Thinkingmama

Talk about workplace stress. OK, so there’s probably more to this story than the guy simply dropping dead from working too much. (He was a 45-year-old Toyota engineer who supposedly died from working extremely long hours trying to perfect the Camry hybrid.) I’ve read and heard lots of cruel jokes about this story, unfortunately. But [...]

A recent New York Times column by Joe Nocera was interesting to me for two reasons:
1. I’m a new parent, and daycare issues are always on my mind, even though we are lucky to currently have family taking care of our child.
2. Having worked with Silicon Valley tech news for about a decade, I’ve read [...]

I am very fortunate to be able to work from home most of the time. I know many mothers — and fathers — who would like to do the same. It isn’t always ideal for everyone, though, and there are lots of scam artists out there waiting to take advantage of your desire to lead [...]

Of course many moms out there have similar experiences with having to balance kids and home and work and life. But to me, it’s always eye-opening when I hear or read about someone else’s experiences or thoughts about it all. Case in point: If you read technology news regularly, you probably have seen a quote [...]

A recent sociological study says the opt-out revolution is a myth. Educated women are not leaving the workplace in droves, it says. One finding it brings up that I can definitely understand: Some women are leaving the workplace after they have their babies because they have no choice. Their employers won’t give them flexibility or [...]

A post in The Juggle talks about companies that are actually extending parental leaves. Imagine that! The interesting concept mentioned in the post is a “future leave” savings plan, which lets you schedule payroll deductions if you plan to go on an extended leave. How innovative and heartwarming, practical and humane.

A recent Wall Street Journal article talks about how many companies are cutting back on maternity-leave pay and time off, compared with 10 years ago. This made me realize how lucky I was to be able to maximize my leave to be at home full time with my baby for the first 5 months of [...]

I haven’t had much to say in this space lately. The reason? I’m busy blogging elsewhere. I’m filling in for a colleague at work whose main job is to blog on Good Morning Silicon Valley, a tech blog. So that’s what I’m doing for the next two weeks, along with my regular job. [...]

This story on SFGate about someone scoring a year-long culinary residency is interesting. And makes me jealous, and my mouth water.
But besides that, this excerpt from the article got me thinking:
Indeed, a sentiment I encounter frequently is that we’d do better work if we could get away from our work more often.
How many employers miss [...]

It was hard to stop reading this, a very public display of resentment from the daughter of Alice Walker (”The Color Purple” about how she grew up having a famous mom who apparently didn’t care much about being a mother.
Among other things, Rebecca Walker says: “You see, my mum taught me that children enslave women. [...]