"It's not two jobs. It's a life . . . Ours to shape as we will." --Kathy Peel If you're a working wife and mother who's about ready for crash-and-burnout, hang on. There's good news from family-management expert Kathy Peel, who shows you in this book how to use systems and skills from the office to bring order out of your domestic chaos. In short, she transforms you into a resourceful family manager in charge of a relaxed, comfortable, and orderly home. Inside you'll learn how to Involve the whole family in planning and teamwork Set long- and short-term priorities and goals Establish routines and delegate responsibility Manage food, finances, property, and social life Work smarter, using Kathy's hundreds of time-saving ideas, everything from organizing the freezer to using the Internet Prepare for the unexpected Balance your one and only life so that you can be there for yourself as well as for others

The work-family conflict that mothers experience today is a national crisis. Women struggle to balance breadwinning with the bulk of parenting, and social policies aren't helping. Of all Western industrialized countries, the United States ranks dead last for supportive work-family policies. Can American women look to Europe for solutions? Making Motherhood Work draws on interviews that Caitlyn Collins conducted over five years with 135 middle-class working mothers in Sweden, Germany, Italy, and the United States. She explores how women navigate work and family given the different policy supports available in each country. Taking readers into women's homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces, Collins shows that mothers' expectations depend on context and that policies alone cannot solve women's struggles. With women held to unrealistic standards, the best solutions demand that we redefine motherhood, work, and family.

Tips, stories, and strategies for the job that never ends. When it comes to being a working parent, there are no right answers to the tough questions you grapple with, from how to get your toddler out the door to supporting your teen through struggles with their peers to whether or not to accept that big promotion—and the extensive travel and long hours that come with it. But there are answers that are right for you and your family. The HBR Working Parents Series Collection assembles the ideas and strategies you need to help you get ahead—and get through the day. Included in this set are Managing Your Career, Getting It All Done, and Taking Care of Yourself. This compilation offers insights and practical advice from world-class experts on the topics that matter most to working parents including making decisions at home and at work that align with your priorities; navigating tradeoffs—and managing the feelings that come with them; developing strategies for managing both the details of your day and the long-term view of your career; finding time for personal development; and making career choices that work for you—and your family. The HBR Working Parents Series with Daisy Dowling, Series Editor, supports readers as you anticipate challenges, learn how to advocate for yourself more effectively, juggle your impossible schedule, and find fulfillment at home and at work. Whether you're up with a newborn or planning the future with your teen, you'll find the practical tips, strategies, and research you need to make working parenthood work for you.

An all-in-one resource for every working mother and father. Sure, there are plenty of parenting books out there. But as working moms and dads, we've never had a trusted, go-to guide all our own—one that coaches us on how to do well at work, be the loving and engaged parents we want to be, and remain true to ourselves in the process. Enter Workparent. Whether you're planning a family, pushing for promotion during your kids' teenage years, or at any phase in between, Workparent provides all the advice and assurance you'll need to combine children and career in your own, authentic way. Whatever your field or family structure, you'll learn how to: Find a childcare arrangement you fully trust Build a strong support team, at home and on the job Advocate for advancement—and flexibility Step up at work while keeping your family healthy and whole Tame guilt, self-doubt, worry, and other difficult emotions Navigate big transitions: the return from leave, a promotion or job change, or the arrival of a second child Manage day-to-day pressures, like scheduling, mealtimes, homework, and more Find—and really use—time off Feel more capable, calm, and in control Written by Daisy Dowling, a top executive coach, talent expert, and working mom, Workparent answers all of your questions and feels like a good talk with your favorite mentor. Finally, the handbook you need to thrive as a working parent.

Manage the competing demands of working motherhood. As a working mother you often draw the short straw. You carry most of the burden of caregiving and household chores—and your career suffers because of it. Bosses and coworkers assume that since you're focused on your family, you don't prioritize work. But choosing your job over your kids' extracurricular and school commitments means letting down the people you love most. Advice for Working Moms can help you alleviate this tension. Drawing on the wisdom of experts and parents alike, it will help you strike the right balance between family and work so that you can prioritize what matters most to you and feel fulfilled in all areas of your life. You'll learn to: Let go of working-mom guilt and that constant "overwhelmed" feeling Discuss family commitments with an unsupportive boss Create a parenting posse for caregiving support Negotiate a more equal division of labor at home Say no to "office housework" and other invisible tasks at work The HBR Working Parents Series with Daisy Dowling, Series Editor, supports readers as you anticipate challenges, learn how to advocate for yourself more effectively, juggle your impossible schedule, and find fulfillment at home and at work. Whether you're up with a newborn or planning the future with your teen, you'll find the practical tips, strategies, and research you need to make working parenthood work for you.

Packed with honest, funny, and comforting advice—“a book you MUST read if you are returning to work after the birth of a child…. I loved it and you will too.” —New York Times bestselling author Lois P. Frankel, Ph.D. The first three trimesters (and the fourth—those blurry newborn days) are for the baby, but the Fifth Trimester is when the working mom is born. A funny, tells-it-like-it-is guide for new mothers coping with the demands of returning to the real world after giving birth, The Fifth Trimester contains advice from 800 moms, including: •The boss-approved way to ask for flextime (and more money!) •How to know if it’s more than “just the baby blues” •How to pump breastmilk on an airplane (or, if you must, in a bathroom) •What military science knows about working through sleep deprivation •Your new sixty-second get-out-of-the-house beauty routine •How to turn your commute into a mini–therapy session •Your daycare tour or nanny interview, totally decoded

The essential guide for work from home moms everywhere! More than half of kids across the United States are learning virtually from home. There are fewer daycare spots than ever before. And more and more moms are clocking into their jobs from the kitchen table. The coronavirus pandemic has erased the lines between work and home, and made balancing the two more challenging than ever. This book, chock full of wisdom from the writers and editors at Working Mother, provides solutions for moms tasked with filling the role of employee, teacher and parent, all while attempting to maintain a semblance of sanity. Some of the many topics that this practical compendium addresses include: How to manage your mental health. Tips for taking care of an infant while working from home. A plan to balance work and family. How to create a workspace and a playspace under the same roof. And much more!

This book give practical tips and advice to all parents, but especially working moms, about how to juggle the many roles we have in life and feel good about our success as a parent. Each chapter ends with exercises designed to help ensure that the reader can put these tips to use, as well as "Sanity Savers" - key ideas from each chapter. The author, Gretchen Gagel, has held numerous executive positions, is working on her fourth degree, and is the loving mother of two great kids who are college students. But mostly, she is a "Great Working Mom" and wants to help you be one too! A portion of the proceeds from this book support two outstanding nonprofits focused upon helping single working moms, Warren Village in Denver Colorado (www.warrenvillage.org) and Safehouse Outreach in Atlanta (www.safehouseoutreach.org). From the Author: "Years ago a friend was having her first child and said to me "You always have it all together, even with traveling every week - how do you do it?" What an amazing facade of calm I was putting forth! It was then that I realize that we are all working so hard to be great parents, great employees, great spouses, etc. but we rarely share the challenges we face, both men and women. If this book accomplishes one thing, I hope that it will help working parents feel less stress and less guilt. Please lighten up on yourself. We all make mistakes. We all have days that we feel like we're not doing any of our roles very well. But we are "great" because we work hard every day to care for our families and our companies. We are not "perfect," we are "great." We care. If we are all a little gentler on ourselves, a little less stressed, we'll have better relationships with our kids, our spouses, our families, our friends, and our fellow employees. I am on a mission to not only get this book into the hands of every working parent, but to continue the healthy dialogue about how we all make it all happen on a daily basis!"

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK Tired, stressed, and in need of more help from your partner? Imagine running your household (and life!) in a new way... It started with the Sh*t I Do List. Tired of being the “shefault” parent responsible for all aspects of her busy household, Eve Rodsky counted up all the unpaid, invisible work she was doing for her family—and then sent that list to her husband, asking for things to change. His response was...underwhelming. Rodsky realized that simply identifying the issue of unequal labor on the home front wasn't enough: She needed a solution to this universal problem. Her sanity, identity, career, and marriage depended on it. The result is Fair Play: a time- and anxiety-saving system that offers couples a completely new way to divvy up domestic responsibilities. Rodsky interviewed more than five hundred men and women from all walks of life to figure out what the invisible work in a family actually entails and how to get it all done efficiently. With 4 easy-to-follow rules, 100 household tasks, and a series of conversation starters for you and your partner, Fair Play helps you prioritize what's important to your family and who should take the lead on every chore, from laundry to homework to dinner. “Winning” this game means rebalancing your home life, reigniting your relationship with your significant other, and reclaiming your Unicorn Space—the time to develop the skills and passions that keep you interested and interesting. Stop drowning in to-dos and lose some of that invisible workload that's pulling you down. Are you ready to try Fair Play? Let's deal you in.