All Blog Posts

09/12/06

Two of the more important things I have learned since becoming a mother are: 1) sometimes things happen for a reason; and 2) mothers, when moved to do so, will take the hill. For me, BlogHer ‘06 represents a perfect union of these lessons. I went to the BlogHer conference to talk about The Been There Clearinghouse, a site I co-founded a little over a year ago to help people displaced by Katrina. The Been There Clearinghouse took off when Hurricanehousing.org/MoveOn.org linked to us and sent evacuees our way. Within days, led by hundreds of networked “mom” bloggers, our site was sending help, one-to-one, to thousands of people.

MomsRising Together

Cooper Munroe

09/11/06

Out of school for eight weeks, my daughters and their friends start saying things like, “I’m bored,” and asking hopefully, “When does school start again?” I didn’t feel that way as a kid. I wanted warm summer days to magically continue through November, skipping fall altogether and going straight to Christmas. Today, my quest for the endless summer continues and when stores start “Back To School” sales, I get anxious. It’s not my kids going back to school that bothers me; it’s having to pack school lunches again.

MomsRising Together

Dawn Comer Jefferson

Childcare & Early Education

08/02/06

Illinois became the first state in the country to authorize universal preschool for all 3- and 4-year olds last week (Georgia and Oklahoma offer preschool for all 4-year olds).

MomsRising Together

Catherine

07/31/06

UPDATE: The Senate may vote on this issue within the next 24 hours. Please call your Senators and let them know what you think about linking a hike in the minimum wage to a cut in the estate tax. BACKGROUND: Just before leaving for their summer recess, the House passed a bill that would raise the federal hourly minimum wage from $5.25 to $7.25 over three years - but the other provisions in the bill make it very unlikely that it will pass the Senate.

MomsRising Together

Catherine

07/24/06

Maybe it’s because I’m getting older. I suspect it’s because my daughter’s getting older. But everyone just looks so young to me now. Baby-faced men flash on my TV screen. They look scared and I imagine they had the same fear in their eyes on their first day of kindergarten. They are soldiers: Lebanese, Israeli, American. They are war criminals, some of them. My heart aches as I imagine their victims’ final terror. And the world makes less and less sense to me.

MomsRising Together

Ariel

07/24/06

Last week San Francisco passed an ordinance that is a bold step towards providing health care for all city residents. The plan is innovative, since it's not technically insurance - people covered through the plan must receive care in San Francisco through the city's system of public and community clinics and hospitals.

MomsRising Together

Catherine

07/12/06

Childhood obesity is the fastest growing health concern today. According to The National Institute of Medicine, since the 1970s, obesity rates have doubled for preschoolers aged two to five and for teens ages twelve to nineteen. Elementary school kids have it worse, with their obesity rate having tripled. Blame it on junk food, fast food, t.v., computers, Gameboys and a culture that glorifies couch potatohood. But at the same time we are raising chubby children, anorexia is also on the rise.

MomsRising Together

Dawn Comer Jefferson

Childcare & Early Education

07/12/06

Introducing . . . Hi, I’m Miriam Peskowitz, and starting now, I’ll be blogging here at MomsRising.org. I’m the author of a book called The Truth Behind the Mommy Wars: Who Decides What Makes a Good Mother. I also write a blog of my own, Playground Revolution.com. My dreams about motherhood, parenting, and families share quite a lot with those of Kristin and Joan and the whole team behind MomsRising and the Motherhood Manifesto. Like them, I see the big picture. I’m confident that political and cultural change could make family life and work easier.

MomsRising Together

Miriam

07/12/06

Wunder Muther, Trendy Ma, Dancing Daddy-boy . . . everyday my post-office box fills with “cool parenting” books and magazines put out by mainstream publishers. They are memoirs and how-to-be-as-cool-as-me tomes; advice journals and fashion rags. Last month a radio interviewer congratulated me for starting this whole “movement” with my zine, Hip Mama. So, how come my reaction to seeing another pile of parenting lit is to roll my eyes? These parents need to grow up, I think.

MomsRising Together

Ariel

07/06/06

Joan Williams (a leading expert on workplace law and part of the MomsRising.org project) was featured last night on ABC News in a story on workplace discrimination against family caregivers. "Picking on Moms in the Workplace" described the difficulties parents face in balancing the needs of their children and their work obligations.

MomsRising Together

Catherine