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 December 23, 2011

Greetings!  

 

The holidays are here and MOTHERS is doing what every mother would do; staying busy taking care of the needs of others. It is not just during the holiday season when our lives are all consuming. Our DC Dispatch gives you some insight on the buzz around Motherhood year round.

 

Take a look at what we have in this issue. 

Stay in touch with us on the NAMC's Facebook page, Like Your (Wo)Man in Washington and Friend Valerie Young on Facebook, and Follow @WomanInDC on Twitter.  There's original content also to be found on our blogs, Your (Wo)Man in Washington  and Mothers Central.  Post a comment, send us your thoughts, or mail us a holiday card - we are always thrilled to hear from you.

 

Happy Holidays,     

The mothers of MOTHERS    

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DispatchDC Dispatch - Motherhood During the Holidays (year round)

Capitol

In the holiday spirit, I'm reveling in the words of women zinging around Washington and elsewhere.  There's been a national dust-up about bake sales (of all things!!) and whether you prove your maternal worth by providing honest-to-goodness-homemade-from-scratch confections.  It's a perfect context for the mutual judge and grudge, as the mothers who offer up store-bought goods, represented by "bad mommy" Ayelet Waldman, fire back with a healthy dose of indignation.  DC resident Judith Warner reports from the front line of the bake sale wars in TIME.    

 
My friend and Washington Post columnist Petula Dvorak shines her light on "midnight moms", industrious (or manic?) women who use the peace and solitude of the wee, small hours to do the work of managing homes and the people who live in them.  Read entire Dispatch here.


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The12days12 Days of Christmas
A Mother's Wishlist

Your (Wo)man in Washington got really creative and came up with this 12 Days of Christmas - A Mother's Wish List as a holiday treat.

MerylMeryl Says "We Owe It To Our Foremothers" - Video

Ms. Streep uses a magazine cover photo shoot to promote the National Women's History Museum.  Why should the contributions of half the population just disappear?  Private funds are in place, but Congress stalls the sale of a piece of federal land on the National Mall.  They'd better think twice before taking on the actress and mother of four. See video here.

FoxFamily Friendly Fox?

Paid family leave has found an unlikely supporter in Fox News' Megyn Kelly, subject of a recent New York Times profileShe describes her time with her newborn as hardly a vacation, but "hard, important work".  If she finds paid leave a worthy policy, with her chauffeured rides to and from work and the ability to employ multiple helping hands, surely mothers with fewer resources and lower-profile employment would also be in favor!

GenderThe Reverse Gender Gap

News flash - some women are making more than men.  Who are they?  Single, childless women under 30.  Likely to have at least a college degree, they may marry, but if they do, it will be later, and not for the usual reasons.  Economic security can be obtained without a spouse, as can motherhood.  About 40% of US births are to unmarried women, and an increasing number don't plan to have children at all.  Will the next generation of women find different, compelling reasons to marry?  If not, will the age of male economic domination wane?  Here's a look at the implications of this new gender conflict.

MarriedMarried Not the Majority Anymore

Fifty years ago, most 20-somethings got married.  Now, only 20% will walk down the aisle before their 29th birthday.  Marriage isn't dead, but it no longer serves as the central organizing unit of society.  It is however, becoming increasingly the domain of the educated and more affluent, who are also less likely to divorce.  Economic pressure is keeping marriage rates down, but so too are the rising number of employed educated women and the acceptance of children born to unmarried parents.  NPR's family life reporter Jennifer Ludden has been talking about these social shifts and you can either listen or read the transcripts here and here.  Take a gander at the Pew Report - usually the Executive Summary will tell you all you need to know.

ReadMOTHERS Read and Review

Renowned writer Joan Didion writes searingly of motherhood, loss, doubt, and redemption in Blue Nights, which MOTHERS member Kelly DiNorcia reviews in the latest post on the Mothers Book Bag page on GoodReads.com.  Read it here.

 

  

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A portion of each purchase of a
Signature Mothers' Center Bracelet by Jewels For A Cause goes to the National Association of Mothers' Centers. Makes a wonderful gift for your mother, aunt, best-friend and for yourself. 

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Mothers' Center & New Mom Signature Bracelets
 
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