‘work’

All Articles tagged ‘work’

I Love Being A Working Mom

Posted on April 25, 2013 in: Mama Doc Philosophies, Parenting9 Comments
View from our seats at TEDx during the afternoon session

View from our seats at TEDx during the afternoon session

I love being a working mom. This is really the first time I’ve known it like I do today. I had one of the best days of my life two weeks ago, seriously ranking up there in the top 5 thus far. And unsurprisingly to me, it was a work day. However unlike ever before, for the very first time I brought my son with me.

Today is “Bring Your Kid To Work Day” but really any day we do it counts. Pick an ideal time and involve your child. My contention is that you’ll rapidly recognize the incredible fortune it is to live this lunatic life that requires navigating the dreaded work-life-balance ordeal.

When my 6 year-old joined me on a work trip earlier this month it was as if at once two huge ships met at sea. All the sudden my little boy was welcomed into the world of making change. I felt unlike ever before I represented more of my whole self while at work. And let me tell you, his eyes were wide open. All day.

One of the post-it notes on my computer at home says, “Design a beautiful day.” The quote stems from Dr Marty Seligman who’s known to have founded the field of positive psychology. He devised the concept of the beautiful day activity (seriously encourage you to click on that link).

Thing is, every time I’ve talked about designing a beautiful or meaningful day, work is a part of it. If I only had one more day to live, I’d work for a few hours in the morning. No question about it. I really do love working as a doctor. Of course, I really do love being a mom. Valuing both of these roles takes skill and I’m don’t always have it…

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Sick Day

Posted on July 12, 2012 in: Doctoring & Healthcare, Parenting4 Comments

I had an unexpected gift this week: a not-so-sick sick day with my 5 year-old. And it really couldn’t have come at a better time.

We’ve never had a sick day like this before and he’s off to Kindergarten in September so the days were running out for preschool stolen-away sick leave.

In the past when he’s been ill he’s been well enough for me to head off to clinic or work and he’s been home with my mom or his nanny. I’ve ached in the absence but pushed through knowing it really wasn’t me he needed but rest and time away from school. Previously I knew that my patients needed me more.

This time he spooked me. Late Sunday night he developed a booming fever and complained about significant abdominal pain. He skipped dinner, plodded off to bed, and made a series of sweat circles on the sheets. My husband and I were both sitting on the edge of his bed hovering near midnight negotiating the logistics of heading to the ER. I went through the lists of the different diagnoses I imagined could cause his symptoms. I worried. We made plans for his brother, figured out who would go to the ER, and started solidifying next steps. Just then, he stopped complaining of pain and went back to sleep.

I didn’t lose my worry. I tossed and turned. I got up and organized my closet late into the night and tidied little piles repeatedly. I didn’t really sleep.

By morning, the fever was gone. The pain had improved and he joined us at the breakfast table. He downed his breakfast so we took his brother to school. And me? I got the day with my boy all to myself, I got to be home with him–worry changes everything. Read full post »

Tina Fey’s Triannual Sob, The Mommy Wars, And A Truce

Posted on April 11, 2011 in: Mama Doc Philosophies, Parenting14 Comments

Tina Fey, I hear ya. As working moms, we’re asked an unfair question when we are asked about “juggling it all.” And I’m with you on the angst about working and parenting, except your triannual sob is my quarterly crisis.

Tina Fey, about-to-be-Momma-again-hilarious-comedian-”ridiculously-successful-and-famous”-deserving-it-girl, was showcased in an article in yesterday’s New York Times. It was in The Sunday Styles section, a portion of the paper I fondly refer to as the “Ladies’ sports section.” I can’t remember who coined the name, but the section is defined by wedding announcements, articles about junky TV, and snapshots of random strangers carrying coffee or poodle accessories in Manhattan. But I sincerely don’t mean to marginalize it. Often the section houses little storytelling gems that sit with me all week. Yesterday’s piece about Ms. Fey got my heart pounding. There she was, one of the funniest people on the planet, saying the same things that I do. Well kind of. Our only similarity really may be that I’m just another working mom. But it made me want to listen to her even more.

Tina, like the rest of us, is asked to defend her work, her “juggle,” her parenthood differently because she’s a mom. Curtis Sittenfeld writes that in Ms Fey’s new book Bossypants (dying to read it–can you find me 4-5 hours?) Ms Fey asserts, “‘The rudest question you can ask a woman’ is, ‘How do you juggle it all?”" Simply put, it’s archaic to think of life this way. Women are continually reminded to question their choices differently than male counterparts in the work place even when we share parenting responsibilities. The questions alone arguably bring the working-mom struggle back to our windshields. And it ultimately perpetuates gender inequality. Why is it any different for me than it is for my husband? He works just as many hours as I do. But no one asks him about balance. Or commitment. True, this struggle really doesn’t tug on him like it does on me. I believe cultural norms play a role in this. Read full post »

Work-Life-Balance

Posted on November 17, 2010 in: Doctoring & Healthcare, Mama Doc Philosophies, Parenting4 Comments

I did a live radio show for the the AAP’s Healthy Children radio show last week.

Click the above link if you’d like to take a listen or below for individual segments (each about 15 minutes).

My favorite part of the first interview is when I mention magic. Of course, the hard work of raising young kids is simply so worth it. We get so much more than we give. Nothing about this is easy of course, and nothing about this static, either. Take a listen and let me know if what you think.

Work-Life-Balance Issues for Working Parents

Breast Feeding, Working, and Being a Working Moms

Happy Birthday, Blog

Posted on November 11, 2010 in: Mama Doc Philosophies21 Comments

It’s crazy when people talk about themselves in the third person. Also crazy, when virtual projects take on lives of their own. Personification- isn’t that the term? You and me blog, we’ve been inseparable this past year. A proud mama, I am. Drained and exhausted, yup, that too. But to you, today, I say the most sincere, Happy Birthday.

Today marks 1 year for Seattle Mama Doc. It’s been wild– something akin to piloting a plane, taming a wild dog, starting a new business? For me, this last year has been the most rigorous of my life: raising my boys, seeing patients in clinic, writing, creating, and speaking about what I believe to be true in health care. All the corners of my brain are being accessed though, and on most days it feels really good. And today, I must say, I’m a bit teary eyed as I mark all the 1′s in the calendar (11/11/10 for a 1st birthday ain’t bad). In celebration, at the end of my long day in clinic, I’ll bake a cake. Sit at the counter in my kitchen and eat. Should be a nice way to mark the huge milestone for me. In lieu of gifts, will you please leave comments? What have you liked, what can I do better, and of what would you like to see more?

I’m so thankful for the success, the support from others, and the change I believe we are making in improving communication around children and health. Thank you for reading (silently) and for commenting (loudly). You truly feed me, too.

A Year In Review

Am I right? Do you remember this differently?

Here’s to another year. But wait…a day of clinic, and then a bite of cake, first.

Coffee

Posted on October 22, 2010 in: Doctoring & Healthcare, Mama Doc Philosophies2 Comments

Smooshed

Posted on October 6, 2010 in: Doctoring & Healthcare, Parenting28 Comments

I’m smoooooshed today. Underwater. Submerged. Trapped under my orange scarf (see image). Just back from two consecutive conferences and readying to speak at another. And, drumroll……the in-laws show up in 2 days. I’m in that state of near-paralysis-parenting where there is so much to do I feel incapable of completing any of it. Every parent, working or not, has been here. Right? Here’s to hoping I’m not alone… I nodded my head about 12 million times over the last week when other docs I met at the AAP conference talked about the juggle between work and parenting. One pediatrician, Dr Alanna Levine said, “There isn’t an instant of time left unscheduled.” Yes, and today I’m behind on that schedule.

I started sobbing at my computer this morning after our nanny came home to tell me that I had forgotten it was picture day at preschool. Of course, I wasn’t crying about the reality that F went to school in an old T shirt and a cock-a-doodle-doo hair style (he went straight to bed after family swim last night). No, this is not about vanity or being uptight. I was crying because it feels like failure sometimes when you forget details in your parenting life. F couldn’t care less about what shirt he wears for the photo, and I certainly need to think about that, too.

So as I scour the planet for a shovel big enough to dig me out of this hole, I wonder, what would you most like to hear about this week and next?

My Ideas:

  • Blog post on recent update on recommendations for preventing, treating, and caring for kids with concussion.
  • Blog post on a list of recommended booster seats. And the whys in using booster seats.
  • Why I hate infant sleep positioners and why I think they put kids at risk for SIDS. Don’t believe the advertising hype that they are good for your baby. Video or blog post.
  • The AAP published new recommendations for iron intake in infants and toddlers.  Want to hear about it?

Tell me what you want me to write about; vote below. Yes, I’m asking for audience participation. And, ummmm, do you have a sturdy shovel I can borrow, too?