"Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop." - Ovid

My family and I are on vacation. I'll see you again in about three weeks.

"Real sacrifice lightens the mind of the doer and gives him a sense of peace and joy." - Gandhi

The website UKFamily.co.uk (a division of the Walt Disney Company) has apparently released the following survey findings (which I can't actually find on their site): Two-thirds of working mothers with young children would like to give up work to care for their family. Of course the UK press has picked this up with headlines like 62 per cent of working mums 'want to quit job for a normal family life' (Daily Mail) and Working Brit parents don't even have five minutes a day with their kids (ANI).

"According to Life coach Suzy Greaves, the survey revealed just how many think that they could be better parents if only they had more time on their hands.

"This research shows just how many of us think we'd be a 'better parent' if we had more time. We feel guilty about everything - the amount of time we spend at work, the lack of time we have to play with our children and the amount of time our kids spend in childcare," Greaves said.

"As a result, many working parents, especially mums, are running themselves ragged trying to overcompensate.

"It's time for us to stop being self-critical and let go of our guilt - an absolutely useless emotion - and then shelve some of the tasks that take up so much of our time.

"It really doesn't matter if everything isn't crisply ironed or the toys all put away. Instead, we parents should give ourselves a pat on the back for the amazing amount we do achieve.

"Let's model happiness to our kids instead of guilt and martyrdom," she added."

I feel like I should add some commentary there, but I just can't.

Yep, two posts today. Amazing.

"Most glorious night! Thou wert not sent for slumber!" - Lord Byron

Have to say, I certainly had days when I wished I could hire a night nanny, not for every night but just for a night or two until I could get rested again:

(NY Times) Baby Cries at 2 A.M.? No Need to Get Up

Of course, my second thought was "what are these babies eating?" I'm sure many of them are being fed breast milk by bottle, but I also suspect that women with these "high pressure" professional jobs, as well educated about infant health as I'm sure they are, just aren't able to pump four or five times a day to provide milk for their babies.

As a working mother, night nursing (and snuggling) with my son was such a wonderful, close time time with him. It provided him with food, security, and close contact with me, and it gave me time to just gaze at him in wonder. Four a.m. in the half-light of dawn is always the way I'll see the infant E best in my mind's eye. He loved to wrap his tiny hands up in my hair before he went to sleep.

"This is Sesame Street. A place where people, birds, monsters all live in perfect harmony. " - P.Donahue

Sesame Street: Season 39 preview reel





First, I know there has been a ton of web buzz about Leslie Feist living her dream and getting on Sesame Street (its the 1 2 3 4 song if you don't recognize it), but I'm tickled that Mike Rowe is going to be on. (You can see him at the 3:28 mark in the video above, climbing out of Oscar's trash can.)

Also, at least from the two or three press clips that are on YouTube right now, it seems like the new team at CTV is continuing to build on the positive changes they made last year in bringing on even more humans to balance the "all monsters all the time" street stories we saw in seasons 32 - 37 ("the reign of Elmo") as well as working in a more sophisticated visual style that hearkens back to the SS of old. One has to wonder, of course, how much the release of the "old school" videos has to do with that. My guess is that the production team had to review quite a lot of material for the first two old school sets, and it educated them on the "classic" SS style in a way their immediate predecessors never quite got.

More Season 39 clips here, if you're interested.

And, oh yeah, they're in HD for the first time this season as well.

Yes, this is a repost from my other site. But its on topic and I thought it was too fun not to share.

"The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers" - T.Jefferson

Had a busy camping-trip weekend, and a busy week ahead. So, just three links for you today, with no comment from me. Feel free to discuss among yourselves:

Mother's Need Time-outs Too

Working moms look back with mixed emotions

Study Finds More MBAS Take the Mommy Track

I see a common thread between these three articles. I'm wondering, do you see the same thread?

“To campaign against colonialism is like barking up a tree that has already been cut down.” - Andrew Cohen

Sociological Images The White Woman's Burden

Apparently, Pampers is in partnership with UNICEF; for each package of Pampers you buy (perhaps only in the UK, its not clear), Proctor and Gamble will donate five cents to UNICEF to provide tetanus vaccines to infants in developing countries.
(Details from UNICEF; Details from P&G; Press Release)

I'm always puzzled by the idea of "activism by purchase" ... if I don't buy Pampers, does that mean that some children will die because of my choice???!! Argh! Its a great selling tool, but frustrating from the philanthropic side.

However, I'm not really posting this to rant about that.

Instead, please read the insightful commentary in the post linked above about the imagery used in the ad. P&G's marketers know a lot about how to push our "mothering buttons" and its interesting to analyze how those particular buttons are pushed in the creation of this ad.

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Personal Note: The last week has been a rough one. My son was very ill for the first part of the week, and then his birthday was yesterday.

Daisy: No, we never found the schoolbus. Its vanished. I did buy him another one, though.