Unlimited Mom Blog

Leadership

2006-08-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

What type of leadership opportunities have you had in your lifetime? What lessons have you learned? Have you had any bad experiences? Do you consider yourself a good leader or one with challenges to overcome? Why?

Work/Life Stress

2006-08-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

What do you think of the following article:

Work/Life Pressures Pit Time Vs. MoneyEmployee Benefit News (07/06) Vol. 20, P. 1; Butler, Kelley M.

Across the country, female workers feel increasingly stressed as theycontend with the challenges of tackling both work and their personal life. According to a CareerBuilder.com poll of working mothers, 52 percent are prepared to accept less pay in return for more time with their children,with nearly one in 10 prepared to accept a pay reduction of 10 percent ormore. But data shows that working mothers already take a pay reduction inthe form of lower salaries compared to men and women without children. A 2005 study by Cornell University researcher Shelley Correll and a graduate student found that participants asked to select from simulated applicants for jobs overwhelmingly preferred to hire women without children over mothers, even when qualifications were about the same. Furthermore,participants offered salaries to mothers that were $11,000 less compared to salaries offered to non-mothers. Yet when the applicants' gender was changed, men who were fathers were offered an average of $6,000 more than non-fathers. Correll believes that the "cultural ideas of motherhood are seen as pretty incompatible with cultural ideas of the workplace."Conversely, data from WorldWIT, a networking group for women, indicates that 69 percent of employees prefer to work for a mother over a non-mother, for such reasons as mothers' being more likely to be patient, having better listening skills, and being more efficient.

I guess what struck me was there is still so much undercurrent of misconceptions. People instantly thinking a working mom will not produce as much as another working woman, but a working dad must be more stable than a non-dad. I mean, come on, it IS the 21st century, right?

What Do You Want to Chat About?

2006-06-15T20:17:00.000-07:00

Everyone's busy, and everyone has a million different things pulling them in twice as many directions every day. So let's make this blog interesting by having you post what what you would like. Lets get to know each other and start some conversations. We'll post to this thread until it looks like a good idea to branch them out to others.

As a starter introduction: I'm Sue, 40 years old this year, two kids - Douglas 8 and going into third grade and Jessica, who will be two in August. I love them both dearly and lately I am even getting along with them! Douglas' biggest challenge is that he wants to stay up late so badly, but has inherited my sleepy gene - we are both early to bedders and early to risers. He hates it! Jessica knows how to say more in her head than comes out of her mouth and that is frustrating to her. We head out on vacation in two weeks and one day, but who's counting? I work for a bank in their commercial lending department, on the legal documentation and due diligence side. I love the work, but have been so slammed for the past year that I have caught myself daydreaming about winning the lottery. How bout you?

Best and Worst Mother's Day

2006-05-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

What are some of your best and worst Mother's Day memories? Do you have any special traditions you do every year? It seems like we've gotten in the habit of my husband grilling dinner for me and his mom. My son is supposed to help, but it usually ends up I cook all the side dishes while hubby is outside slaving over a hot grill...

Strong Willed Child

2006-04-25T04:31:00.000-07:00

Does anyone have any experience with Strong Willed Children? I sometimes consider my son strong willed, but then realize he just takes after me, so it seems like he is strong willed because we are both so stubborn sometimes neither one of us can win! But I know this is a serious and difficult topic for many moms, so can someone share their experiences to help?

What Do Unlimited Moms Want?

2006-04-21T21:23:00.000-07:00

A healthy family, a satisfying life, successful work, peace on earth - yes, these are things Unlimited Moms love to experience. But what else do you want? Eight hours sleep? Dinner that takes longer than 4.5 minutes to eat? Candlelight and flowers? If there was nothing to hold you back, would you dream the outrageous or the simple, the fairy tale or reality?

There's Still a Whole Quarter Left of School!

2006-04-20T20:30:00.000-07:00

My son is losing interest with school and there is still a whole quarter to go before Summer vacation. Any ideas how I can help him stay motivated and focused on classwork?

Unlimited Moms Connect!

2006-04-19T20:18:00.000-07:00

Hello! Tons of feedback from Unlimited Moms has finally convinced me that the next step for the Unlimited Mom Connection at www.unlimitedmom.com is this BLOG. Especially after creating the huge database of skills and talents that Unlimited Mom's possess, and hearing what types of questions other Unlimited Moms have posed, I realize we need a way that we can talk to each other more directly. So, the creation of this Unlimited Mom blog.

Part of being an Unlimited Mom is knowing when you need a helping hand - and being willing to lend one when you can. Below are the talents of some of our Unlimited Moms. Do you have a question or need advice on anything below? Or maybe you have a talent you can add to the pool?

We've set up this Unlimited Mom BLOG to connect those who know with those who want to know. This is all you need to do:

1. Check out this Unlimited Mom BLOG and join in on the most recent topics posted.

2. Please e-mail me at Sue@UnlimitedMom.com if:

* you have a special talent you'd like added to the Unlimited Mom Talent List below

* you have a question or suggestion for a topic on the Unlimited Mom Blog

Please put UNLIMITED MOMS CONNECT or BLOG TOPIC in the regarding column so that it is easily identifiable.

3. I hope to post 3-6 topics of discussion on this blog each month, and will send the regular Unlimited Mom Newsletter once a month detailing the recent posts. If you are not yet a subscriber to the Unlimited Mom Connection, you will want to subscribe, which you can do at www.unlimitedmom.com so that you receive all the latest topics.

4. If you are part of the Unlimited Mom Connection Talent List and you have a particular skill that may be suited to a topic, I may email you directly to ask you to share your knowledge on the applicable post. Of course, it's optional, but I hope you will be willing to share. The more feedback we get to the posts, the more helpful and fun it will be for us all.

5. I will check and respond to comments to the blogs most evenings. If there are comments I find inappropriate or not conducive to the Unlimited Mom philosophy (see #6 below), I can, and will delete them. However, based on my experience with Unlimited Moms in the past, I doubt that will often be necessary!

6. Please follow just a few ground rules: stick with the Unlimited Mom philosophy, which is to provide a supportive and encouraging atmosphere for any participant. Please remember to respect people's opinions and honor their talent and experience. We all have things we can learn from each other and teach to others, and lifelong learning is always a worthy goal.

OKAY, and now, with no further chattering on my part, is the Unlimited Mom List of Talents:

ADHD Boys
Basic Electrical Wiring (installing light fixtures, ceiling fans, etc)
Bookkeeping
Books to Read with Children
Breast Reconstruction After Breast Cancer/Mastectomy Nurse Practitioner
Breast Cancer Survivor
Budgeting
Casserole Exchange
Changing Directions/Making New Plans
Children with SID (Dysfunction of sensory integration)
Computer Setup and Software Setup/Troubleshooting
Cover Letters
Creating Fun Learning Materials For Children
Creating Holiday Traditions With Children
Creative Movement for Elementary Age Children
Crocheting
Data Management
Direct Sales Business
Dreamweaver - organizing web sites and content management
Dyslexic Child
Early Elementary Education (1st grade teacher)
Editing
English Grammar and Spelling
Flute
Foster Care- Social Work
Foster Parent
Freezer Cooking
Homemaking
Homeschooling
HR - compensation
HR - maternity leave
HR-benefits
HR-employment related issues
HR-hiring
HR-payroll
HR-performance evaluation
Life Strategies/Coaching
Mail Merge in Word, to Email or Print Mail
Making Something Out of Nothing (food, home décor, etc)
Mexican Folk Dancing
Money Saving - budgeting
Motorcycle Riding
MS Excel
MS Word
New Business Startup and Management
Occupational Therapy - Specializing in Children with Fine Motor and Self Care Difficulties
Online Marketing
Organization
Organization - daycare
Organization - efficiency
Personal Development
Piano
Proofreading
Raising Lots of Children and All that Goes With It
Research
Resumes
Rubberstamping
Scrapbooking
Scrapbooking - getting multiple pages done efficiently
Selling or Buying on Ebay
Sewing
Singing
Social work - Child Development
Stress Management
Telecommuting - working from home full time
Thinking Outside the Box
Time Management
Veterinary Knowledge (retired Vet technician)
Watercolor Landscape Painting
Women's Health, Nutrition, Exercise
Writing

Thanks for Connecting with other Unlimited Moms! I'll talk to you on the BLOG, and please remember to e-mail at Sue@UnlimitedMom.com with your talents and questions.

Sue