Work Mama Life

Embrace the joys of motherhood without losing yourself Motherhood is an amazing journey. It’s a time of chaos and calm, joy and frustration, overwhelming stress and incredible fun. But as mamas strive to juggle the health of their children, their home and work lives, and their relationships, they can often put themselves last, risking physical and emotional burnout. Work. Mama. Life. is for all those mamas trying to achieve a better balance. Through a combination of evidence-based research, first-hand mothering experience, and easy-to-follow exercises, this guidebook will show mamas everywhere how to rediscover their joy, self and health in the face of the intense challenges working motherhood brings. In Work. Mama. Life, health and motherhood expert Ali Young delivers an expertly balanced combination of evidence-based research, clinical experience, and personal familiarity to help mums everywhere reclaim their lives and reset their health. Learn how to: understand matrescence and your ‘mother brain’ identify early signs of stress and burnout find and embrace your village reinvigorate yourself and ditch fatigue bring lightness and brightness to yourself and others. A real book by a real mum filled with real tools for the real world, Work. Mama. Life is a practical, evidence-based, and authoritative resource for every mother who’s sick of feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and burned out. Work. Mama. Life. will help every current, aspiring, or expecting mother to navigate their experience of motherhood and reclaim their life with calm and good health.

Foreword written by Workin' Moms creator, executive producer, writer, and star of the television comedy series, Catherine Reitman. This book was written by working moms, for working moms. When it comes time to go "back to work," what additional challenges might mom expect? Is it possible to implement conscious parenting while simultaneously achieving career success and also discovering true fulfillment in life? What sort of new learning curves may she face mentally, emotionally, physically, and even spiritually? How might she adapt to the social status change to "mom" in the public world, while still maintaining the most important role of mom at home in private? Let's get real and start the conversation.

“Rachel Macy Stafford's post "The Day I Stopped Saying Hurry Up" was a true phenomenon on The Huffington Post, igniting countless conversations online and off about freeing ourselves from the vicious cycle of keeping up with our overstuffed agendas. Hands Free Mama has the power to keep that conversation going and remind us that we must not let our lives pass us by.” --Arianna Huffington, Chair, President, and Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, nationally syndicated columnist, and author of thirteen books http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ DISCOVER THE POWER, JOY, AND LOVE of Living “Hands Free” If technology is the new addiction, then multi-tasking is the new marching order. We check our email while cooking dinner, send a text while bathing the kids, and spend more time looking into electronic screens than into the eyes of our loved ones. With our never-ending to-do lists and jam-packed schedules, it’s no wonder we’re distracted. But this isn’t the way it has to be. In July 2010, special education teacher and mother Rachel Macy Stafford decided enough was enough. Tired of losing track of what matters most in life, Rachel began practicing simple strategies that enabled her to momentarily let go of largely meaningless distractions and engage in meaningful soul-to-soul connections. She started a blog to chronicle her endeavors and soon saw how both external and internal distractions had been sabotaging her happiness and preventing her from bonding with the people she loves most. Hands Free Mama is the digital society’s answer to finding balance in a media-saturated, perfection-obsessed world. It doesn’t mean giving up all technology forever. It doesn’t mean forgoing our jobs and responsibilities. What it does mean is seizing the little moments that life offers us to engage in real and meaningful interaction. It means looking our loved ones in the eye and giving them the gift of our undivided attention, leaving the laundry till later to dance with our kids in the rain, and living a present, authentic, and intentional life despite a world full of distractions. So join Rachel and go hands-free. Discover what happens when you choose to open your heart—and your hands—to the possibilities of each God-given moment.

Mothering is messy. Our joy and hope in raising children doesn’t change the reality that being a mom can be frustrating, stressful, and tiring. But just as God is using us to shape our children, God is using our children and motherhood to shape us. In The Better Mom, author Ruth Schwenk, herself a mother of four children, encourages us with the good news that there is more to being a mom than the extremes of striving for perfection or simply embracing the mess. We don’t need to settle for surviving our kids’ childhood. We can grow through it. With refreshing and heartfelt honesty Ruth emboldens moms to: Find freedom and walk confidently in purpose Create a God-honoring home environment Overcome unhealthy and destructive emotions such as anger, anxiety, and more Avoid glorifying the mess of mom-ing or idolizing perfection Cultivate life-giving friendships At the heart of The Better Mom is the message that Jesus calls us to live not a weary life, but a worthy life. We don’t have to settle for either being apathetic or struggling to be perfect. Both visions of motherhood go too far. Ruth offers a better option. She says, “It’s okay to come as we are, but what we’re called to do and be is far too important to stay there! The way to becoming a better mom starts not with what we are doing, but with who God is inviting us to become."

Every year, American universities publish glowing reports stating their commitment to diversity, often showing statistics of female hires as proof of success. Yet, although women make up increasing numbers of graduate students, graduate degree recipients, and even new hires, academic life remains overwhelming a man's world. The reality that the statistics fail to highlight is that the presence of women, specifically those with children, in the ranks of tenured faculty has not increased in a generation. Further, those women who do achieve tenure track placement tend to report slow advancement, income disparity, and lack of job satisfaction compared to their male colleagues. Amid these disadvantages, what is a Mama, PhD to do? This literary anthology brings together a selection of deeply felt personal narratives by smart, interesting women who explore the continued inequality of the sexes in higher education and suggest changes that could make universities more family-friendly workplaces. The contributors hail from a wide array of disciplines and bring with them a variety of perspectives, including those of single and adoptive parents. They address topics that range from the level of policy to practical day-to-day concerns, including caring for a child with special needs, breastfeeding on campus, negotiating viable maternity and family leave policies, job-sharing and telecommuting options, and fitting into desk/chair combinations while eight months pregnant. Candid, provocative, and sometimes with a wry sense of humor, the thirty-five essays in this anthology speak to and offer support for any woman attempting to combine work and family, as well as anyone who is interested in improving the university's ability to live up to its reputation to be among the most progressive of American institutions.

The prize-winning author of "The Country Life" evokes the magnetic bonds of family in this story of accidental connections and overlapping relationships.

The Empowered Mama is a practical and interactive workbook full of simple, powerful tools to help moms reconnect with themselves on the journey through motherhood. Moms often try to juggle the roles of wife, mother, and homemaker while also being professional, competent women. Many moms feel like they can't take time to replenish their bodies and minds, despite their many roles. There's just not enough time in the day, and it seems selfish to take time when families and work still demand more. The Empowered Mama is a practical workbook full of simple, powerful tools to help you reconnect with yourself on the journey through motherhood. Author Lisa Druxman uplifts, inspires, and takes moms on a journey not just to rediscover themselves, but to fall in love with motherhood again. Whether you are a working mom or a stay-at-home mom, this book will add balance to your life. Since there will never be more hours in the day, The Empowered Mama will help you maximize the hours you do have to accomplish what matters most. This guide focuses on all parts of a mom's life—work relationships, built-up stressors, cleaning up your diet, even going green and being more mindful about the environment—all with the intuitive understanding that getting the rest of your life in order will only reap huge dividends for your family.

Maybe it¿s a career come true. Maybe it¿s just a step in the right direction. Maybe it¿s to keep food on the table. This book gives a glimpse at a few of the many reasons Mom works and shows who is in her thoughts throughout the workday.