"I never did very well in math - I could never seem to persuade the teacher that I hadn't meant my answers literally."Calvin Trillin
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Spring 2006 Must Haves
It is amazing how fast the stores liquidate the winter clothing lines. It is a great time of year to shop and get some great deals. The sad part is, if you really need some new winter clothes, you don't have much time to get them. Hitting all the stores ...
The Over-Working Mother
The Working Parent Since the 1950’s, the number of women going into the work field has risen steadily year-by-year. This change has affected the way men and women are married as well as the way men and women parent. According to the U.S. Department of ...
The truths about beaded, costume and cubic zirconia jewelry!
Shopping for Inexpensive Yet Brilliant PiecesHistory of Beaded JewelryBeads have been used to create jewelry and adorn costumes since the dawn of time. If you were to look back on the Ice Age you would discover small objects crafted of natural "beads" ...
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Poor Martha. With all this nasty insider trading business, it must be awfully difficult to focus on glue guns and hand-painted Easter eggs. Martha Stewart's recent run-in with the SEC, however, confirms something most mothers suspected all along: maintaining perfection at work and at home is about as realistic as having a toddler who changes his own diapers.
While they grew up with the mantra "You can have it all," many women are realizing that being a loving wife, a wise and gentle mother, and successful business woman is more than they can handle. Unlike their mother's who struck a blow for feminism by joining the work force, the most recent generation of mothers finds itself trapped in a web of feminist ideals and feminine pursuits.
Old-fashioned values are all the rage with countless magazines and television programs detailing how to make absolutely everything from scratch. Gone are the days when a working mother could pat herself on the back for managing to get a TV dinner on the table to feed her hungry brood. If it isn't a gourmet meal made from organic vegetables grown in her garden, today's working mom feels strangely inadequate. If Martha can make her own Christmas ornaments, and seventeen kinds of cookies while running a business empire, the underlying sentiment seems to be, why can't I?
With Martha's public stumble, however, mothers everywhere can breath a collective sigh of relief. Perhaps when it comes to juggling work and family, perfection is only an illusion and women can cut themselves a little more slack. Remember, it's only "a
good thing" if you have the time and energy to enjoy it.
Here are 5 ways to break the Martha habit:
1. Take your kids to the store, let them choose a bag of cookies, and don't look at the ingredients. Once at home, give a cookie to each child and have one yourself. Pour a glass of milk, and revel in the fact that your kitchen is not covered in flour and that there are no dishes to clean.
2. Get your blood pumping once a week. No offense Martha, but while making your own truffles can be divine, it doesn't leave a whole lot of time to stay in shape. Try an activity that will make you feel like a kid again, like line-dancing, Hip-Hop or Yoga.
3. Despite the hype, most crafts aren't cheap or easy. If you feel your blood pressure rising when you contemplate the amount of time and money you've spent on a project, you should reconsider the whole endeavor. Next time accept that a candle from the dollar store burns just as brightly as one you've molded yourself.
4. If your child is in more than 2 after school activities, think about canceling them. To stop over-scheduling yourself, you must first stop over-scheduling your children.
5. Take a team approach. Your kids would prefer a piniata of a lopsided fish to a perfect replica of a Disney character as long as they got to squish the papier-macher through their little fingers. It doesn't have to look perfect to be perfect as far as kids are concerned, so relax and get them involved in what you're doing.
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