Activistas

The Work-Life Coach: Able to Deliver the Coveted Balance?

I love the idea of someone else sorting out the chaos of my life.  Figuring out how to get my boss to approve me working fewer hours, how to pay the bills earlier than midnight and not at work, how to keep the family health insurance yet spend more time with my kids!  Seems too good to be true, doesn't it?  Maybe not! 

An article in last week's Washington Post tells of a 3-time mama who scores a 3 and 1/2 day a week schedule with the help of just such a ($75/hour!) coach.  And they're not just available in DC, mamas.  Just north of P-town (yeah, it's in Seattle) is Quest for Balance.  San Francisco has Flexperience.  And 10 til 2, out of Denver since 2003, has eight franchises around the country and is expanding...fast (interested in running a franchise?).

What about Portland?  With all the interest in more flexible and meaningful part-time work among parents, it seems these services would thrive in Portland.  Maybe Portland Mamas, Inc. would know?  I say that because according to the Post article, "with few exceptions, the entrepreneurs in this emerging field know their customers because they belong to the same demographic."  Mamas helping mamas solve a problem.  I like that.

Ready for a Work-Life Coach? I grew up in a family where we were supposed to sort things out for ourselves, but in my adult life I've happily realized that a little professional guidance now and then can be a great thing.  So I'm wondering if it would be a wise investment (at $75/hour it is an investment!) to help sort out some work-family balance challenges, do some future career planning?  I'm tempted, mamas, because the crux of the problem - lack of time - can also be what stands smack in the way of managing it better. 

It's Candidate Forum Season!

Maybe it's because I've never paid such close attention to elections before, or maybe it's because there are so many races this May?  Or perhaps we Portlanders are just forum happy.  I mean, you name a topic, there's a forum on it.  So off the top of my weary head, I can think of three upcoming forums on my favortie topic: family-friendly issues.  This means we're finally on someone's front burner, I think.  You?   

• Friday 3.28.08: State Forum on Family Friendly Policies @ Old Wives Tales, 1 to 2:30 (with childcare!)
• Wednesday 4.2.08: Jeff Bissonette, candidate for Portland City Council's Seat 1, Making Portland a Family-Friendly City Town Hall @ the Hollywood Senior Center, 6:30 - 8 PM (kids activities and all!)
• Saturday, 4.19.08: urbanMamas & Central Portland Families Portland Mayoral Forum @ 1 PM (location TBD).

Are you gonna go to any or all of these events?  Why?  Why not?  What do you think of it all - progress?  Hoopla?   So much hot air?  I see it as a recognition that families can and should be supported by improved public policies at all levels of government (natch), and a response to our increasingly loud voices, our successfully squeaking wheel.  Indeed, the fruit of our labor.  Or am I flattering ourselves?  Giving too much credit to the 'mothers' movement'??

Any way you slice it, though, it's forum season.  Might as well go to one, mamas.  It sure beats choosing your candidate based on a quick read through the voter pamphlet - or your media of choice - the night before ballots are due!

Breastfeeding Friendly: Look for the Symbol

Thanks to Mothering magazine for coming up with a great, international symbol for breastfeeding.  When we first came across it in December, we hatched the idea of getting some and distributing them around town to any retail establishment that would agree to post it in their window.  'Cause surely there are some proud breastfeeding friendly establishments who would be willing to offer a friendly beacon to hungry babes and their milky mamas.  Well, we're about to find out!

Yeah, we ordered a bunch and have plans to blanket the city's commercial strips.  Wanna help?  We're starting on Saturday, 4.26.08 on SE Hawthorne.  Our thinking is to start here - we'll have 3-4 kids in tow so it'll be a s-l-o-w sticker distribution parade - and go forth and conquer the  rest of commercial Portland  later that day or some other day  when we're up for it again. 

Join us!  If Hawthorne is your neck of the woods, meet us at 9:30 AM at Common Grounds @ 4321 SE Hawthorne.  If it's pouring rain, fuggedaboutit.  We'll reschedule.  I'm devoted but there's a limit.  If Hawthorne's not your neck of the woods but you're into this, let us know what commercial strip you're ready to conquer and we'll hook you up with some stickers.  Or, if you know of the perfect, single establishment that absolutely wants and will post a sticker, that can be arranged.  Once they're up, we'll post a list on urbanMamas.

The BF Place in Town? No, I don't still swear with a 5-year old in my midst.  By BF I mean Breastfeeding Friendliest.  In your humble opinion, what restaurant, store, ladies lounge, wherever spot is the single best public place you have found to breastfeed in Portland?  While I'm one week post-weaning (yes, very bittersweet), I recall the joy at locating a supportive place to rest and nurse when I was out and about and can imagine that there are lots of unexpected and mostly undiscovered BF places to be shared.  So do tell.  Milky mamas all over Portland will rejoice in the new knowledge.

Write an Article for Mothers Movement Online

Are you a writer?  Passionate about this thing that some call the mothers movement?  Well then.  The upcoming issue of the Mothers Movement Online web magazine is titled Update: The Mothers' Movement in the United States.  The emphasis is on questions, controversies, and progress.  Perfect opportunity to gather and share your thoughts on this topic and get a little writing practice and exposure, to boot. 

Submissions are due by April 1st; check the 2008 editorial calendar for details about this and the remaining four issues. 

Activism while Parenting: How DO You Do It?

Yup.  The supplemental session in Salem last month ended even before it was supposed to!  I'll admit that my intentions were great for staying up to speed, participating where it made sense, and generally feeling a part of it all.  But honestly, this whole following politics & speaking up while parenting thing is no easy task.  I feel like I was there the day it started, shoot, I even submitted some testimony to an interim committee in January.  Feeling every-so-slightly on the ball.  Then, it was as if I went to the basement to do the laundry, came back upstairs, and the session had ended.  Just. like. that. 

More than anything, this little experiment in annual sessions left me feeling like it's no wonder we parents can't win, because we just can't get there.  Testify Wednesday morning at 10 AM - in Salem?  Uh, I'm working and have so little leave that I can't use it up testifying in Salem - really.  Write a letter to my representatives  - sure, but at midnight when my energy for it all is at a low point.  So how are we parents supposed to keep up with this stuff?  Be sure we don't miss the golden opportunity to fight the good fight.  Stand on the steps of the legislature to support paid leave?  Be the squeaky wheel.  How do YOU keep up?  Stay involved?  Feel like you're IN there? 

Help me, mamas, because sometimes it seems a whole lot easier to just leave it to the advocacy organizations and hope they've got it right.  After all, those wonderful people are paid to fight the good fight, right?  And that way, I could stick to figuring out what we're having for dinner tomorrow night (my husband would be thrilled), when music class ends, and, oh right, my job!!!  Activism while parenting, mamas, is it really possible???

State Level Children & Families Forum ~ 3.28.08

Excellent news, mamas. Looks like we're not the only ones talking children & families these days.  Three interesting Oregon women are holding a Children & Families Forum to talk about current efforts to improve the lives of Oregon's children and families and (of course!!) you can give your two cents about the issues near and dear to your heart  - maybe paid leave, health care or school funding.

The Women:

* Regan Gray is a candidate for State Representative in SE and NE Portland.  As Chief of Staff to Rep. Rosenbaum, she took the lead in proposing a Paid Family Leave program in Oregon.

* State Representative Tina Kotek was policy director for Children First before she was elected to the Oregon House, she was She is a strong advocate for working families issues and lead ONE VOICE for child care efforts in Oregon.

* Maribeth Healey is Executive Director of Oregonians for Health Security.  She has been a key advocate for health care reform in Oregon.  She was instrumental in the Healthy Kids Initiative and recently won an award from Families USA as the "Consumer Health Advocate of the Year."

Me & Obama: Not Together on Friday

Well, I was pretty excited about heading to the Memorial Coliseum and seeing my guy, my candidate.  He may not be yours, but he is so mine.  And yes, given the fact that the entire country is learning to pronounce the word Oregon right about now, he's comin' to P-town.  Yahoo.  But I'm not going to see him.  Boo-hoo.  I signed up to be on the waiting list, but am not hopeful. 

Are you going?  If so, how'd you score a ticket?  Do tell, cause I'm keeping my Friday morning wide open, just. in. case.  Among other heroic qualities, the man has two young kids. In the White House.  Dreamy.

Is Tri-Met Family-Friendly?

So we've griped a wee bit about Tri-Met before.  And raved.  They do a lot of great things, can't deny it.  But... are they family-friendly?  We're talking a lot these days about how family-friendly P-town is...or isn't.  So why not hone in on one critical aspect that has a lot to do with family-friendliness, not to mention global warming, socio-economic status, and traffic, for starters. Yes, mamas, I'm talking about transportation.  Rachele wrote us recently with a bus riding experience that sounds all too familiar:

I wanted to forward my email exchange with TriMet, because I am very concerned with their unwillingness to accommodate mamas (or anyone) with young children.  My husband and I car share - and gas prices are high and going higher, so I wanted to stop driving and take the bus everywhere - only to find that if I have to go grocery shopping and want to take my stroller, it will be nearly impossible to do this on the bus, when it shouldn't be a big deal, in the middle of the day, to just roll the stroller onto the bus with my groceries in the basket underneath the stroller - both would fit nicely in one of those fold up seat sections (reserved for people in wheelchairs - yes- but frequently empty most bus rides.) 

Raise $ for Moms Rising's MomVote '08 Work

Moms Rising is working hard to bring attention to the mamagenda during the Presidential election process.  While you can always donate money to their efforts, right now they have a matching opportunity, so your donation can raise double that amount for their work. Here's their appeal:

To sustain the MomsVote program throughout 2008, we need to raise $12,000 from our members.  A small pool of donors have committed $6,300 in matching funds toward this goal, so your donation today will be doubled by the matching fund!

    That means a $25 donation becomes $50...
    $50 becomes $100...
    $100 becomes $200...

Whatever you can contribute, our matching pool will make it count double.  You can help us grow this powerful Moms-movement by donating now.  Thank you for your support of this important work. 

I'm glad they're on top of this stuff.  We can be effective right here in Oregon, confident that they're calling attention to the mamagenda at the highest levels of government. 

Talk with City Council Candidates: Seat 2, Round 2

We enjoyed meeting several candidates for Sam Adams' seat (#1) on the Portland City Council a few weeks back.  We got a feel for whey they stand on issues affecting families and how tuned in (or out!) they are to the issues that matter most to us.  So we're rarin' to talk some more with two candidates for Erik Sten's seat (#2): Nick Fish and Jim Middaugh.  Curious what they're like in person?  How in touch they are with your mamagenda?  Got an issue you'd like to share, get some feedback on?  Thought you might.  The more we get these folks thinking about the mamagenda, the more likely they are to support it once in office.

So Join Us. We'll be at Urban Grind NE this Saturday morning 3.22.08: Jim Middaugh @ 9:15 and Nick Fish @ 10.  We will share our mamagenda with the candidates and hear what they plan to do to make Portland as familiy-friendly as it can be.  Bring your kids to play, we'll happily talk over them!

Can't Make It?  No worries.  Share your burning questions and opinions in the comments section and we'll pass them along (we'll also bring the comments from our earlier meet-and-greet).  Wish there were more curb ramps to make it easier for your children to ride their bikes?  Think the city ought to facilitate child care locations?  Partner more with PPS?  David Douglas?  Make it easier to get new crosswalks where children walk to school?  You write, we share.  Pretty easy & convenient. 

As with our last meet-and-greet, if any other candidates for this seat are itchin' to sit down and talk family-friendly Portland with us, you're on!  Just e-mail us and we'll add you to the list.