Being a mom is the best thing I’ve ever done, but it’s a tough job day in and day out and certainly not a job for sissies. And if you’re a mom who works outside the home, it’s a superwoman feat to get lunches made and kids hustled out the door by 8 am so…
At a time when many people in Spain are having a very difficult time finding employment, there is still plenty of work for everyone in the home. And as this video shows, with the perspective of time, one can easily recognize the positive impact of raising well our children: industriousness, constancy, responsibility, will power, and…
“Do you think you’ll return to work after having your baby?” That’s a question I heard many times before having my son more than eight years ago. I started hearing it again before the birth of my daughter last year. If there is one misperception I would love to quash, it’s the notion that women…
Recently, a possibly tragic event took place: a highly educated young woman I know got married. Radiant in her delicate lace dress, full of joy and optimism about the future, this blushing bride was not yet aware of the reality of her situation: that she has been groomed through her many years of education to…
During her two maternity leaves, Tara Piurko maintained a lifeline to her hard-earned career as a lawyer in Toronto through an innovative buddy program run by her firm, McCarthy Tétrault LLP. Through the program, she and a selected work buddy regularly met for lunch, with her baby in tow. In weekly calls, Ms. Piurko received…
Forget the old adage about staying away from religion and politics, if you want to get an emotional conversation going, raise the question of “When is the best time to have kids?” Because despite the cliche that really, there is no “perfect” time to have a baby, the crass question of whether it’s “better” to…
The example of this executive highlights the powerful influence that direct supervisors can have in creating more flexible (and more human) work cultures: Andrea was the technology manager for a telecommunications company operating in Argentina. An engineer and mother of five, she had always been capable of balancing her work and family life. She was…
Could children actually help your career and professional life? I know, it sounds unlikely, if not impossible. From the “mommy track” to off ramping, downshifting or just disappearing, the primary cultural and media story that we hear is that family sidetracks (or de-rails) a woman’s career. As the best selling author Chimamanda Adichie discusses in…