden story--and life-altering solutions.
Depression is the last thing most moms expect to experience once their babies are sleeping through the night, talking up a storm and walking around. But one in five working women is depressed—and the illness can hit years after a child is born. We spoke with a few brave working ...
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| Sarah Palin's Moment of Truth | |
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What's next for the headline-making working mom?
The Governor has touched down on the runway of Ted Stevens International Airport, returning from her pilgrimage towards the bright lights of national political stardom. Ironically, as CNN boldly proclaimed victory for President-elect Barack Obama and the nation began celebrating, voting polls remained open in Alaska. That’s right; Alaskans could ...
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| What (Not) to Wear | |
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Our Alaska mom weighs in on fashion hits (and misses) in her home state
In the wake of yet another Alaska-themed court decision that has left residents fragile and unable to think clearly, I will dispense from any actual Sarah Palin political commentary and instead focus upon on another, softer issue. Those clothes.
Yes, the Great Palin Shopping Extravaganza had far-reaching conclusions for ...
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| Warm Welcome For Governor Palin? | |
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Alaska Mom Erin Kirkland wonders if the gov can keep her gold-star status back home.
After a six-week whirlwind introduction to fame, fortune, and a closet full of new clothes, Alaska’s governor is reaching her crossroads. Election 2008 is 11 days away, and despite a staunch following from the Red Republican Base, the ultimate Presidential outcome might not rest in Sarah Palin’s favor.
This ...
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| Alaskans Speak Out | |
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Our Alaska mom reports on local reactions as the historic election looms.
The countdown is here. A mere 19 days remain until the world knows our next President and VP sidekick. What are the mothers of Alaska thinking, now that campaigns are winding up for a last big push to November 4th?
Alaskans are still reeling from the fallout of Troopergate ...
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| Domestic Violence and Alaska | |
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A mom from 49th state looks at the roots of its higher-than-average incidences of violence against women.
It’s been a long week in Alaska. Campaigns are ramping up for one last push towards Election Day; both the McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden offices held rallies last weekend, and newspapers are falling all over themselves in an effort to be the first to air the latest dirty laundry.
One ...
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| On Being a Woman - in Alaska | |
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Our true-north mom weighs in on her home state.
It’s pretty sexy to be an Alaskan woman these days. While Sarah Palin roves the country showing off both her prowess and her recipe for moose stew, women back in the home state are enjoying a certain celebrity status of their own.
Inquiring minds still want to know the ...
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| How to Talk Your Way Out of Anything | |
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From a dress you don't want to lend to playdates you want to skip, here's how to escape some of life's trickiest situations.
How many times have you wished you could put the world on pause? Just a five-second delay to conjure the perfect excuse, recover from an I-can’t-believe-I-said-that blunder or invoke a clever comeback for an outrageous insult. Well, we haven’t come up with a time-warp device, but we can help you ...
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| She's Still Got Moxie | |
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An update on Alaska'a most famous working mom
Deftly maneuvering the crowd better than Ted Stevens at a party, our governor straight-talked the folks of Alaska through her own rose colored glasses as soon as she hit the tarmac November 5th. While staff unloaded Sarah Palin, her family, a bunch of friends, and a full cargo hold of ...
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| Sarah Belongs To Alaska! | |
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An Alaskan mom shares insight.
Alaska’s Sarah Palin continues her speed-dating trip around the country this week, leaving residents to bemoan her departure with drama unseen in daytime television. “You can’t leave us, we have such plans!” whine the masses. “I’m sorry, I’ve met someone else,” the cunning heroine proclaims, “and I’ve got to think ...
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| A Brief History of Guilt-Before and After Divorce | |
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Sure, all working moms have some degree of this nagging emotion. But what happens when a marriage erodes?
I wasn’t big on guilt, self-reflection or grandiose notions of unconditional love—until I had a baby. I’d always wanted to be a mother, yet once the delivery approached I became slightly uncomfortable with the idea of a baby to care for every day and every night forever, or at least ...
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| Seasons, and Opinions, are Changing | |
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An insider's look at shifting perceptions of the VP nominee in her home state
It’s a bit frosty here in the Northland, and we can’t blame it all on the calendar. Falling temperatures aside, the Alaskan perception and reception of Sarah Palin appears to be waning. Voters, increasingly frustrated over their governor’s apparent refusal to come clean over the Troopergate incident, are now voicing ...
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| The Palin Chronicles | |
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A view from an Alaskan mom.
Welcome to Alaska 2008—big, bold, and the nucleus of a political showdown. When John McCain stood on stage and announced that our former beauty queen, rifle-toting, snow machine-riding governor was his pick for a running mate, the world heard a collective gasp from the state’s 670,000 residents. Cell phones chirped ...
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| Sarah Palin's Struggles Are Every Mom's | |
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What if the VP is a working mom?
Women who work face family issues. And it doesn’t matter if you are a cashier at a local shop or the Vice Presidential candidate for the United States. It doesn’t matter if you are a mom of one or someone more like Kate from "Jon & Kate Plus 8." Life ...
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| What I Learned On My Summer Vacation | |
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Working moms and celebrities have taught us so much!
With summer coming an end, we take a (tongue-in-cheek) look back at all we've learned...from celebrities and from our readers.
From celebrities we discovered:
The first photos of the Brangelina twins cost more than the working budget of a small developed country .
If Mary won’t do, ...
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| Sex & The Single Mom | |
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Divorce brings guilt, but don't let that stop you from finding your own satisfaction.
A friend of mine had been with her partner for ten years, they had a baby together, and now she’s found herself suddenly single. She told me that entering the dating world sounds like an exciting adventure, but she isn’t quite ready to go all the way just yet. All ...
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| What About Your Friends? | |
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Between caring for your family, house, and work, who has time for friends? You do! You must!
Despite what Mick Jagger sang, time is not on your side. Sometimes the moments between your morning coffee and those yawns while watching the local evening news are a blur. For working moms, time is what we definitely need more of. So what suffers as a result of our lack ...
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| Putting Relations Back In Your Relationship | |
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Recapture that sexual spark with your partner.
I recently spoke with a famous porn star (for research, of course) who, when faced with women complaining about losing their sex drive, helpfully suggests they just go out and find it! Easy for her to say, but she does have a point. Moms are sexual beings, no matter how ...
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| Leafy Allies | |
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Best flowers and plants for a healthy office.
Every mom should have some foliage on their desk and not just because Mother’s Day is near—there’s a proven health benefit!
It’s probably no secret that toxins are all around us, and not just in outdoor pollution. They’re emitting from the office copy machine, the solvents used to clean ...
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| Managing Your Energy | |
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Setting Priorities, Saying No and Asking for Help
Who or what receives the majority of your attention, time and energy? Your husband? Your kids? Your work? Your household? Worries? Finances? Friendships? Volunteer activities? Hobbies?
One spring when I was in my late twenties—a time when I frequently took evening art classes—I enrolled in a black and white ...
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| Spring Gleaming | |
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Spring's coming--prep yourself for a more youthful you.
There’s lot of talk about change lately, but you’ve got one constant…your body. Starting from your head and down to your toes, you can nourish the skin you’re in to keep a youthful glow.
Tress Rx
Stores are stocked with anti-aging products for all your body parts—but what ...
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| Time For You | |
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When it's time to unwind.
You've sprinted through dinner, dishes, baths and bedtime stories. These after-hours activities will help you de-stress and enjoy your evening. 6 Minutes Night Light Once the kids are tucked in, you're programmed to attack what's next: another load of laundry, a few more emails. Instead, unplug and relax with ...
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| Total Makeover | |
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How pros gave one mom a fresh start
Jackie Newhall, working mother of two and the winner of our Balance Makeover contest, was treated to expert advice from a top organizer, nutritionist, life coach and psychologist—plus several stylists! Here, the inside story of her transformation. For Jackie Newhall, life has been on fast-forward for the past five years. ...
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| Journaling--An Easy Guide | |
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Express your passions--and pain--by keeping a journal.
Examine your innermost thoughts and feelings lately? Scribbling "Who am I?" in the margin of your to-do list doesn't count. Here, a no-excuses primer on journaling that'll reward you with some much-needed perspective.
5 Minutes
Take It to Go
Throw a journal into your workbag and write ...
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| Good Enough Mom | |
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Worried that you're not doing everything exactly right? Here's how to stop striving for perfection and put things in perspective. Your kids will thank you.
Ramani Durvasula describes her life as a series of hurdles she needs to clear every day to keep her family functioning. She applies the same task-oriented approach to managing her home that she does to her work as an associate professor of psychology at California State University, Los Angeles. ...
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| 3 Guilt-Free Hours | |
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Leadership coach Jamie Woolf explains why sometimes the best thing you can do to be a better mom is take a break from everything--at least temporarily--and indulge yourself.
Carla Jones was anxious and irritable. Maria Riera was consumed by self-doubt. Trudi Roth was flat-out exhausted. And then they did the unthinkable. They dropped everything—kids, husbands, chores, career—to do exactly what they wanted, without an ounce of remorse.
These great escapes were temporary—just three hours—but each of these ...
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| New & Improved Family Tree | |
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Wish you had a better support system?
Branch out. The help you need to ensure that your kids are safe and cared for is right
in your community.
Here's how to make your modern-day support network take root.. Attorney Leslie Adler, 41, is a pro when it comes to finessing overloaded schedules. For more than a decade, the Jericho, NY, mom has navigated school and legal systems, defending the interests of a national bank by day while ...
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| Make Time for Love | |
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Does passion take a backseat to carpooling and late office hours?
Follow these five steps to rekindle the fire in your relationship.
Turn love into a priority: We all know that it takes two to tango, so to speak, but for busy working parents, romance is often the first thing that's dropped from the schedule. That's because too many couples take love for granted. "It's easy to lose the intimacy and ...
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| Show Some Skin | |
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Simple skin care fixes in 9 minutes or less
Slinky sundresses. Short shorts. Belly-baring bikinis. Are you really ready for summer? 2 Minutes Saving face Never dare to go completely bare—sans sunscreen, that is. Skip your foundation and apply a tinted moisturizer with built-in sunscreen instead. Try L'Or ...
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| Take Back Your Weekends | |
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Lots of errands, not enough fun? Follow these steps to weekend bliss.
Don't you just love Friday night? You may be wiped out from the week, but on the horizon are 48 golden, glorious hours to do the things you've wanted to do. Then Saturday morning kicks in and it's d ...
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| Your Energy Makeover | |
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Dragging under the drain and strain of all that you do? Life-revving advice that'll have you jumping (and running and skipping) for joy.
How would you like to have twice the physical and mental energy you have now? Or triple? Or maybe you'd settle for not collapsing into an exhausted heap every night, worried about the Filofax full of must-do's you didn't get done. If you're like most working moms, you've developed ...
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| At-Home Spa Treatments | |
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Need aah time? Top spas share their secrets using stuff right in your kitchen.
10 minutes Face refreshers Soothe your skin with a pint of brewed, cooled chamomile tea mixed with 2 tablespoons cider vinegar. Chamomile is an anti-inflammatory, while vinegar sluffs dead skin. Dip cotton balls, then swipe, rinse, glow. —Eviama Life Spa Get rid of pimples with a mask of apples ...
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| A More Balanced Life is Within Reach | |
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Five thought-provoking ways to get peace of mind
If you could have anything this Mother's Day, what would you wish for? A few days on a deserted beach? A world without clocks? A self-cleaning house, complete with self-cleaning kids? Hmmm. Sounds like someone could use a bit more balance in her life. You may think you'd have plenty ...
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| Eleven Reasons to Love Being a Working Mom | |
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Balancing work and family is, well, work. But it also brings many great joys.
When I went back to my editing job after my first child was born, I cried on the ride to work every day for a month. I also missed my youngest son's first piano recital because I had to be away at an industry conference—and a decade later, he still ...
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| Money Makeovers | |
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Top financial advisors teach three moms smart investment strategies that can help you move closer to financial freedom, too.
Like so many of us, Lisa Glover makes a lot of the right money moves. This 40-year-old single mom pays her bills on time, puts a little cash aside each month for retirement and saves for her 4-year-old daughter's education. But that's as far as she gets. The bigger ...
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| How's Your Sex Life? | |
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We asked 800 working moms--and here's the naked truth, plus expert insight on why we're not in the mood and what to do about it.
Like most working moms, Elizabeth, a sales associate and mother of two, has a detailed daily list of things to do to keep her northern New Jersey household running. Walk the dog. Buy laundry detergent. Take Nichole to ballet. Juggle a conference call. Have sex. Sex on the to-do ...
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| Get A Life | |
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Got A vision for a better you? Here's a five-step game plan for getting what you really want out of life.
Cate Colburn-Smith had a life others would envy. The 40-year-old
marketing executive was rising to the top of the male-dominated tech
industry, working four days a week, so she could spend more time with
her two healthy baby girls, and handling multimillion-dollar deals with
ease. But for all her success, Cate had a secret. ...
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| Take a Break! | |
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A bunch of easy ways to nab more fun for you
My background is such that if you saw it in writing, you would say,
"Well, nothing great can happen to this kid." I come from parents who
dropped out of school before finishing the tenth grade, who married
when they were 16 and 18. I was born the very next year. My ...
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