Kathy’s Five Things

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This week we have a special guest on the SavvyBlog, Kathy Buckworth. She’ll be replacing Minnow’s ‘Five Things’ with five interesting perspectives on current parenting topics. Having just published a new book, I Am So The Boss Of You: An 8-Step Guide To Giving Your Family The ‘Business’ which is on sale March 26, Kathy is well positioned to comment on anything revolving around being the boss, bossing people around or simply being ‘boss.’
1. Sheryl Sandberg: She’s leaning in…way in. And weighing in as well, about what it takes for women to succeed in business. The CEO of Facebook (and worth a reported $500 million, pulling in a $30 million income), has two young children as well, so certainly seems to embody what it takes to be a successful woman. She offers no apologies and suggests women need to ‘think like men’ and manage the time they spend on mommy guilt to as low a level as possible. I agree with her. It’s not realistic to expect that we can automatically eliminate who we are, or how we think, as we pursue careers. But what we can do is acknowledge it and make our decisions as to whether we want to lean all the way in, or find our own sway comfort level.

Marissa Mayer

2. Marissa Mayer: The CEO of Yahoo found herself being attacked on the blogosphere for disallowing her employees to telecommute, or work from home. I think she’s making a mistake too, but not because I feel it’s discriminatory for moms who are balancing work with family. I feel it’s back to an old ‘time clock’ model of measuring a person’s work-worth by the time they spend, versus the work they produce. Is working from home productive for everyone? Absolutely not. But working in a cubicle isn’t the ideal solution either. A blanket policy like this makes me wince. Not unlike the blankets Mayer has in the built-in nursery for her baby, adjoining her office. She’s found her ideal solution; she needs to let others find theirs.

Dad Blogger

3. Dad Bloggers: The Globe and Mail ran a story about how ‘hands-on dads’ are still being maligned, or seen in some ways to be unusual and perhaps a tad ‘soft.’ So the handful of dad bloggers that do exist banded together and wrote about how they are fighting against this stigma. It’s ironic, given that many of the moms who complain about ‘owning’ it all on the home front are some of the first to exclude or diminish the dad bloggers in the mommy blogger community. I say, let’s call for a parent blogger environment. Maybe we all need a performance review on this topic.

March Break

4. Spring Break: We’ve all just survived March Break in Ontario, and the count is already on for ‘summer vacation.’ For many full-time working parents, a true ‘break’ never comes, but this time does remind us that the kids get a well-deserved recess from routine. Something that makes a control and structure advocate (not ‘freak’) like myself a tad nervous. I believe in keeping most rules in place—regarding bedtimes, meals, getting dressed before noon—but an occasional week-night sleepover or sleep in on a week day makes everyone feel as though they’re on a vacation from their ‘work.’

Tax Season

5. Tax Time: With tax time looming, Canadian families are looking at their finances and trying to find ways to save more money. A recent study by President’s Choice Financial shows that Canadians are basically a nation of savers, even in tough financial times. 84% of Canadians have some form of savings, and most are expecting interest rates on savings accounts and investments to stay the same, while predicting interest rates on lending products will rise. 68% are curtailing expenses (like looking at no fee banking products and credit cards), with 67% expecting to be in a better financial position next year. We’re all taking charge when it comes to smart financial planning.

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