I would write a new post, but I am still making do on the childcare front. It is naptime and I have a long list of things that must happen before I hear “ma-ma” over the monitor. At least my 3 big kids had school today (if two hours delayed for the boys). All told, I had a grand total of 1 hour and 20 minutes with just one child before we had to get the 4-year-old. We went to the grocery store. Go us. Too bad the place looked like something out of the Soviet rationing era.
Anyway, here are a few links to recent stories:
Mark Zuckerberg, Parent-in-Chief. Over at Fortune, I am writing about how the Facebook CEO is changing the conversation on working parenthood.
I also write about Deep Work, the new book from Cal Newport. Is it possible to focus on your work and ditch the distractions in the corporate world?
Here is my piece on How To Invest $1000 In Yourself in 2016.
At Fast Company, I am writing about How To Combine Networking And Playdates.
I am also writing about taking your kid on a business trip. If you go for it, stay for a Saturday and find a hotel with a pool. Not all business hotels have them, and if they do, the pool might be attached to a high end spa that does not welcome children. Total fail.
One of the most awesome benefits I had at my last job was backup daycare. Many parents used this when traveling for work – they’d take the kid with them, and find a daycare center or on-call nanny to stay with the child during the day.
In fact, TJ had this too, and when we went to visit Connecticut to see if we wanted to move there, we were able to send the girls to the ESPN daycare center during the day while we met w/realtors, potential managers, etc. It really makes traveling for business much easier esp if both parents need to travel at the same time.
@ARC- that is a great benefit. I remember one media outlet I did an internship for having a back-up place. You were supposed to prove you had regular childcare, but then the back-up was available for any situation that otherwise would have prevented you from getting to work (well, with the exception of vomiting, but you know…) I like the mindset that childcare is not your individual problem.
Love that you post links for articles you write in other places. I follow your blog from Australia after reading some of your books so don’t always read the American media sources but find your articles very interesting.
@Kate – thanks for reading them!
Taking my children on business trips has been the key to keeping my career alive. I’m a professional musician and have brought at least one kid on most out of town performances since they were 8 weeks old. Some years there have been up to 20 trips! Fewer now that they are in school, but as I write my first grader and I are in Boston for an “educational” trip. It’s great one-on-one time when I’m not working. Added bonus: my colleagues see me show up to rehearsals with kid(s) & nanny, and they see that combining motherhood with a musical career is a thing.
@Heather – it is a thing! It can be done. That’s great that it’s working for you.
Great links! I especially like the piece on Zuckerberg. Thanks for sharing.