Are You a SWWM? Win a Book!
One of the fundamental truths about smart, busy, working mothers is that they trust information from other smart, busy working mothers above all else.
When they’re not sharing, venting or reading theLoop, (that is, when they are not with their children, or perhaps when they are,) they might pick up an intelligent, humorous book written by a local working mother, especially if another local working mom tells them to.
Tuesday night, many of us were there to launch "Just Let Me Lie Down ," the new book by Kristin von Ogtrop, the Southern-Westchester-residing Working Mother (SWWM) and editor of Real Simple. It’s a compendium of humorous catch-phrases that help describe our insane, out-of-control lives. (Last night’s event at Plates in Larchmont could perhaps have been termed by some by the definition on page 198, "separation anxiety: when everyone else is at the office and you aren’t.")
Also in attendance was Jeanne Muchnick, the Southern-Westchester-Working-Mother (SWWM) author of the newly released "Dinner for Busy Moms", the SWWM President of J Crew, the SWWM head of a Farm Share coop, the SWWM partner in a law firm, the SWWM VP of publicity for a book publisher…. you get the idea.
Are you an SWWM? Or know/love//worship/pity one? Leave a comment below with your own coping "catch phrase"
for example:
"Exhaust Pipe- One’s mouth, normally used for speech, which in a state of exhaustion often utters non-sensical commands or phrases"
The first eight winners will receive a copy of Just Let Me Lie Down or another SWWM’s recently released work, What to Wear for the Rest of Your Life. Eight books are available!
tho not original, how about “ and miles to go before i sleep”?
Although I have not seen a copy of it, I love the title of the book. On the rare event that my mom takes all three of my kids for the night, the only thing that I want to do is literally lie down. I have no interest in dinner, movies or drinks. I just want quiet time to be. As far as coping with work and a family, I think that it’s necessary to take one moment at a time and prioritize events as they happen. Also, surround yourself with a reliable safety net of adults who you trust implicitly and can fill in with the kids and the house when you are not present. This support can come from parents, spouses, friends or nannies. If one of my kids is having a crisis and I am not home to manage it. I have complete faith that my nanny will be able to avert the crisi until I am present. At the end of the day because I am a mom I will still carry the guilt of not having been there; but, I know that my kids and household are in adequate hands even if I am not at home. On the flip side, I utilize the same strategies for work. Since I own my own business, I can not really afford to take presonal or sick days, however; in the rare event that I need to, I know that my other teachers can carry hold the forte until I return.
“And for my next number……” (as in a performance) or “No Encores”
Pumping My Way to Freedom – as in if I pump a bottle during my only free time at work I might be able to go out this weekend!
When I receive multiple simultaneous requests from my two teenage boys that I know cannot be met I have often responded, “Sorry, my Wonder Woman cape is in the dry cleaners.”
Here’s some for fun:
Taxi service: What a mom (parent) provides 24-7 without fee or much gratitude enabling her children to be at countless activities while using a suburban assault vehicle.
Juggling: what a mom (parent) needs to do with more than 1 child with more than one after school activity while also providing “taxi services” (see above).
Steering-Wheel Sign Ability: the ability of a parent to sign a required school form on the steering wheel in the morning while dropping off the child who forget to get it signed the night before and not hold up drop-off line traffic.
“Mom!”: = I need you to take me somewhere now!
Post Road Fatigue: temporary insanity from driving the same stretch of the Post Road back and forth repeatedly within too short a time frame (e.g. between the high school, hommocks, flint, supermarket, CVS, etc.).