Working Moms | Mom At Last

Stay-at-home moms: More vulnerable to depression than working moms?

May 21, 2012 by Mom at Last Leave a Comment

A quarter of stay-at-homes moms say they struggle with malaise, compared to just 16 percent of working moms, according to a new Gallup survey

Here’s some fresh ammunition in the “mommy wars”: According to a new Gallup poll, stay-at-home moms are more likely to report feeling sad and angry than working moms. Does this mean it’s healthier for women to balance family life with a job outside the home, or is the picture more complicated? Here, a brief guide to the findings:

What exactly did the survey reveal?

A quarter of stay-at-home moms said they had felt sadness the day before the survey, compared to just 16 percent of working mothers. One-fifth of the stay-at-home moms reported having felt anger the day before, compared to 14 percent of working moms. And 28 percent of the stay-at-home moms said they had been diagnosed with depression, while just 17 percent of the working moms said so. The study included 61,000 respondents.

Did moms say why they felt glum?

No. But if you sort through the poll responses by income, says Lisa Belkin at The Huffington Post, “it becomes clear that money, not [employment status], has the largest impact on a woman’s mental health.” Both working and stay-at-home moms are far more likely to describe themselves as “struggling” — and far less likely to say they’re “thriving” — if their household income is less than $36,000.

Filed Under: Stay at Home Moms, Working Moms Tagged With: moms, moms over forty, new moms, stay at home moms, working moms

It’s Not a “Mommy War,” It’s a War on Moms

April 14, 2012 by Mom at Last Leave a Comment

There is no question that Hilary Rosen should have chosen her words more carefully when she said that Ann Romney, mother of five sons, “never worked a day in her life.” Raising children is work. It’s immensely rewarding work, but it’s work just the same. Ann Romney is justifiably proud of the work she’s done raising her children.

Now that the spotlight is on motherhood, rather than fanning the false flames of a “Mommy War” that doesn’t really exist, it’s time that we as a nation recognize that regardless of whether or not mothers’ work is paid or unpaid, the work of caregiving is important to us all and should be valued.

That’s right: Mothers’ work should be valued.

But too often it’s not.
[Read more...]

Filed Under: Moms, Moms In Waiting, Moms Over 40, New Moms, Stay at Home Moms, Working Moms Tagged With: mom, Mom At Last, mommy, moms, Moms over 40

Moms of autistic children work less and earn less

March 19, 2012 by Mom at Last Leave a Comment

By Frederik Joelving
NEW YORK | Mon Mar 19, 2012

U.S. families with autistic children earn nearly $18,000 less than parents of normally developing kids, according to a new report.

The gap is mainly due to mothers not having a job or working fewer hours, researchers found.

“The needs of children with autism really straddle a number of service systems and there is a tremendous amount of finger pointing in terms of who’s going to pay,” said David Mandell, associate director of the Center for Autism Research at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“Mothers are leaving the workforce to cobble this care together for their kids,” he added.

Autism spectrum disorders, which range from mild Asperger’s syndrome to severe mental retardation and social disability, affect about one in 110 children in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As more and more kids are diagnosed with the disorders, the nation is grappling with how to pay for the extra care these children need, which may cost as much as $3.2 million over a lifetime.

Mandell said that until now, the impact on individual families in terms of employment and earnings had not been clear.

For the new work, Mandell’s group used data from national household surveys done yearly between 2002 and 2008, including 261 children with autism and more than 64,000 without health problems.

After accounting for factors such as parents’ age, race, education and health, fathers of kids with autism were just as likely to be employed as fathers of typically developing children. The same was true for how much fathers worked and earned.

For mothers, however, there was a marked difference. Compared with mothers of kids without disabilities, those who had autistic children were six percent less likely to be employed, worked seven hours less per week and had less than half the annual income.

All told, households with autistic children earned $17,763 less a year.

The researchers couldn’t say for sure that the gap is caused by having a child with autism. But Mandell said today’s system means families have to shuttle their kids between several different providers.

Read More on Motherhood

Tribute to Motherhood

Motherhood Inc

Motherhood in NYC

Filed Under: Moms, Working Moms Tagged With: mom, Mom At Last, moms, Moms in Waiting, Moms over 40, Motherhood, Motherhood Journey

Stop Judging Other Moms

March 15, 2012 by Mom at Last Leave a Comment

Written by Denise Albert
Co-creator, The Moms

I hated being pregnant. I didn’t even try breastfeeding. I have struggled internally about how I feel about the fact that my kids climb into my bed at night. But after spending some time with Mayim Bialik at an event we hosted for bloggers to discuss her latest book, “Beyond The Sling”, I have a whole new way of thinking.

If you’ve turned on the television in the past week you have probably seen Mayim discussing Attachment Parenting, the method by which she parents her children. You’ve heard that she co-sleeps, home-schools and breastfeeds until her kids are ready to stop.

We couldn’t be more different. And truthfully, I was hesitant about hosting events for her. I was worried that my way would be judged. I was worried we would have nothing to talk about. She talks about breastfeeding and the Lansinoh bags she uses to store her milk. I wonder if it’s OK to say I love their wipes. (I did!)

What a difference a few days make. After seeing her three days in a row, she confessed to me, and wrote on her blog, “TheMoms.com moderated my Barnes and Noble talk and also hosted a 30 person blogger conference yesterday at my publisher’s office. When I originally heard about them, I was worried they were anti-attachment parenting people out to get me … We have had some really neat conversations on and off camera and I am so impressed by what three women with different parenting philosophies and open minds can accomplish. We have broken down a lot of the judgmentalness [sic] and cattiness women are expected to have in discussing controversial differences in parenting, and it’s been a real enlightening experience for us all.”

That’s an understatement. I left each conversation with Mayim wanting to learn more. There’s something really appealing about what she says and how she says it all. She is intelligent and inspirational. She makes it seem so easy. She makes life seem perfect, although she is the first to admit she’s not and neither are her kids.

Continue Reading about Judging other Moms…

Read more on Moms and Motherhood

The Place of a Mother | Inspirational Mom Quote

The Moms Club

TheMoms.com

Filed Under: Moms, Stay at Home Moms, Working Moms Tagged With: Mom At Last, moms, Moms in Waiting, Moms over 40, Motherhood, Motherhood Journey

10 Celebrity Moms Who Make A Difference

March 9, 2012 by Mom at Last Leave a Comment

Three cheers for the following 10 celebrity moms who are making a big difference!

From donating to the relief efforts after natural disasters, to advocating for autism awareness, to building an all-girls school in Africa, take a look through our list of 10 celebrity moms who are giving back and making our world a better place.

Jenny McCarthy:
Love her or hate her, Jenny McCarthy has become one of the strongest voices for children with autism with her charitable organization Generation Rescue. The activist mama told Celebrity Baby Scoop that her unofficial role as the celebrity spokesperson on the topic is nothing short of a blessing.

Anytime you can do something that serves the greater good and make a difference, you should act,” the mom-of-one said. “So, what I thought was a hardship in my life, I now see as a blessing because I can reach so many people.”

Jenny’s son Evan, 9, was diagnosed with autism when he was 2 ½-years-old. The single mom has publicly spoken about the possible link between childhood vaccinations and autism. She is also well-known for saying that children can “recover” from autism.

Has the community embraced her since Evan’s recovery — and her controversial statement?

My story of Evan’s recovery is not unique, there are thousands of parents before me whose shoulders I stand on today,” Jenny said. “I’m just as active today as when Evan recovered from autism. I still travel the country lecturing on autism, am the president and board member of Generation Rescue and actively fundraise throughout the country for the foundation. My journey now is for the other parents whose voice hasn’t been heard.

Continue Reading to Find Out More about Celebrity Moms Making a Difference

Read More About Celebrity Moms

Celebrity Moms

Celebrity Moms on US Weekly

Celebrity Moms and Dads

Filed Under: Moms, Working Moms Tagged With: mom, Mom At Last, moms, Moms over 40, Motherhood, Motherhood Journey

Moms Are Powerful

February 24, 2012 by Mom at Last 1 Comment

As a journalist mom I enjoy interviewing interesting entrepreneurs and companies that are passionate about kids and community. King Arthur Flour is one such company.

Over the past six months I’ve been on an extended interview with King Arthur Flour — our email strings could circumnavigate the earth.

And it’s all because of their amazing Life Skills enrichment program that teaches elementary and middle school kids how to bake.

And you can’t beat the price to schools… FREE!

And yet I never imagined I’d have this much trouble selling something FREE to local schools in my life.

In a nutshell, King Arthur Flour (or KAF) is located in Vermont. They are the oldest most respected flour company (think George Washington) in the U.S. KAF views success as not just making money… but by giving back to community.

One of the many ways they do this is through the Life Skills bread baking program.

“The point of the Life Skills program is for kids to have a fun, real-world application for skills they’re already learning in school — math, science, reading, planning, problem solving, and more. And they get to use their new skill to help people in their community.”

I don’t think I could have kept trying to get the Life Skills program in my community if I didn’t understand the power of kids cooking first hand through cooking with my own four kids and more recently with my daughter, Amelia’s class.

Every month I cart a wagon full of supplies to Amelia’s second grade class to cook with the kids.

Students help me rearrange the desks into cooking stations and help pass out whatever King Arthur Flour recipe we’ll be following that day.

I know I sound like I’m King Arthur Flour crazy… but it’s a part of my belief as a writer mom to support companies that give back to community and kids.

“Who has never cracked an egg before?” I recently asked a group of extremely focused eight-year-olds excited to make homemade Belgium waffles.

In unison, arms shot upwards like Blue Angels. Twenty-plus kids wiggling fingers, zigzagging arms, undulating wet noodles and an over-the-top wind shield wiper wave. All wore the same expression, “Pick me!”

Although it’s not a competition, watching kids work the recipe together is as fun and intense as an episode of Top Chef.

Each group of individuals has a separate process for stirring, adding and navigating through the ingredients: how to take turns, measuring, working together and sharing.

The experience is very rewarding. However, what King Arthur Flour does with Life Skills is so much more.

KAF sends out a baking team to a school. The school hosts an assembly where the baking team teaches the kids the skill of baking bread, then the KAF team sends each and every one of those kids home with a baking kit to make bread….Continue Reading

Picture Provided By:

Image: africa / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Find More Articles on Moms and Motherhood

Safe Motherhood

Motherhood in NYC

Motherhood Later

Filed Under: Moms, Stay at Home Moms, Working Moms Tagged With: mom, Mom At Last, moms, Moms in Waiting, Moms over 40, Motherhood

Mama Insider E-Book

February 15, 2012 by Mom at Last 5 Comments

“Everyone loves to talk to pregnant women about The Miracle of Life. Natural? Beautiful? Let’s be honest: it’s just plain bizarre! Your previously normal body is morphing into gigantic proportions while you grow a whole new wiggly little person inside of it.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books by Moms, Stay at Home Moms, Working Moms Tagged With: Books by Moms, moms

A Mom’s Interest in Pinterest

February 15, 2012 by Mom at Last 2 Comments

There’s this amazing little site on the internet called Pinterest in case you’ve yet to hear of it. You must request an invitation to join. Pinterest is a site that allows you to create a “virtual pin board” for the many wonderful pictures you happen upon on the site. There are photos with links to fashion, design, recipes, crafts, you name it—it’s on Pinterest.

I liken it to flipping through the pages of a most amazing magazine. It’s a little escape for this mom.

I pin photos of kitchen design for my “dream” kitchen. You know the kitchen with plenty of cabinets and smart storage options; the kitchen with a huge island to gather my kids around for homework; the impeccably clean kitchen I’ll never have because that’s just not reality.

I pin photos of neatly organized pantries, laundry rooms and closets. Who doesn’t need to be more organized? There are many creative ideas for organization with materials and supplies you already have at home. I realize I’m not the only neat freak who dreams of organized can goods.

I pin photos of creative and imaginative recipes I want to try like crockpot boiled peanuts, homemade apple pie pop tarts, cinnamon roll pancakes, or baked pumpkin spiced doughnuts. Which that reminds me, I need to make a grocery list.

I pin inspirational quotes to, well, inspire me. Some quotes remind me that I am not alone. Some quotes remind me that I am a child of God. Some quotes remind me that I am stronger than I think. Some quotes remind me to laugh.

I really like this one: “Good moms have sticky floors, messy kitchens, laundry piles, dirty ovens, and happy kids”.

I hope I never need this handwritten note on someone’s door but it made me giggle: “You have missed curfew! Do not knock or ring the doorbell. You may sleep on the patio. I have been generous this time and provided a blanket”.

You’ll find many to inspire both in their words and design. Many are made into works of art as they have been painted on canvas or a repurposed wooden barn door.

I pin photos of the “put together” fashion I can’t seem to justify wearing because I am either at the gym or home cleaning. I couldn’t possibly dress up like that to go the grocery store, could I? But these photos will be my guide whenever I shop for new clothes thus eliminating the purchase that goes unworn because it just doesn’t seem to go with anything I imagined that it would….Continue Reading

Additional Resources for Moms

Mom at Last on Pinterest

Pinterest for Moms

The Essential Infant Resource for Moms

Filed Under: Moms, Moms In Waiting, Moms Over 40, New Moms, Stay at Home Moms, Working Moms Tagged With: mom, moms, Moms in Waiting, Moms over 40

What Science says about Working Moms

February 13, 2012 by Mom at Last Leave a Comment

The M.D.: What science says about working moms, and what the heart says

Studies show little difference among children of working or stay-at-home moms. And that holds true when the well-being of the moms themselves is studied.

By Valerie Ulene, Special to the Los Angeles Times
February 13, 2012

If you ask my 10-year-old son, he’d tell you that I’m not a “real doctor.” His point of reference is my husband, David, a surgeon who usually leaves the house before 6 and works 12-hour days.

Most mornings, while David is at the hospital preparing for the operating room, I’m home making breakfast for our kids or packing lunches for school. In the late afternoons, while David is wrapping up office hours, I’m busy driving my son to soccer practice or overseeing his homework.

It wasn’t always this way. Throughout medical school and residency, I worked as hard — if not harder — than my husband. But all of that changed 17 years ago with the birth of my first child, when I decided to work less and mother more.

Deciding to scale back at work wasn’t easy. Like many women in my situation, I was torn. I wanted full-time work and full-time family; I didn’t want to sacrifice on either front.

And I didn’t know what would be best for my family and me.

So what’s really optimal for mother and child? It’s a question people have been grappling with, and psychologists have been trying to answer, for the last 50 years.

According to a 2009 Pew Center survey, 82% of men and women think young children are better off if their mothers don’t work outside the home or work only part time. They tend to believe that moms are better off too: 38% felt that the ideal situation for mothers with young children was not to work outside the home and an additional 44% thought that part-time work was the way to go.

As far as the science goes, here’s what we know so far.

Numerous studies have examined the effect of maternal work on children’s behavior and academic performance; others have looked at its effect on their physical and emotional health. The results of these studies have been inconsistent. Some suggest that children are more likely to have behavioral problems and suffer academically if their mothers work; others conclude that they’ll be just fine….Continue Reading

More Mom Resources

A Mom’s Love

Let Mom Know you Got Home Safe

Coupon Mom!