Multitasking

taken from Time magazine:

[N]ew research on working fathers indicates that they're the ones experiencing the most pressure. In a July report called, tellingly, The New Male Mystique, the Families and Work Institute surveyed 1,298 men and concluded that long hours and increasing job demands are conflicting with more exacting parenting norms. The institute had launched the survey to follow up on its 2008 finding that 60% of fathers said they were having a hard time managing the responsibilities of work and family, compared with only 47% of mothers in dual-earner couples.
"Men are feeling enormous pressure to be breadwinners and involved fathers," says Ellen Galinsky, the institute's director. "Women expect more of men, and men expect more of themselves."

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/01/working-moms-multi-task-more-than-dads-and-like-it-less/#ixzz1fbBFSQru

I recently had a discussion with my husband and some of my male cousins who are also fathers. They all seemed to talk about the fact that they feel they do more than their fathers did (in regards to helping out at home and with the kids).
My father in law and uncles were hard workers and provided well for their families, but in this day and age, is that considered enough?
My husband and I entered our marriage with the idea that we were a team and would tackle the ups and downs of life together, including parenting. Yes, somethings are still old fashioned in my home, I do all the cooking, for example, but I am lucky to have a husband who helps with bathtimes, reading stories, and getting the kiddos dressed. From what I heard from my husband and cousins last week in our discussion, their dads never did anything like that.

As a mom myself, I appreciate my husband (and other dads out there) trying to help us out.

Change of heart

I had a blog about the Kardashian bozos that I decided to erase. As much as I wanted different types of women on my blog, I made a decision not to poison mine with vapid, shallow women.

Besides, I alreay have a blog entree about Michelle Bachman. She pretty much fills the quota for embarrassing women.

Ann Richards

A longtime activist in Texas Democratic politics, Ann Richards became Texas’ second woman governor in 1990.

In 1991 my family was invited to the state capital in Austin to celebrate the Texas troops arriving home from Operation Desert Storm. My father had served on a board with Gov. Ann Richards, so in return, we were put on the VIP list. We were given badges to wear, and my sister and I got to ride in the parade with other "Army kids". The parade ended at the capital, where afterwards there was a lunch on the grounds. My family and I lucked out. We got to sit inside the VIP tent, where we had lunch next to Dallas Cowboy coach Tom Landry. My dad introduced my sister and I to politicians like Phil Gramm and Bob Bullock. Last but not least, my dad took my sister and I over to meet Gov. Richards. I was 11, my sister was 9. She was so nice, she hugged us both, told us to always be proud Texans and told us we could do what we wanted to in life if we put our minds to it.

Maria Montessori

 When I was young my parents enrolled my sister and I in Montessori school. We still thank my mom to this very day. I enjoyed school so much that I cried on breaks (what a dork, I know). Dr. Montessori gave the world a scientific method, practical and tested, for bringing forth the very best in young human beings. She taught adults how to respect individual differences, and to emphasize social interaction and the education of the whole personality rather than the teaching of a specific body of knowledge. I spent the ages of 5-11 in Montessori, eventually transferring to a normal junior high. I still keep in touch with my teacher, "Miss Janet" to this day. 

Finally!!

I've been on the hunt, waaayy before my lady blog, to find a website for a normal gal like me that covers different topics with out the stupid airhead fluff most pages offer...Well, guess what? I finally think I have found it. ((drumroll)) http://hellogiggles.com/

With a variety of topics covered, authors of different ages and a well organized site, it's so great I have now made it a personal goal to publish something on this site.

A Gaga Thanksgiving

The ABC network aired "A Very Gaga Thanksgiving" special where Lady Gaga gives fans a look into her private life, as well as a performance for an audience of friends and family. Gaga and guests like Tony Bennet sang holiday classics and the eccentric singer even made a turkey with celebrity chef Art Smith. The pop star also sat down with Katie Couric to discuss her life.

Kudos to ABC for taking a risk and thinking outside the box, but the special was still beat by "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving". 


… M

Surgeon General

Antonia Coello Novello served as surgeon general under President George H. W. Bush from 1990 to 1993. She focused on publicizing the dangers of smoking and teenage drinking, expanding AIDS educati on, and improving health care for women, minorities, and children.

Novello was born in Puerto Rico with a chronic colon condition that caused her severe pain until it was corrected surgically when she was 18 years old. The experience inspired her to pursue a career in medicine. In 1965 she earned a BS and an MD from the University of Puerto Rico in 1970. Novello and her husband, Joseph Novello, an Army flight surgeon, moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan. She interned, did her residency, and completed a fellowship at the University of Michigan Medical Center, specializing in pediatric nephrology.

The couple then headed to Washington DC, where Novello fellowed at Georgetown University Hospital. She took a position with the National Institutes of Health in 1978, eventually becoming deputy director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. She received a master's degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University in 1982.

In 1993, she left her post as surgeon general and went to work for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Bachmann

I really wanted my blog to feature positive women, unique stories and sites, but I realize I've got to comment on the ridiculous and embarrassing as well. With that I give you: Michele Bachmann.

I try my best to support my fellow woman, but with her, I just cant. She is putting women on a rocket and shooting us back 100 years. Bachmann is a Republican member of the House of Representatives and is also running for President of the United States. She supports the theory that America was founded as a Christian theocracy and should become one again. She is headstrong and stands by her beliefs. She is the perfect example of not thinking before you speak, and not having all the facts before opening her mouth.
Below is a link (that I urge you to visit). It's a list of her most ridiculous quotes. I GUARANTEE that you will shake your head or roll your eyes, at least once!!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-10-craziest-michele-bachmann-quotes

Helpful Organization

Meet Leila Chirayath Janah, the founder of Samasource (sama means “equal” in Sanskrit).

Samasource is an organization that outsources simple data-entry and media-tagging tasks for companies like Google to people in low-income countries. Since 2008, Samasource has hired more than 1,200 workers, but “my dream is to show that we can become a $100 million organization with tens of thousands of workers. And do it as a nonprofit.”

Great Job, Leila!

The Meth Project

Finally, a gut wrenching drug commercial that shows the reality of substance abuse.

http://youtu.be/M6kCJSN9MTY

Twitterworld

I've been trying to contact the following on Twitter, just to answer a few questions. Sadly, no one has "tweeted" me back.

http://twitter.com/#!/DianeSawyer

http://twitter.com/#!/anncurry

http://twitter.com/#!/fernandaNYT

Motherhood

Me entire life changed when I gave birth to my son. It is an amazing, exciting, tiring experience being a mother. My heart swells with love when I see both of my boys, that is why I do not understand stories like this:

 http://www.themonitor.com/articles/villa-56233-edinburg-year.html

It sickens me. 

Nicaragua: 'We Women Want to Be Heard'

On the night of Jul. 25, 2009, Fatima Hernández, 24, was raped and beaten by Farinton Reyes, one of her co-workers. In a country where sexual violence is at immense levels and often goes unreported and unpunished, Hernández was determined that her attacker be brought to justice.

The young activist, who hopes to complete her law degree, established an organisation last year, the Association of Women for Critical Thinking (Asociación de Mujeres Forjadoras 'El Pensamiento') to support other women and girls who have experienced gender-based violence.

http://www.globalissues.org/news/2011/10/25/11651

Joyful Heart Foundation

The actress Mariska Hargitay, moved by so many real life victims who would approach her on the street and praise the character she portrays on television , decided to create an organization to help victims of abuse and violence.

The Joyful Heart Foundation works to foster a community that turns toward the issues of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse. Such a community, empowered with knowledge, courage and compassion, can support survivors of this violence and engage in an open dialogue about how to collaboratively end the cycle of violence and abuse.

http://www.joyfulheartfoundation.org/

Bossypants

Someone I look up to for her wit and writing skills is none other than Tina Fey. From her work on SNL, writing the film Mean Girls, the television show 30 Rock, and now the delightful book Bossypants, she can do no wrong in my eyes.

The book is a delicious blend of reflection, humor, critical thinking.

Read an excerpt here: http://bibliofeminista.com/post/4643660732/excerpt-from-tina-feys-bossypants

Dorothy Rodham

Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's mother passed away this week at the age of 92. She, like any mother, played an influential role in her daughters life.

In her autobiography, “Living History” (2003), Mrs. Clinton recalled her mother’s hardships. “I thought often of my own mother’s neglect and mistreatment at the hands of her parents and grandparents, and how other caring adults filled the emotional void to help her,” she wrote.

Mrs. Rodham pushed her children to stand up for themselves, Mrs. Clinton said. Once, when she was 4, she went home in tears after a neighborhood girl had bullied her. “You have to face things and show them you’re not afraid,” her mother told her. If she was hit again, Mrs. Rodham advised, “hit her back.”
“She later told me she watched from behind the curtain as I squared my shoulders and marched across the street,” Mrs. Clinton wrote. “I returned a few minutes later, glowing with victory.”

A good mom influences and guides a daughter beginning at a very young age. The way Mrs. Clinton wrote about her mother, it is clear Dorothy did.