A number of new books have revived the conversation about the "opt-out" phenomenon of women leaving the workforce to focus on family caregiving, and their efforts to build "on-ramps" back to work. I appeared on The Today Show right before Mother's Day to discuss this issue, which has been relevant to my work as Mojo Mom. It was a challenge to get my message out on a large panel that included New York Times reporter Lisa Belkin, The Feminine Mistake author Leslie Bennetts, and psychologist Gail Saltz. I am proud to report that I accomplished my major goal of endorsing MomsRising.org on air. Watch the video I acknowledge that "Opting out" is a controversial topic, for good reason. Even among married mothers of preschoolers, the group we'd peg as prime "opt out" candidates, 70% are in the workforce. It has been argued that the minority of privileged women who take "off-ramps" receive a disproportionate share of the media spotlight. MomsRising is aware of this dynamic and is consciously striving to make our Open, Flexible Work platform widely applicable to all mothers. The quality of the opt-out discussion has been elevated by several recent books and articles that I'd like to recommend. [more]

There was an interesting discussion in the comments section on a post I wrote earlier this month on health care wondering how we can address the health care crisis we face in our country, especially when it comes our children.

First off, I had a fabulously fun time this Monday appearing with Kristin on KALW radio in San Francisco. She's totally inspiring, spot-on with numbers and statistics, and well, just a pleasure to be on air with. In our blog format here, I feel like I should be waving down (hi Kristin!) to her on her entry, just below. I've been lightly following the debates over Feminine Mistake. Can't help but think that while the NY-based intelligentsia is debating what mothers should be doing, MomsRising was out in force in Washington State, putting on the pressure to pass paid family leave.

Happy Mother's Day and Happy Birthday! This Mother's Day marks the first birthday of MomsRising. Celebrate by watching the Motherhood Manifesto on PBS this weekend (Find out when it's airing in your area at: www.momsrising.org/PBS ). As we celebrate our first birthday, we're also celebrating passing the 90,000 members mark--and that we are growing by 500 to 1,000 members per week lately. This growth is mostly happening through friends telling friends. So, THANK YOU for telling your friends about MomsRising and making us the strong organization we are today!