Our goal is to provide information, ideas and support for working women who are also full-time mothers.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

RWM Final Four Bracket

We are down to our final four of Famous Working Moms!!

Don't forget to vote:

http://realworkingmom.proboards106.com/index.cgi?board=bracket

It's down to Sandra Day O'Connor, Toni Morrison, Julie Clark andMeredith Vieira.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Round Peg, Square Hole

I don't fit in well in today's society as a working mom...or at least I don't feel like I do. It is hard enough to fit in as a woman in the workforce especially the IT field. I work with mostly guys. It was easy to fit in with the late hours and going out for drinks before kids. But now with the rush to get to daycare before 6:00 PM, it is impossible to hang out and be one of the "boys". They also don't always understand why the daily struggles of just getting to work. By the time I have my three year old and myself dressed, fed, and in the car, I'm exhausted. Then I have to face rush-hour traffic and the who-knows-how-it-will-go drop-off at daycare. Three year olds are manic little personalities. Some days he is happy to go play with his friends...other days he's crying and begging me not to leave him. Either way, I've had a full day before I even get to the office!

Then you get to the office...who do I fit in with there? I've already talked about the guys. They mostly have SAHM wives who handle the family details for them. The other officemates are singles. They don't have a clue or even care about your struggles with kids and work. So, there's not much to chat about with them beyond the standard water cooler issues. However, because I got to bed early or spend the evening watching Krypto the Superdog cartoons I really don't know what is going on in the world! Those conversations don't last too long.

So, I've made it to lunch...this is where I either go workout or run errands. I seem to always run into the SAHMs during this hour. On the days where my son cried when I left him at daycare, I feel insanely jealous of the mommy pushing her son through Target casually shopping for things while I run as fast through the store as I can grabbing what I came for and forgetting most of what I needed. There is no time for conversation to make friends with the SAHMs in the store. I'm not sure what we'd talk about anyway. Our lives are so very different!!!

The one group I do fit in with and who understands all that I go through, are fellow working moms. However we are too busy to barely keep friendships alive. I have a group of friends in my city that are all working moms. We manage to do lunch together about six times a year and have a magnificent Christmas party every year but that is all. We love each other dearly but our children are the focus for now. Friendships have to just maintain the status quo.

Online friends are the main way I fit into society. Bulletin boards such as www.RealWorkingMom.com and www.disboards.com and www.scrapshare.com allow me to have a community to feel at home. The boards are always there...during my breaks at work and even at 2 AM when I'm up with a sick child or just plain insomnia. Thank God for the Internet or I'd feel all alone in this working mommy thing.

BA

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Fitting in As a Real Working Mom

We don't fit in with SAHMs, we don't fit in with the corporate climbers anymore because we don't have the extra time to give to work. So, how do we fit in withe the other women in our lives????

Our blog team will be posting thoughts on this topic over the next two weeks. If you have something to share with us, email webmaster@realworkingmom.com. Or head over to our bulletin boards to talk about this and more.

http://realworkingmom.proboards106.com/

BA