One mom's manifesto: OK, other parents, your kid is better! - National Post

Getty Creative Images

"I'll give up crawling when I am good and ready, OK? I don't care if Jimmy from the mommys' group already knows his ABCs!"

By Elizabeth Withey

“Lucy can say hi to her grandparents in Australia on Skype.”

My mom was telling me this via computer from Saskatchewan last week while she and my son had a digital dinner date. Lucy, my mom’s friend’s granddaughter, is a few weeks older than Oscar, but apparently very advanced, at least when it comes to Internet-based communication with Down Under.

“Wow! Good for Lucy,” I said as my one-year-old shoved bits of radicchio, red pepper and lamp chop into his mouth.

Mom didn’t pick up the faint trace of irritation in my voice. Because immediately, with that one comment, my parental calculator was going full throttle, trying to make sense of why Lucy can already say “hi” and my son can’t. Lucy’s three weeks older … and Lucy was 10 days late. … And Oscar arrived a month ahead of schedule, so he was, like, majorly in the negative when he was born. … Add those weeks, subtract these weeks … carry the one … grand total … ha! Lucy’s, like … waaaay older! It’s hardly fair to even compare the two. I should hope she’s saying hi by now.

Oscar still has tons of time.

Oscar stared at his 2D grandmother, waved at her, babbled total nonsense. Nothing that emerged from his mouth even vaguely resembles a greeting. My husband played the late-bloomer card.

“Most geniuses don’t talk until they’re three,” he told my mom, and we all laughed, the tension dissipating.

I handed Oscar a small pile of pomegranate seeds, which he promptly threw all over the kitchen floor. Bet Lucy can arrange her pomegranate seeds as a parallelogram, I thought sarcastically, then told myself to shut up. Because I like my mom, and her friend, and her friend’s granddaughter, very much. It’s the comparing I don’t. The comparing I try, unsuccessfully, to avoid.

Oh, the comparisons. It’s enough to make you crazy, these relentless what-can-he-dos and why-can’t-she-yets and my-kid-alreadys that go on among parents as their kids wriggle and squirm, diaper-clad larva with sippy cups in childproof enclosures.

The math alone will keep you awake, with percentiles and adjusted ages and head circumference graphs. Oh, but everyone wants to know their baby is normal, preferably better than normal, preferably the normalest. “How old is your little one?” the mommies and daddies ask each other, feigning friendliness. It’s not that they really care about the strange kid’s age. They just want to see how their own child measures up.

“Gee, I thought he was a lot younger since he’s not walking yet,” a friendly woman said to us recently at Cafe O’Play, an Edmonton coffee shop with an indoor play area for children up to the age of six.

Just what was this remark implying? That my kid ought to be walking by now? That his ongoing preference for crawling indicates imminent failure? “OK, lady,” I wanted to say, “you’re still breastfeeding your toddler and he’s walking and clearly you are a better mother with a superior kid. YOU WIN.”

The dreaded D word breathed down my neck, making me shiver as Oscar tried, unsuccessfully, to climb up the plastic slide. D-E-L-A-Y-E-D. Translation: Looooooo-ser.

No. Baloney. I brushed off the woman’s casual remark. She didn’t mean it that way. Or she did, but it didn’t matter. I reminded myself of a friend’s son, who was 18 months before he walked, and the little girl at swimming lessons who moved sturdily on two feet at 10 months. Such a wide age range, and yet, every parent wants their kid to be the first, the cleverest, the ripest. A for advanced.

“It’s kind of embarrassing,” my husband confided to me over supper after taking Oscar to the Festival of Trees. Oscar, who can walk but doesn’t want to, refused to stand up, he recounted to me, would go deliberately limp in the knees, making his beeline to various tannenbaums on all fours.

“It’s not embarrassing,” I said. “Who cares what anyone thinks? He’ll walk when he wants to.”

I meant it, yet of course I want our son to be walking just as much as my husband does. The early development charts they give you don’t help. They set up an expectation, a deadline. So if your baby isn’t smiling or feeding himself a cracker by so-many-months, you’re panicking, hiding out at home in shame, running off to the pediatrician because you think something’s wrong. Yet how can you not compare, when you’re constantly surrounded by other children, when the children are sorted according to age?

I give myself a manifesto: From now on, I won’t ask other kids’ ages, because I know I’ll only end up in that comparison crack house, giggling in ecstasy if my kid’s doing stuff their kid can’t, or shaking with withdrawal if Oscar’s the one lagging. Yeah, and when someone asks me how old my son is, I will be vague and only tell them in years: “He is one.” Then, next September, “He is two.”

I’ll leave them to wonder what the rankings are, to reflect on why they care so much. I’m not against competition. It’s human nature. But I’ll let Oscar compete for himself. He doesn’t need me competing on his behalf, at the kiddie café, in the swimming pool, on Skype or anywhere else.

View the original article here

Moms Talk: Keeping Kids Safe in a Scary World - Patch.com

‹ Back to Article Embed | Share      A memorial took shape Monday afternoon at the apartment complex where Jorelys Rivera lived.

There’s not a mom in the metro area who heard the news about 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera this week and didn’t develop an ache in her heart.

It’s a parent’s worst nightmare. The little girl, who weighed 80 pounds and was three feet tall, was abducted while playing outside her Canton, Ga., apartment complex. She was beaten, sexually assaulted and stabbed. The autopsy revealed that the first-grader died of blunt force trauma to the head.

Then she was dumped in a trash bin.

We’re all holding our little ones tighter right now, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who has given a refresher course on stranger danger and the importance of being aware and cautious around unknown people.

According to preliminary reports, Jorelys was playing with a few other children at her apartment complex’s playground. A teenage babysitter was supposed to be watching Jorelys, but Canton Police Lt. Jeff Hall said the babysitter “went to another location for a period of time.”

This scares me to death. I’ve been keeping up with the story on the Canton-Sixes Patch, and according to comments from readers on that site, the apartment complex where the little girl was abducted has a rough reputation.

She was left alone outside, unsupervised, and evil found her.

This doesn’t happen only in bad neighborhoods. It can happen to any one of us at any time. So what do we do to keep our kids safer?

It’s been an ongoing discussion at my house for years. Do we let the kids play outside without us? At what point can they walk down the street to a friend’s house? Ride their bike around the neighborhood?

It’s easy to think this couldn’t happen to your children because you are super vigilant and would never let your kids play alone on a playground in a public area-- but have you ever taken your eyes off your child for one minute and looked up to find them gone?

The seconds or minutes you spend with your heart in your throat screaming and hyperventilating until you find them are those of a living nightmare. It’s happened to me before, and I can think of at least a handful of friends who have related a similar experience to me.

Little Jorelys’s story is one that makes you want to wrap your babies up in bubble wrap and lock them in their rooms, but that’s not realistic.

So what do you do?

What are your rules for playing outside? Are your kids allowed out without your supervision? Do they have to stay in the backyard? Can they walk to a friend’s house?

Please share your stories and any tips you have for keeping kids safe in today’s frightening world. In the meantime, our friends at Sandy Springs Patch asked Sandy Springs Police Lt. Steve Rose for advice on keeping children safe. Check out his View from a Cop column.

View the original article here

M.O.M.S. memorial park kept in order by volunteer workers - Ocala

The Sadlers lost their only child, Kyle Braxton Sadler, 21, in a car crash Dec. 10, 2008. They are among the parents on the founding board of directors of the park.

"I get off work at 3 p.m. and I come here, usually Tuesday and Wednesday, to work on the landscape or benches," Greg Sadler said.

On weekends, the couple often can be found weeding and cleaning up at the park, using their own truck, trailer and equipment. A 25-foot-tall magnolia tree is dedicated to Kyle, with the words "Our Life, Our Love, Our Son" on a plaque.

Memorials, such as live oak and magnolia trees, benches and engraved stones, all marked with inscribed plaques, are available for adoption by parents, grandparents, siblings and others as a way to honor the child's memory.

The five-acre memorial park, with a waterfall, reflecting pond and butterfly garden, is part of Ocala's Jervey Gantt Park and includes an extension loop of the larger park's walking trail.

A park brochure explains that the venue was founded by two mothers — Holly Sadler and Sharon Lindsey, the mother of Devon Hime — who lost their sons in separate automobile accidents in 2008, in an effort to help other families and the community deal with the loss of a child.

Hime, 19, died Jan. 26, 2008, in an automobile crash at Jumbolair Aviation Estates in which Isaac Rubin, 20, Joshua Ammirato, 18, Dustin J. Dawe, 19, and Jacob James Casey, 19, also perished.

Hime is remembered at the park with a memorial bench and a 25-foot-tall magnolia tree. The plaque on the bench reads: "If Love Could Have Saved You, You Would Have Lived Forever."

Kelley Wilson, Rubin's mother, said the park is a "place of happy memories. I stop often on my way to work." She said she helps monthly on cleanup and work days, and finds the park to be a place of solace.

The notion of a small park grew tremendously, thanks to community support that included in-kind services, volunteer labor, an Eagle Scout project, small and large donations, and a $10,000 personal check from actors and Marion County residents John Travolta and Kelly Preston, in honor of their late son, Jett.

An ornamental entrance gate is dedicated to the memory of Richard Allen Chandler II by his family. The gate lists the Sadlers, Sharon and Gary Lindsey, and Yvonne and Ted Adams as the founding board of directors of the park, which was dedicated Sept. 24.

"Working at the park has actually brought Holly and I closer together," Greg Sadler said. "We worked together to raise Kyle, and now we are working together to honor him. The park is a place for families and bonding."

"Kyle was working with UPS and American Eagle clothing and going to CF part-time," he added. "He played football at Belleview High School. He was a good kid, not perfect. He always wanted to be the life of the party. It's supposed to be the grandfather and then father and then son dies, in order."

"Parents should never have to bury their child," Holly Sadler said. "Kyle was Greg's best friend."

Deb and Joe Azure and their granddaughter Faith, 12, were at the park recently to check on the bench and tree dedicated to their daughter and Faith's mother, Union County Sheriff's Deputy Renee Danell Azure, who was three months pregnant with baby Azure Johns when they both perished in an on-duty car accident Aug. 6, 2002.

The bench plaque is inscribed: "Forever in Our Hearts."

"We picked this spot because it overlooks the waterfall and you can hear it," Deb Azure said. "Renee and her baby will not be forgotten."

Holly Sadler pointed out an area of the park for sitting at the reflection pond.

"You can just tell when you see someone here who is thinking of a lost loved one," she said.

The pond is home to at least four catfish, one named Faith.

"He looks a little battered," Holly said. "You might say he represents a lot of those who visit the park. Their faith is scarred, but still intact."

View the original article here

Drama, tears and pleas accompany troubled children and parents. Sadly, it's ... - Journal and Courier

Judge Loretta Rush invited the Journal & Courier to spend a day in Tippecanoe Superior Court 3, which hears most juvenile and family matters in the county, to get a glimpse at the problems some kids are up against in the community.
The only condition was an agreement to not identify children involved in family cases. And the Journal & Courier does not typically name juvenile offenders unless charged as adults.
The cases here were heard Nov. 30.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
How can you get involved to help kids? Here are suggestions from Judge Loretta Rush of Tippecanoe Superior Court 3; Coleen Hamrick, executive director of Tippecanoe County Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA); and others.

1. Volunteer. There are tons of ways, including Big Brothers, Big Sisters, CASA, school reading programs, Boys & Girls Club, Bauer Family Resources, Hanna Community Center, church youth programs and Lafayette Urban Ministry, for starters. Here are some places to check for volunteer opportunities:
• Lafayette Crisis Center clearinghouse of services: www3.irissoft.com/lccf/search.asp or call (765) 742-0244.
• The United Way of Greater Lafayette's online volunteer center: www.uwlafayettevolunteer.org.
• Indiana Mentoring Partnership: For a searchable list of mentoring programs in Indiana, go to www.abetterhour.org and click on "Become a mentor."
• Lafayette School Corp. has a volunteer clearinghouse at www.helplsc.com.

2. Report suspected child abuse and neglect to police or school officials.

3. Support foster parents, extended family and grandparents who are raising children who have been removed from their parents' homes because of abuse and neglect.

4. Support schools. Rush says schools are important settings for child-abuse prevention efforts. Teachers play a crucial role in the early identification of children at risk for mistreatment.

5. Take a stand. Rush contends that children's issues and needs should not be low priorities in a time of budget cuts. She urges residents to contact legislators and advocate for children regarding their safety, physical and mental health, education and child care. For state lawmakers' email addresses, go to www.in.gov/legislative/2345.htm.

-- Dave Bangert/ dbangert@jconline.com

So where do you start in telling about a Wednesday in late November in Tippecanoe Superior Court 3, one that more than a few regulars in the court where juvenile and family matters are heard chalk up as a typical day?

Do you start with the mom, catatonic on the stand to the point of avoiding even shaking her head yes or no to questions about how drugs got into her 3-month-old's system, refusing the mental help offered to her, and sitting stone cold while being told that her 10-year-old is begging her to save herself and her children?

Or is it with the dad, let out of Cass County Jail that morning only to be picked up by White County police on another charge, appearing in court by phone and hoping the half brother he hasn't seen in years will agree to take his 8-month-old girl?

Or is it with the mom trying to prove to the court she's fit to be reunited with her kids after her former boyfriend was accused of fathering her teenage daughter's child?

Where do you start in a place where it never seems to end?

How about at the start of the day.

For more ... Bangert column: A story about kids, always kids.

8:22 a.m.: The first thing you need to know is that this boy, now in a foster home, tried to hang himself at one point.

He's acted out sexually at school and among his siblings. He's tried to suffocate another child. His mom says she's not able to handle him anymore, wants to protect her other three kids in the home and is ready to terminate parental rights. The father, who has an address in Gary but hasn't been located for months, isn't in the courtroom.

The boy is 6.

By accounts of caseworkers and the school, the boy is turning a corner, controlling his anger, but still is confused by his situation. And Judge Loretta Rush, determined to see him find a permanent place to call home, spends a half-hour grilling the mom, the lawyers and caseworkers: "This is dire. ... This little boy needs to know what his family is going to look like long-term."

The options? Craig Jones, a Department of Child Services attorney, says DCS is hoping the foster parents will adopt him. But the foster mother, on a speaker phone from home, hems. She tells Rush that she loves the child and doesn't want to give up on him, but that at age 52, she's not ready to commit to having a teen when she's in her mid-60s. Ken Weller, the mom's lawyer, says the mom fears the child coming back into the home. No one can offer up other extended family as options.

"In this case," Rush tells the mom, "it might not be your call. You're not out of the mix."

The mom nods, but says nothing. She says little in a hearing that will determine the future of her second-oldest child.

Rush pressures all parties to step up the search for a solution, including getting his case out on a Special Needs Adoption Program website and asking the foster mother again to think about taking the 6-year-old in permanently.

"These are incredibly hard, life-changing moments we're talking about here, I know," Rush says to everyone in the court, but to no one in particular. "When they go into the system, they don't wind up well. The system does a poor job of raising a child.

"Come back here this afternoon, and see for yourself," Rush says as everyone exits the courtroom.

The boy still doesn't have a permanent home.

It's not even 9 a.m.

9:05 a.m.: Rush isn't shy about lecturing moms and dads on the edge, prone to make the worst out of already bad situations for kids. She calls her discussions something else: "Giving boundaries."

Either way, there's rarely any gray in her black-and-white advice.

This shape-up moment was aimed at the mom of two kids who tested positive for methamphetamine. The possible father, tattoos on his face, came to court in Tippecanoe County Jail duds, accused of throwing one of the kids around. Rush's advice to the man in the jail clothes: Stay away from the kids.

To the mom, who was attending nursing school, she was just as blunt: "You've got to give up some lifestyle issues. What will happen if you slip up?"

"I'll lose my babies," the mom said.

"Right," Rush said. "Now's not the time to get into a new relationship. Now's not the time to get pregnant. ... This is a defining moment in your kids' lives. You have some significant work to do. No kids should have drugs in their system that they had. Do I really have to tell you that?"

9:35 a.m.: Rush latched on to the smallest of strengths tossed to her by the mom working toward getting her 8-month-old daughter back.

During a permanency planning hearing for the child, Rush peppered the mom with pointed questions about whether she was getting help for her addiction -- her child was taken from the home in March when the newborn tested positive for drugs -- what efforts she'd taken to find family members who could help raise the child, how her visitations with the infant had gone and what the status was on a separate strangulation case pending against her.

But Rush also made note that the mom -- someone who had appeared in the past as a juvenile offender -- had finally landed a job and had to be at work by 11 a.m. The judge made good on a promise to speed the hearing so the mom could be out of the court by 10:30 a.m.

"We can get that done," Rush said. "But you have got to get your life together. You have a window of opportunity. ... But you're not showing me you're doing it. You have drama everywhere you go."

The dad in this case was in jail and had been since early 2011. He was no viable option for the child, for now.

In the gallery sat the mom's boyfriend's half brother -- a three degrees of separation connection that was hardly the loosest mentioned during the day -- who had been found in the woodwork. He now was being asked whether he'd take on the infant while the mom settles her drama and the dad deals with jail time. Over the phone, the dad says he hasn't seen his half brother in a long time but "would very much like" to have him take the girl in.

Rush asks the half brother if he's willing. He says he is, after thinking it over for weeks.

Then she asks: "Why now? Why did it take this long -- two months -- to come around?"

"It's a big decision," he said. "I needed to be sure."

"You're right, it is a big decision," Rush said, ordering him to take an intensive parenting class to make sure he's a good fit and so the court isn't just tossing a child into the first available home.

In the routine hustle of the day, that understatement hangs for a moment or two, then it's on to the next emergency.

11 a.m.: There are Solomon moments all the time, when the best answer is no easy answer at all, Rush says. "Sometimes you wait for the parents to step up and do what's right for the kid," she says during a break.

What happened before lunch wasn't one of those times.

In a nutshell: The mom had accused the dad of hitting and yelling at their eighth-grade daughter. She said the teen won't return to her father's home, and she was asking for emergency custody. The dad disputed the abuse.

The details that come out had Rush furious by the end of the hour.

The dad admits to taking police officers to school with him when he picks up his daughter because he's been accused of abuse in the past. The mom has been holding the girl out of school for fear that the dad will pick her up early and take her to a home she doesn't want to stay in. The girl testifies that she fears her dad and doesn't want to return. Her dad's attorney has her read a letter she sent the dad that says the mom put her up to the accusations. The girl admits writing the letter but only after her dad made her do it: "He said there will never be enough drugs or alcohol to get over this, and you'll probably kill yourself if you don't," she said. "I love my dad. I want everyone to know that. But I'm afraid of him."

By then, Rush had had enough, telling both sides they aren't going to like how this one ends. She calls Scott Angstadt, deputy chief juvenile probation officer, into the courtroom and asks for help in contacting Child Protective Services to help find a place for the girl.

She won't be going home, Rush says, with either parent if they can't get her to school, can't keep her in school, can't keep her safe and can't keep playing the girl one against the other.

"Between the two of you, this is unbelievable," Rush says, as an emergency custody request turns into a Child In Need of Services case. "This is emotional abuse going on."

As the mom and dad avoid each other on the way out of the courtroom, Rush says: "Unbelievable. I've never had to do that before."

2:15 p.m.: When Rush invited people to come back to see what happens when the system is asked to be the parent, she was talking about this one -- one the judge calls a three-generation case of drugs and disregard. The second and third generation are in the courtroom now.

The 16-year-old daughter, arriving in court in hand and leg shackles, had been taken to a youth detention facility in Muncie the night before after she was accused of biting her mom in a fight over cellphone privileges. And the judge was trying to decide where to put the teen who had already been placed and had failed in so many places already.

With a past that included two previous stays at Cary Home, three placements with family or friends, electronic monitoring, visits to secure detention facilities around the state, failed drug screens and getting kicked out of group homes in the Lafayette area for being violent, Rush said the options were slim this time.

"You've got to get on solid ground," Rush said. "You're real close to the Department of Correction."

During the hearing, the mom described being called every crude name in the book the day before, none as cutting as "junkie." "I don't want her to die on the streets," she said. "I don't want her to make the same mistakes I made. That's all."

The daughter told of not being able to deal with her mom and admitting to taking prescription pills and hiding them in retribution for losing her cellphone. The two traded mean, verbal jabs until Rush reeled it in.

"I'm looking at where you're going to put your head right now," Rush told the teen. "And I'm looking at someone who's given up on herself."

The girl was inconsolable, in jeans, a hooded sweater, casual boots and shackles, as she was escorted from the courtroom, moments after being told by Rush that she would be heading back to Muncie for the time being. The judge said she couldn't trust that the girl could avoid being a danger to herself or others in an unlocked group home.

But the girl wasn't done.

Just before pushing through the heavy, wooden doors leading out into the courthouse, she turned to her mother, not with malice, but with a plea: "If they send me to White's," she said, referring to White's Residential and Family Services in Wabash, "will you bring me all my clothes and my pillow and my blanket?"

"Of course," her mom said. "I love you."

"Am I allowed to give her a hug?" the girl asked one of the two guards with her.

She was. And her mom held her for a good 30 seconds, kissing the top of her head as the girl quietly sobbed.

It comes down to that: Bring me my blanket and my pillow.

And she and the guards were gone, off for the 91-mile drive to Muncie.

View the original article here

Specialists in late-life downsizing are on the rise - msnbc.com

Carol Gilbert remembers well the heartache and hassle of watching her aging parents struggle to remain in their house of 45 years; the desperate, last-minute calls for help and her dad's isolation as her mom's health declined.

She also remembers the frustration of going through their things once they finally agreed to relocate to a senior care facility nearby in San Mateo, Calif.

"I must have gone up to the house every Saturday for a year helping them sort through their stuff," Gilbert said. "I couldn't get my mother to make decisions or really do much each visit."

Once settled in the smaller space, surrounded by peers, her father's burden lifted. He got his wish to remain with his wife and began enjoying life again at 86.

Your cute kids: Scared silly by Santa TODAY Moms Facebook fans share photos of their not-so-joyous little ones on the lap of the big, jolly, hairy, red-suited g...

'I am not the victim; I'm the victor,' woman tells attacker What was your favorite TODAY moment in 2011? Let us know! Un-paralyzed by a crash? Docs say its unlikely The ‘It’ gifts everyone wants to receive

Gilbert is now 72 herself and her folks are long dead, but their rocky transition in 1992 motivated her and her husband, David, to consider retirement housing at a much earlier stage. She was only 64 and he 67 when they moved into a full-amenity complex in Palo Alto, Calif., about 20 miles from the rural, ranch-style home where they had spent 35 years and raised their daughter.

There's a chef, a pool, a fitness center, a TV lounge with surround sound and a music room with a grand piano. There's a housekeeping service, a balcony for a small garden and entertainment at least once a month.

"I've never looked back," Gilbert said. "At that time we were the kids here. We certainly weren't candidates for God's waiting room."

As Americans live longer, many people find themselves navigating a confusing web of interconnected services for themselves or their parents when it comes time to shed possessions and relocate. Some, like the Gilberts, use hard-won lessons from their parents' experience to take control of their own late-life downsize while they still have time to enjoy it.

Others have created a new industry, becoming "senior specialists" to help make those transitions less troublesome.

Such specialists span business worlds, from real estate and financial planning to moving, home staging, personal organizing and "late-life coaching." Roughly 25,000 have sought training and education to focus on senior logistics, said Nan Hayes, a senior relocation specialist in suburban Chicago who is also a trainer.

In addition to logistics, they provide emotional breathing room between grown children and aging parents, Hayes said.

"If your parents feel comfortable with the process, if they feel they have some control over it, things will run much more smoothly," she said. "If you have to argue to make your point or force your opinions and decisions on your parents, you will find yourself up against a roadblock. No one will feel good. Moving mom and dad doesn't have to be a nightmare."

In Cincinnati, John Buckles went through a troubling transition with his parents. Determined to enjoy their retirement and hold on to their house, they were forced by ill health into a senior care facility instead, leaving him to sort through decades of their possessions.

"I had no clue what they owned," he said. "I remember being pissed off because there were thousands of books. I must have gotten rid of 2,000 before I realized there was stuff inside of them, like a little story my mother wrote about me, and money."

The experience prompted him to co-found Caring Transitions. With about 130 franchises around the country, the company provides "general contractors" who do what faraway relatives often can't: make sure that moving companies, real estate agents, liquidators, charities, disposal companies, appraisers, cleaners and home stagers are working together with the older person's best interest in mind.

Buckles and Hayes encourage a "sooner-rather-than-later" approach to sifting through possessions, whether the person is moving or looking to "age in place" through home modifications such as handrails and stair lifts. That approach to late-life housing doesn't negate the value of a good home clean-out, they said.

"If you want to remain independent longer, you must start making the decisions and acting now to preserve that independence," said Hayes, who launched a network, MoveSeniors.com, that works with organizations around the country to provide reliable specialists and advice.

"I've witnessed too many situations where adult children are forced to make tough decisions about mom's home and possessions because she kept putting it off," she said.

The emotional toll on an older person can be heavy, bringing on anxiety, depression, sleeplessness and short-term memory loss, said Hayes and Tracy Greene Mintz, a social worker in Redondo Beach, Calif., who specializes in a body of symptoms known as "relocation stress syndrome."

"It's a train, and everybody gets on the moving-mom-and-dad train, and it's easy to focus on the logistical details because they don't require you to address the emotional aspects of the move," Mintz said. "Then mom and dad get to their place and they just shut down."

There's a lot that families can do to de-stress a late-life downsize:

Slow it down
Sometimes, Buckles said, resistance to shedding that grandfather clock or box of old aprons is driven by the owner's desire to tell the stories behind them. "Once that's done, once somebody took the time to listen, they can give it up," he said.

Gifting possessions
Planning to pass down something once you're gone? Don't wait. "I've comforted hundreds of clients who have had to watch their possessions being donated, sold or tossed in a Dumpster," Hayes said. "Take the time to decide what you really need or love, and take steps to get rid of everything else NOW."

False spin
Nobody wants to be the emotional downer, and that can lead to stiff, empty attempts to stay positive when everybody's hurting, Mintz said. "Ask mom or dad, 'Does any of this make you feel anxious? Does any of this make you feel a little bit sad?' That tiny nudge goes miles toward a better outcome in the new place," she said.

Home staging
Mom has always stored the silverware in the top drawer to the right of the fridge. Make sure that happens in her new home. Bring along her favorite beat-up ottoman that you wanted to toss, and have her new place set up with pictures on the wall and slippers bedside when she moves in.

Spouses
Jo Magnum in Raleigh, N.C., twice downsized her parents with the help of her three siblings. They made a pact: no spouses involved. "They weren't allowed in on the conversations over who took what, where our parents went, who took care of the money. They weren't even allowed in the room," she said. "We just didn't need them there."

Downsize the downsize
Organizer Vickie Dellaquila in Pittsburgh wrote a book, "Don't Toss My Memories in the Trash: A Step-by-Step Guide to Helping Seniors Downsize, Organize and Move." Her advice? Don't give up everything in a set if it means that much. Save six rather than all 12 place settings of the good china or silverware. The same goes for treasured books.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

View the original article here

Mom to Mom: Mother seeks tips on caring for real Christmas tree - Springfield News-Leader

It looks like Christmas has exploded in most upstairs rooms of my house. Every year I tell myself I won't do quite so much decorating. Then I ignore my good sense and go all out anyway. My boys like it, and truth be told, so do I (once it's all done).

One tradition we are trimming, however, is holiday gift spending. This is particularly hard for me because I get more pleasure from giving to those I love than I do from unwrapping stuff for myself. But like many families, we simply have to cut back.

Instead of spending, I'm creating several projects this year. Do you make any of your gifts? Share your holiday ideas on OzarksMoms.com.

One mom put up a real Christmas tree for the first time, at one daughter's request: "I don't have a clue what to do, as in care, etc. ... Anyone have any tips or tricks on these things?" she asks.

Did you guys give the trunk a fresh cut when you got it home, or did they do it at the lot? If not ... you'll want to take it down and slice off the bottom inch or so. If you can't do that, drilling a few big holes will work, but not as well.

The most important thing is to keep it watered. I've read about and tried adding a few things, like those packets of food, or Sprite with a little bleach, or aspirin, and I honestly can't tell you what has helped and what hasn't. In the end, fresh cool water is all you really need and it will drink a lot. ... If it goes completely dry, the trunk could seal up and then you'll have a dry, brittle tree and that's not going to be pretty or safe, and yeah, the needles will fall off a lot faster.

If you trim the branches back a bit (I always do a bit of trimming), try to keep the kids away from it until the sap dries. It can cause an awful, sticky mess. I sometimes also use fishing line to sort of pull or anchor the branches where they need to be if you have any large bare spots.

-- Lauri

Don't put your tree where heat vents blow directly on it, or put it where it receives direct sunlight because that will dry it out. I also think if you use a humidifier in the room with the tree, you will lose fewer needles.

-- Madison

Moms are talking about whether they send holiday cards or not.

We had our picture taken for the grandmothers so we turned those into Christmas cards. I'm just waiting on the last of the address changes to come in, and then they'll be ready to go. We don't do it every year, but it worked out this year.

-- JDW0780

I used to go all out with Christmas cards every year, then kids came along. No more Christmas cards.

-- MsT

We do e-cards -- usually JibJab.

-- Princessteach80

Every year I have a 'theme' and an idea -- and it is a lot of work but it is fun and I am 'famous' for my cards, so it is something I enjoy. One year, when my daughter was missing her two front teeth, I took a picture of her with a pair of pliers in her hand --going after my son's teeth -- and of course titled it "All I want for Christmas ..."

Last year was with the kids' punked/rocked out, and we did "Rocking around the Christmas tree," etc.

-- Shaney

Looking for things to do? Check out the December calendar.

View the original article here

THE MOM COLUMN: Parent Discovers Coastal Cuties Community - Gazette Newspapers

Becoming a parent is hard.

Nobody seems to want to tell you exactly how hard it is, but as soon as your baby is born, you suddenly understand all of those looks that you got when you were pregnant.

The first night at home with my daughter Stella, it became quite apparent that I needed help — lots of it. I had this overwhelming sense that I was completely alone with burp cloths and diapers. My parents came down from the Bay Area as soon as they heard that the first contractions had begun, but I knew that the extra sets of hands were not here to stay. I felt the crushing weight of anxiety in my chest.

I was fortunate enough to be able to stay home for the first seven months that Stella was born. During these seven months, I experienced a wide range of emotions and shed many tears. I often felt alone, isolated, and trapped. The guilt that kicked in alongside those feelings made things worse. My poor hubby helped as much as he could, but I truly felt like I needed another mommy friend who was going through the same thing.

Looking back on that time, I now know that it is all part of being a new mom. That still doesn't change the fact that it was a difficult time. Why couldn't I have just found a fellow mother to chat with, complain to, and walk off those pregnancy pounds with?

I found her, a little late, but I found her. Well, actually, I found them. I recently had breakfast with Andrea Salisbury (president and founder) and Ambyr Hardy ("partner in crime" and spokeswoman) of the group Coastal Cuties of Long Beach.

The group's mission includes providing a community and that community's support to mothers in Long Beach. The group meets regularly and has a variety of events for moms, moms and little ones, and even families. You may have seen their float in the Belmont Shore Christmas Parade! The one thing that the diverse set of moms all have in common is the desire to raise their children in a loving, healthy environment.

Even though Stella is 18 months old, I am going to start spending some time with Coastal Cuties. The group is open to all moms, whether they are working or staying at home.

Andrea is taking their upcoming mom's night out and turning it into a fundraiser for a half marathon I am running with Team in Training in January. This is exactly the type of support you can find with Coastal Cuties.

If you have ever felt alone, wanted another parent to talk to (their events often include dads), get some support on raising your little one every now and then, this group is worth checking out.

Hopefully, I will see you at future events! More information on Coastal Cuties can be found at www.coastalcuties.com.

About Kelley: Kelley is a Long Beach resident, wife, and mother to daughter Stella. By day, she is an educator for both Long Beach Unified School District and California State University, Long Beach. By night she does her best to juggle the joys of momhood, the duties of being the lady of the house, and fervent attempts to have a little fun.

View the original article here

Valley mom's portrait among top 12 in nationwide photo contest - Danville News

WEST MILTON -- Liam Martin smiled as he slept curled up on his mommy's chest Saturday. Little does the 2-week-old know he may become a celebrity before he can even hold up his head.

A photo of mother Keturah "Kitty" Martin's baby bump landed her among 12 semifinalists of 450 entrants in the nationwide "Imagine Me & You" contest, sponsored by the Million Moms Challenge community organization with ABC News and the United Nations Foundation.

If the West Milton woman's photo is among three finalists chosen Friday, she has the chance to have her son's portrait taken 10,000 miles away, by world-famous photographer Anne Geddes in Australia.

Keturah learned of the contest from a friend on Thanksgiving -- the day before Liam arrived.

"I thought, I can't enter this, I'm having a baby!" she said. But she then remembered the baby bump photo taken by her friend Danielle Coons, a photographer.

The photo shows Keturah's hands, husband Bryce's hands and those of 2-year-old son Isaac forming a heart around her very pregnant abdomen.

A software program allowed "I wanna hold your hand" to be written on the photograph across Keturah's belly, words chosen to fit the contest rules of describing, in five words or fewer, her vision of her baby's future.

"Through motherhood, one of the very special things I've learned is just holding my child's hand brings such joy," Keturah said of why she chose those words. "I love to hold Isaac's hand, and then with Liam, just the power in those tiny fingers, it brings such emotion out in me."

That's what she loves about the photo Coons took.

"Her whole vision is to capture love" in her photographs, Keturah said. "She has such an incredible eye for it in her work."

The photo could capture the Martins the grand prize, announced in January -- a trip for two plus baby to Sydney, Australia, for a portrait photo shoot with Geddes, who will choose the winner herself. All three finalists get a year's supply of Huggies diapers.

Geddes is famous for her stylized depictions of babies and motherhood. Her typical images show babies or young children dressed as fairies, small animals and asleep in flowers.

The photo contest is to help the Million Moms Challenge, which seeks to raise awareness and funds to help women and children worldwide. Johnson & Johnson is donating $1 per signature up to $100,000 to provide proper nutrition and pre- and post-natal care for women and babies.

n Email comments to esocha@dailyitem.com

View the original article here

Elbert: Dividends increase among Iowa firms - Des Moines Register

Dividends are back.

Eleven of Iowa?s 21 largest publicly traded companies raised their dividends an average of 17 percent during the past year, with Des Moines-based Meredith Corp. initiating a 50 percent boost in October and West Des Moines insurer FBL Financial Group announcing a 60 percent increase last month.

?More and more companies are feeling more and more confident about their earnings to the point where they are reinstating their normal dividend policies,? said James Paulsen, chief investment strategist for Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis.

?Presumably, these firms are accumulating a lot of free cash flow and it?s time to do something with it,? said Travis Sapp, an associate professor of finance at Iowa State University.

?Free cash flow? is money that?s available after normal operating and capital expenses. In the past, a lot of it was used for plant expansions and acquisitions. But the economic downturn changed that by severely limiting growth opportunities. So, today, more free cash flow goes to pay dividends and repurchase company stock.

The recent pattern of rising dividends, which includes companies as diverse as Walt Disney Co., Deere and Wells Fargo, bucks a three-decade trend in the other direction, said ISU?s Sapp.

Nonetheless, higher dividends are good news for fixed-income investors as they struggle to keep pace with rising inflation and a Consumer Price Index that has climbed above 3 percent at a time when the return on most bank deposits and government bonds is in the 1-2 percent range.

By contrast, as of last week, seven of Iowa?s publicly traded companies were paying dividends with yields above 3 percent, led by Meredith?s 5.1 percent yield.

Seventeen of Iowa?s 21 largest publicly traded companies pay a dividend.

That?s unusual, Sapp said, because many companies don?t.

Dividends fell out of favor during the technology boom and deregulation periods of the 1990s and early 2000s with the result that today ?fewer companies are choosing to initiate dividends,? he said.

Companies pay dividends for many reasons, Paulsen said, but a common one is to maintain or boost stock prices.

A good example is Meredith, the Des Moines-based media company that publishes women?s magazines and owns 13 TV stations.

Since Meredith announced a 50 percent increase in its quarterly dividend on Oct. 25, its share price has increased more than 20 percent when the major market indexes were flat to up 2 percent.

Not all of Meredith?s gain can be attributed to the dividend. In recent weeks, the media company received favorable mentions in financial publications, including Barron?s and Bloomberg. Also, its dividend announcement was coupled with a $100 million share buy-back.

The reverse is also true. Sapp said there are plenty of examples of companies whose share prices tanked after they cut or eliminated dividends.

Before the economy went sour, dividends were not popular with many corporate executives, Sapp said. He cited a pre-2008 survey that found a large number of chief executives and chief financial officers agreed with a statement that essentially said: ?If we could do it over again, we don?t want to get locked in to dividend expectations; we would manage it either through one-time special pay outs or stock repurchases.?

But that was then, and this is now.

The last time dividend yields were as high as they are today was in early 2009, when the stock market collapse had already destroyed share prices but trailing dividend payouts had not yet caught up. In the months that followed, there were massive dividend cuts and many companies even eliminated dividends entirely.

?We?re on the other side of that equation now,? Paulsen said, meaning that current dividend yields should be sustainable going forward.

Many, but not all, of the Iowa companies that increased dividends in the past year were playing catch-up for cuts they made in 2008 or 2009.

FBL Financial Group is a good example. The West Des Moines-based insurer announced a 60 percent dividend increase last month, the largest of any Iowa company this year. The announcement raised FBL?s quarterly payout from 6.25 cents a share to 10 cents a share, but was still less than the 12.5 cents dividend paid before 2009.

But even the 10 cent per quarter rate produces a small yield of about 1.2 percent, placing FBL?s payout in the bottom half of yields for publicly traded Iowa companies.

Something else to keep in mind, Paulsen said, is that current dividend payouts amount to only about 27 percent of trailing earnings for S&P 500 companies. That?s historically low, he said, noting that payouts of 50 percent and more were common before the early 1990s.

The latest quarterly dividend at West Bancorp. amounts to about 33 percent of earnings, but David Nelson, president of the bank holding company, expects that to climb in coming years.

The bank has a history of high payouts that was interrupted when it had to cut and then eliminate its dividend in 2009.

But that?s over, Nelson said, and the new dividend, which increased 40 percent to 7 cents a share in November, puts the bank back on the path to meeting shareholder expectations.

So far this year, West Bancorp.?s stock is up nearly 25 percent, and the new dividend provides a yield of about 3 percent.

?Most of our shareholders want ? both income and appreciation,? Nelson said.

View the original article here

Multitasking stresses out working moms more than dads - USA Today

Ever unload the dishwasher while helping with a child's homework? Ever keep one eye on soccer practice while checking your voice mail and trying to figure out what to make for dinner?

Joel Salcido, for USA TODAY

Working moms are multitasking about two-fifths of their waking hours, experts say.

Joel Salcido, for USA TODAY

Working moms are multitasking about two-fifths of their waking hours, experts say.

That's called multitasking, and in a fast-paced world, American working moms do a whole lot of it -- and seem more stressed by it than working dads, a new study shows.

According to the research, working mothers spend 9 more hours a week multitasking than do working fathers, or about 48 hours per week for moms compared with 39 for dads.

And, when they have to multitask, women don't particularly enjoy it.

The research found that when women are trying to do multiple things at once, they report feeling stressed, while men don't seem to mind it as much. Researchers say it could be because men's multitasking at home more often involves work, while women's involves combining household chores and child-rearing, which may leave them feeling conflicted and guilty.

Among working mothers, 53 percent of multitasking at home involves housework compared with 42 percent among working fathers. Additionally, 36 percent of women's multitasking at home involves child care compared with 28 percent for fathers.

"The hours men spend in household labor have increased, but when you include multitasking, then you are able to see women are still shouldering more of the household responsibilities than men," said study co-author Barbara Schneider, a professor of sociology and education at Michigan State University.

The study is published in the December issue of the American Sociological Review.

Researchers used data from the 500 Family Study, which provided comprehensive information from 1999 to 2000 on U.S. families living in eight urban and suburban communities across the nation. The 368 mothers and 241 fathers in the current study typically have college degrees, are employed in professional occupations, work long hours and report higher earnings than do middle-class families in other nationally representative samples.

Previous research has found that women feel overburdened with work and family responsibilities, and feel they have too little time to attend to both, according to background information in the study.

The percentage of professional women working at least 50 hours a week has more than doubled, from 6 percent in the 1970s to 14 percent in the late 2000s, according to background information in the study, while the increase among men was 34 percent to 38 percent.

In almost 30 percent of all dual-earner couples with children, at least one spouse works a nonstandard daytime schedule, and in almost half of these couples at least one spouse works during the weekend.

Meanwhile, technology and increasing workplace demands have led to a blurring of the line between work and home. All this may be fueling more and more multitasking as parents try to do more than one task simultaneously -- like talking on the phone while folding laundry -- and get done more in limited time, researchers said.

To track multitasking, participants wore a wristwatch that beeped at seven random times throughout waking hours. Participants then responded to a short survey, which asked what they were doing, what they were thinking about and how they were feeling psychologically.

Working moms are multitasking about two-fifths of their waking hours, Schneider said.

What can be done to alleviate the pressure on moms?

Getting dads to not just pitch in more, but to share more equally in the child care and housework would help, Schneider said. In other words, don't just take your daughter to gymnastics when your wife says she can't do it. Make that your job to take her to gymnastics every week.

And for that matter, getting the kids to do more can help. Housework and yard work doesn't seem half as bad when the whole family works together to get chores done. Moms in particular feel positive about working together as a family, she added.

"Doing these things together, whether it's cleaning up or wrapping presents or whatever it is you need to do; when mom isn't the one out there till 9 p.m. trying to get it all done, these are the kinds of things that make a family run smoothly as a unit," Schneider said.

Moms also need to ease up some on themselves. Be aware that multitasking can leave you stressed and feeling pulled in too many directions, so try, as hard as it is, to do just one thing at once and accept you may not be able to do everything you wanted to do.

More flexible schedules and workplace cultures that support families -- whether that's allowing people to work from home or limiting expectations that employees will take work home -- can also help working parents, she added.

"The bar for being a good parent, the normative values of being a good mother, have gotten very high, and that leave mothers feeling a lot of pressure and stress," Schneider said.

Ann Bookman, an adjunct senior lecturer at Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management in Waltham, Mass., said there are many anectodal reports of women feeling overburdened by the demands of combining family and work life. The study, Bookman said, suggests that the demands of multitasking may be at the root of some of their stress.

"This incredible focus on maximizing productivity at every moment has tremendous social and public health costs," Bookman said. "That's why astudy like this is so important. It's not just that we have a sense that weand others are feeling overwhelmed. If you take a sample and very carefullyanalyze the numbers, you can begin to see in very graphic terms that womenare still the primary caregivers and we are asking them to do just as muchin the workforce."

Over time, repeated bouts of stress may take a toll, she added.

"It impacts the body and your psychological state, and the researchers are providing the evidence for really seeing multitasking as a significant public health issue for women," Bookman added.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

View the original article here

Moms Clean Air Force Launches New Video Series with Celebrity Moms - Yahoo Finance

WASHINGTON , Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Moms Clean Air Force -- a community of more than 44,000 concerned parents, grandparents, and other relatives who are fighting for clean air for their children -- has launched a new video series with some celebrity members talking about why clean air is important to them.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111208/DC19614LOGO)

In the first videos of the new series, award winning actress Blythe Danner and novelist Ayelet Waldman talk about the reasons they joined the fight for safer, healthier air and the impact that environmental pollutants have had on their own families.

Two shorter PSA-style videos from Up All Night actresses Maya Rudolph and Christina Applegate have also been added to the Moms Clean Air Force web site.

Visitors to the Moms Clean Air Force website can also sign a new online petition to President Obama to help reduce one of the most dangerous air pollutants – mercury.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to unveil the new Mercury and Air Toxics Standard within the next few weeks. The new standard is expected to lower the amount of mercury, arsenic, acid gases, and other toxins in the emissions from power plants. Mercury damages brain and nervous system development in babies; coal-fired power plants are the single biggest source of mercury emissions in America, but the new Mercury and Air Toxics Standard will prevent the majority of the mercury in coal from being emitted into our air

The online petitions will be sent to the White House to underscore how important the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard is to American moms, and to the health of American families.

Moms Clean Air Force launched over the summer, and since then thousands of parents have signed up each week to speak up in favor of safe and healthy air for their children – and in defense of the Clean Air Act, which protects our air. We are approaching 50,000 moms who are speaking out, blogging and networking aggressively, including high profile and celebrity moms who want to speak out in defense of their children's health. You can join the fight for clean air at www.momscleanairforce.org and on Facebook and Twitter.

Contact:
Sharyn Stein , sstein@momscleanairforce.org
Lauren Guite , lguite@momscleanairforce.org

View the original article here

Working moms far more stressed than dads - The Business Journal

Gary BurnsAssociate Editor - Business FirstEmail

Working mothers – multitasking like crazy – are far more stressed than working fathers, the latest research indicates.

And somewhere in the background, mom whispers: “Tell me something that I don’t already know.”

This is the story: According to research published in the American Sociological Review, working mothers spend considerably more time multitasking at home than working dads. And the load is pressuring those moms with a loads of stress.

Those were the essential results of research carried out by scientists at Michigan State University and Bar-Ilan University in Israel, who took a close look at 368 working mothers and 241 working fathers, who all were employed outside the home.

Moms were under stress at home far more than dads, according to the study.

“The first thing (moms) had to start worrying about (after work) is getting dinner, interfacing with their kids, getting done all the housework chores,” said Barbara Schneider, a sociologist at Michigan State. For dads, not so much.

The researchers obtained their data by giving the study participants watches that beeped at random times throughout the day. Each time the watches beeped, the research subjects filled out forms indicating what they were doing, “what else” they were also doing, whether they were happy, whether they were stressed and whether they wished they were doing something else entirely.

“You could see from the data all the stresses and strains (the mothers) felt as they walked in the door (at home), and all the tasks” they felt compelled to get done, especially during the hectic early evening hours. The study results showed that working moms multitasked 10.5 hours per week more than dads, doing things like making dinner, doing laundry, helping the kids with homework and squeezing in some work from the office as well.

And now the holiday season is upon us. A number of working moms say they especially dread this time of year. Does anyone have the nerve to ask them why?

Buffalo Business First associate editor, blogger

See all your followed company news on your personalized dashboard.

To access the full benefits of bizWatch and receive a weekly email with aggregated news on all the companies you are following, please provide your email address below.

View the original article here

Motherhood and Money: How Baby Changes Everything - Yahoo Finance

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire -12/08/11)- A new nationwide survey issued by Citibank's Women & Co. reveals that money is top of mind for U.S. mothers, following only parenting as the top topics that they think about daily. In fact, among their myriad of parenting responsibilities, 6 in 10 moms are making most of the day-to-day money decisions in the family and another 3 in 10 share decisions equally with their spouse.

The study, conducted by BabyCenter, also finds that after having children, moms' role grew across all financial responsibilities, notably: deciding on new financial products/accounts for the family (18 percentage point increase post-baby), budgeting (16 percentage points), spending (15 percentage points), managing savings (15 percentage points) and long-term financial planning (13 percentage points).

For the last 11 years, Citibank's Women & Co., a leading provider of financial insights and resources for women, has provided a variety of solutions to both simplify and enrich moms' lives. "As every parent knows, having a baby changes everything -- and finances are not an exception," says Linda Descano, CFA®, President and CEO of Women & Co. "The life change of a baby brings about new and substantial financial needs and questions. After having children, moms are increasingly taking charge of not just day-to-day spending, but also the longer-term planning of the financial future of their family."

Having a baby prompted moms to spend less on themselves (72 percent); use deals, coupons and offers more often (68 percent); reconsider spending (64 percent); talk more about money with spouse/partner (49 percent); and save more for the future (43 percent). Also, their top financial priorities post-baby shifted from paying down debt and planning for retirement to lowering expenses and saving for college. Savings remained a top priority before and after baby.

American moms are seeking money-saving ideas (59%), education savings/planning solutions (44%) and longer-term financial planning (44%) among other financial advice to help better manage their finances. When asked "what is the one piece of money/financial advice for expecting or new moms," the replies overwhelmingly focused on saving money.

To help moms save more, spend less, and plan for the future, Linda offers the following strategies:

1. Take a snapshot. Saving requires you to analyze, plan, organize and evaluate. But first, you should know the current state of your finances. Understand what you have and what you spend.

2. Set short and long-term goals. View your savings needs as long-term (e.g., retirement and college savings) and short-term (e.g., home repairs) so you can better decide how to allocate your money. Define where you want your family to be in 1 year, 5 years, and even 20 years so you can align your savings with your goals.

3. Make a "savings sacrifice." Track your expenses for an entire month, then evaluate where your money is going. Recalibrate what you've come to view as a "must-have" versus a "nice-to-have."

4. Save something every month and build an "emergency" fund. Automatically put a set amount -- no amount is too small -- of every paycheck in your savings account. Aim to accumulate enough cash to cover 6 months of living expenses at a minimum, and set that aside for a bona fide household emergency. If you already have an "emergency" fund, it can't hurt to keep adding to it, especially during a time of economic uncertainty.

5. Start saving for college early. Having your child put his/her birthday money into a college savings plan may seem like a drop in the bucket when you look at the average cost of college, but over a long time horizon, it can make a difference. Consider making regular contributions (even if they are small) to a college savings vehicle, as well as asking other family members to contribute.

6. Stay on an investment diet. Just as eating a wide variety of foods is necessary for sustaining a healthy body, selecting an assortment of investments can help you maintain a sound investment portfolio. Rebalance your 401(k), IRA, and any other investment accounts you have on a regular basis to keep it in sync with your goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon.

7. Join the conversation. According to the survey, 43% of moms seek other moms and how they address their own financial issues and two-thirds of mothers feel helpful when sharing money advice and tips with other moms. Consider joining groups such as Women & Co. to access current financial thinking and a community of like-minded women.

For more help on financial planning, check out the worksheet Set and Achieve Your Financial Goals and the video Tips for a Lifetime of Financial Strength on womenandco.com. Also, visit Women & Co.'s award-winning blog, Insights and Outlooks.

Women & Co., a service of Citibank, is the go-to source online for what women want to know about personal finance. Sign up for free at www.womenandco.com

To schedule an interview with Linda Descano, CFA®, of Women & Co., please contact Tami McCarthy at 212.750.5755 or tami@tmgpr.com or Andrew Brent at 212.559.1299 or andrew.brent@citi.com.

Survey Methodology
BabyCenter recruited U.S. moms from the BabyCenter 21st Century Mom™ Panel age 18+ with at least one child. A total of 512 respondents answered a primarily closed-ended online survey, fielded between October 25 and November 11.

Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com.

Women & Co. is a membership service that provides financial education and related resources intended for informational purposes only. No feature of the membership shall constitute an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security. Women and Company, Women & Co., Citibank, Citi, and Citi with Arc Design are registered service marks of Citigroup Inc. Women & Co., Citibank, Citi Personal Wealth Management, and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. are affiliated businesses under the common control of Citigroup Inc. Where wisdom, wealth and women meet is a service mark of Citigroup Inc.

View the original article here

MARCH OF DIMES Joins the Million Moms Challenge with ABC News and the UN FOUNDATION - PR Newswire

First-of-its-kind Campaign Connects a Million Americans with Millions of Moms in Developing Countries Across the Globe

NEW YORK, Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today the March of Dimes is joining ABC News and the United Nations Foundation in the recently launched Million Moms Challenge. This first-of-its kind initiative is connecting millions of Americans with millions of moms in developing countries around the world to engage on the critical issues of pregnancy, childbirth and children's health -- moms here helping moms worldwide.

Since its launch on September 19th, 2011, the Million Moms Challenge has built a vibrant community that connects moms across the globe by using the latest social media strategies together with world-class broadcast and digital news platforms to shine a light on the extraordinary challenges faced by mothers and babies in the developing world.

Stories based on compelling characters and innovative solutions are featured on ABC News' broadcasts including "Good Morning America," "World News with Diane Sawyer," "Nightline," and "20/20," as well as other ABC News platforms including ABCNews.com and ABC News Radio. The initiative will lead up to a one-hour prime time special on maternal health anchored by Diane Sawyer on December 16, 2011.

"There is so much we can do together – so many simple ways for us all to link arms to make sure every mother and child has a chance to lead a healthy life," said ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer.

The Million Moms Challenge will focus on things mothers care about:  the right nutrition to support their pregnancies, skilled attendants to assist in safe deliveries of newborns, and vaccines that allow children to survive to celebrate their first birthdays and beyond.

"We applaud ABC News and the United Nations Foundation efforts to improve the health of women and children around the world," says Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes. "Our global initiative for the prevention of premature birth, is of particular interest given that worldwide, 13 million babies are born early every year, including more than half a million in the United States."

As part of the initiative a dedicated website (www.millionmomschallenge.com) provides a live, interactive forum for some of the nation's top mom bloggers to share their stories and ideas through blogs and video posts in real time with moms and midwives in the developing world. Viewers who want to know more and get involved will find ways large and small to make a difference in their own communities and around the world. The Million Moms Challenge hopes that at least a million Americans will join the movement by signing up on the Challenge's website and /or on Facebook.

"You don't have to be a mom to help a mom," said Kathy Calvin, CEO of the UN Foundation.  "A healthier tomorrow for our world starts with healthy moms and babies today. The Million Moms Challenge gives us the chance to make history by sharing stories, ideas and sparking a global conversation that will help the United Nations build a global partnership for healthy lives," she added.

In addition to the March of Dimes, the Million Moms Challenge partners include the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Cancer Society, African Medical and Research Foundation, CARE, Every Mother Counts, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, GAVI Alliance, mothers2mothers, ONE Campaign, Partners in Health, Riders for Health, Save the Children, UN Foundation's Shot@Life campaign, US Fund for UNICEF, White Ribbon Alliance, and WorldVision.

Along with ABC News and the UN Foundation, Johnson & Johnson and BabyCenter are corporate partners in the initiative.  BabyCenter is encouraging 10 million moms in the US and 14 million moms overseas to take the challenge and stand up for moms and babies around the world.  For the first 100,000 people who sign on to the Million Moms Challenge or like the Challenge on Facebook, Johnson & Johnson will donate $100,000 to some of the biggest NGO partners helping moms and babies overseas.

The Million Moms Challenge is part of an ABC News year-long global health series "Be the Change: Save a Life," which is sponsored in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 

For more information about the Million Moms Challenge visit www.millionmomschallenge.com. To get involved in the conversation about healthy moms and babies around the world, follow @AMillionMoms on Twitter and use the hash-tag #MillionMomsChallenge.  You can also like Million Moms on Facebook at facebook.com/millionmomschallenge.

About March of Dimes

The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health.  With chapters nationwide, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.com or nacersano.org. Find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

About ABC News 

ABC News is responsible for all of the ABC Television Network's news programming on a variety of platforms: television, radio and the Internet.  Its flagship program is "World News with Diane Sawyer" with other programs including "Good Morning America," "Nightline," "Primetime," "20/20," and the Sunday morning political affairs program "This Week with Christiane Amanpour." With an average television and radio audience of 180 million people in a given month, ABC News surpasses the competition.  More than 2,400 affiliate stations broadcast ABC News Radio's global news coverage.  In addition, ABC News NOW is a 24-hour news and information network currently available to 44 million users across cable, broadband, and mobile platforms. NewsOne, the affiliate news service of ABC News, provides live and packaged news, sports, and weather reports, as well as footage of news events, to 200 ABC affiliates and more than 30 domestic and international clients. Visit www.abcnews.com.

About the United Nations Foundation

The United Nations Foundation, a public charity, was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner's historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities. The UN Foundation builds and implements public/private partnerships to address the world's most pressing problems, and works to broaden support for the UN through advocacy and public outreach.  Through campaigns and partnerships, the organization connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The campaigns reduce child mortality, empower women and girls, create a new energy future, secure peace and human rights, and promote technology innovation to improve health outcomes. These solutions are helping the UN advance the eight global targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For more information, visit www.unfoundation.org.

SOURCE March of Dimes

Back to top

RELATED LINKS
http://www.marchofdimes.com/
http://www.millionmomschallenge.com
http://www.abcnews.com
http://www.unfoundation.org

View the original article here

Moms decry family devastation caused by drug policies - San Diego Union-Tribune

The holiday season is here. As the weather turns chilly and we move indoors to enjoy the warmth and safety of our homes and the closeness of family and friends, I am acutely aware of those not so fortunate: people who are out in the elements, either because of dire financial situations or mental and addictive illness.

This time of year is particularly difficult for those who must navigate the mighty and destructive waves of addiction. It‘s painful for families who are separated because of a loved one’s incarceration, whose young person is lost on the streets due to drug problems, whose children are in danger because of the violence of the drug cartels, or those who have lost a loved one to overdose. Often a family member is missing from the festivities because of stigma and shame.

At some point I stopped regarding the approach of Christmas with joyful anticipation and became filled with dread. It wasn’t after my father or my nephew died, because they were remembered and celebrated at the table, or even after the breakup of my first marriage. It was all of the times that my older son was absent because he was locked behind bars in that cold, concrete jungle, and I couldn’t figure out where I belonged … with him to somehow nurture and sustain him, or in the bosom of the rest of my family. It is the memories of holidays when one of my sons wasn’t included because he was lost in the maze of his addiction, and his name wasn’t even mentioned because of pain, discomfort and even judgment. Those omissions widened the hole in my heart.

I weep for the countless families who have been torn apart by discriminatory and destructive drug policies that lock up fathers and remove children from their mothers in the name of the war on drugs, which is really a war waged against families and communities.

This season, mothers are banding together and speaking out with human stories of injustice and devastation, to encourage other mothers to join our voices for change. Moms United to End the War on Drugs is a national movement to end the violence, mass incarceration and accidental overdose deaths that are the result of these blundering punitive policies.

Mothers across the nation and around the world have experienced the ravages of the war on drugs. Joy Strickland, from Moms Against Teen Violence in Texas, says, “The empty place at the table is a powerful metaphor for the incredible void that permeates my life during the holidays and all year long because my son lost his life to drug prohibition violence.”

Denise Cullen of Broken No More expresses her sense of emptiness after her son died of an accidental overdose, just two days after his release from four months in county jail, “We haven’t had a Christmas tree or decorations in our home since 2007. I don’t think we ever will again. The holidays bring nothing but pain.”

Kathie Kane-Willis, from the Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy, Roosevelt University, remembers when she was addicted to heroin and missing from her family’s holiday table. “I know someone waited and despaired over me. Now, I wait for those with substance use disorders to be served by our health care system rather than languishing in prison. Until that wait is over, there will always be an extra place setting at my holiday table for those who are locked up, thrown away or left out.”

At a time when 2.3 million people are incarcerated in the United States and overdose is a leading cause of accidental death, mothers must lead the way in demanding harm-reduction strategies, health-oriented solutions, and restorative justice, for the sake of our children and future generations.

Burns Bergman is co-founder and executive director of A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing) and lead organizer of the Moms United to End the War on Drugs campaign.

View the original article here

More Iowans buying homes with cash - Des Moines Register

Kyle Golay saved for nearly two years to come up with the down payment for the $224,000 home he wanted to buy in West Des Moines.

The 25-year-old didn?t need to go far for financing, though. His father, Doug Golay, banked the purchase, with a below-market interest rate, no credit check or closing costs.

?The money could sit in the bank, where it wasn?t earning much, or we could invest it in our son,? said Doug Golay, a Coon Rapids businessman. ?He is repaying us with a better interest rate than we could get from a CD.?

At a time when the housing market is struggling, the number of Des Moines-area homes purchased with cash is more than double that of a decade ago. And 10 months into 2011, cash purchases were 44 percent higher than even 2005, which was the peak of the metro area?s housing boom.

Among the reasons for increased cash buyers:

The distressed housing market ? foreclosures, short sales and underwater sellers ? is driving home prices down and attracting investors in Iowa and the nation who seek discounts, says Walter Molony of the National Association of Realtors. Buying distressed housing is easier with cash, and a strong rental market gives a healthy return.

Tougher financing requirements are prompting parents like Golay to back their kids? first purchase, said Les Sulgrove, president of the Des Moines Area Association of Realtors. ?There?s not a lot of places you can put your money right now to get a decent return,? said Sulgrove. ?Real estate over the long term is still a good investment.?

Homes have become more attractive to investors. Nationally, about 30 percent of sales in distressed markets like Arizona, Nevada and Florida are cash, said Molony. ?About two-thirds of cash activity is investors,? he said. ?Typically investors are renovating them and holding on to them as rentals ? the lion?s share ? or reselling them for profit.?

?In many cases, there?s an immediate positive cash flow, because the rental demand is so strong,? said Molony. ?They?re income producers.?

In the Des Moines metro area, cash sales have climbed from 13.4 percent of sales in 2008, the year the national recession gripped Iowa, to 22 percent of sales so far this year, data show. A decade ago, metro-area cash transactions were only 8.3 percent of purchases.

Other metro areas report growing cash sales, too. The percentage in the Council Bluffs area so far this year is more than double 2005, while Cedar Rapids has seen more moderate growth, with nearly 16 percent of purchases this year in cash, up from 11.5 percent in 2005.

Cash is king, especially in this turbulent market, Molony said, with cash bidders typically winning over buyers who need financing.

Sellers also will provide greater price concessions to cash buyers, since they avoid the difficulty and delays that come with getting loans and appraisals, said Kurt Schade, president of the Iowa Association of Realtors. Wanting to snag the discounts, some buyers are misleading sellers about their ability to buy without financing, he said.

?They?re sneaky,? Schade said. ?Sellers are beginning to require verification that the buyer has the cash.?

Sulgrove said cash often works best when buying distressed properties. ?Banks are not lending to investors like they did in the past. They have larger down payments, higher interest rates. It?s not favorable to investors.?

The national real estate group said the average credit score required last year rose to 698 for Federal Home Administration loans from a previous range of 650 to 660. Loans backed by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae required credit scores that were about 40 points higher than a historical requirement of 720.

Those tighter lending requirements are pushing parents to buy homes for their children as well.

Golay said his son Kyle has a good job operating computer-controlled equipment at a Des Moines manufacturer, but was still concerned about qualifying for a mortgage and the added costs of closing.

Doug Golay, who sold a software company in California a dozen years ago to move back to Iowa with his family, said he talked with his son about financing the purchase, going over the costs and his son?s budget.

?We made it clear this isn?t a gift. Even though we?re the bank, we made sure he was committed and had a down payment,? said Golay.

An attorney drew up a contract between father and son.

Steven Smith, a Re/Max real estate agent, said he has curbed his cash buying and reselling of Des Moines-area homes, dropping to about 20 homes a year from 100 earlier.

Unlike investors who look for rentals, Smith mostly purchases homes to fix up and resell, a difficult task, given the slower housing market. ?You can buy like crazy but you can?t sell them,? said Smith, who has been personally buying and selling homes for 25 of his 36 years in real estate.

Plus, he said, these days, discounted properties are riskier to purchase than in the past.

Schade, a Coldwell Banker agent, said lenders selling foreclosed homes often refuse to turn on water and power for an inspection, so problems like broken pipes and furnaces are hidden.

?It?s not a reliable inspection. You?re in there with a flashlight,? he said.

And lenders for the purchase are unwilling to provide mortgages until ?they verify the house isn?t full of deficiencies,? Schade said. ?It?s really challenging.?

?You need about eight people in the house, including a plumber and a drywaller, when you turn on the water. You wait for a leak, turn off the water, fix it, and do it all over again,? he said. ?Most buyers can?t assume that much risk.?

Smith said he?s buying houses that are inexpensive, typically less than $50,000. Sometimes squatters have caused damage, copper wiring gets stolen, and water damage lurks.

?You have to sign 30 pages of non-disclosures. Mold, radon, asbestos ? they go on and on,? said Smith. ?You?re dealing with mortgage companies that have had every kind of lawsuit you can imagine.

?It?s not for the weak of heart,? he said. ?There are a lot of surprises. But cash buyers can sometimes get great deals.?

Schade said parents financing their adult children?s purchases are buying homes that cost up to $250,000.

?Gen Y wants new construction,? Schade said. ?They don?t want other people?s dirty carpets. They don?t want other people?s choice of colors.?

Doug Golay said he?s confident his son is a good risk and said he would offer the same deal to his other son once he graduates from college and has a good job.

?You can rent and waste money, or you can buy and wake up in 20 years and find your home is mostly paid for,? said Golay.

View the original article here

Dr. Moms - Treatment Guide for Android - CNet

CNET Editors' note: The "Download Now" link directs you to the Android Market where you must continue the download process. This download may not be available in some countries.

An App dedicated to all you Doctor Moms out there who function as the "doctor of the family" whenever anybody gets sick. Based on treatment guidelines from Patient's Self-Treatment Guide from http://www.selftreatmentguide.comThis app was written by a Family Doctor to guide you in treating your common sick symptoms. It includes a listing of common symptoms along with RED FLAGS to warn you when you might be facing a medical emergency. It helps guide you in deciding when to go to the ER, when to see your doctor promptly, and when it is safe to try self-treatment first. For each symptom, you will know what to keep in mind in self-treatment and what products or over-the-counter medications are available at your local pharmacy to help you. Along with each medication, you will know which ones are approved by the FDA along with general precautions for side effects or drug interactions for each. Finally, it will also tell you when you should give up trying to treat your symptoms before you get worse, and ends with a discussion of what else your doctor can do to help you that you won't be able to do on your own.Recent changes:This is the first version of the app. version 0.5. Please give me some feed backs via the form inside the app, to help guide us on how to improve the app for you.Content rating: Medium Maturity

What's new in this version: This is the first version of the app. version 0.5. Please give me some feed backs via the form inside the app, to help guide us on how to improve the app for you.

View the original article here

Moms supporting each other

Posted: Friday, December 9, 2011 9:55 am | Updated: 9:58 am, Fri Dec 9, 2011.

What’s a mother to do?

That question has probably been asked from the time mothers could talk but one answer to that question for local mothers of preschoolers who either stay at home or work part-time is the Monument MOMS Club — also known as Moms Offering Moms Support.

“We’re a part of MOMS Clubs International,” said local club president Jenn Magee. “We help moms of young children by providing activities.”

The club members not only talk to each other as parents but they also network in other ways.

“The other day one of our moms needed someone to repair her furnace,” Magee said. “We sent out a mass email for suggestions and she was able to find what she needed.”

Currently there are 32 moms in the club and they plan three to five activities per week, usually in the mornings this time of year.

“Activities slow down during the holidays because people are busy and the older kids will be out of school,” Magee said. “We have a Yahoo Group Page where our calendar is posted. Moms send RSVPs to whoever is hosting the activity they want to attend.”

The club has dues, $25 per year, but mothers who can’t afford them can ask for a waiver. “There is just a little form they fill out,” Magee said. “When (prospective members) ask for information they receive a letter with general information and a current events calendar. They just show up at an event and if they choose to join they can fill out the registration form and pay their dues then. They can come to two events before making the decision to join.”

Magee added that she joined the club three years ago and has been president since July.

“I was new to the area and joined the club because it was an easy way to make new friends, to meet other moms who were in the same situation I was in,” she said. “Stay-at-home-mom doesn’t mean what it used to. Moms don’t want to stay home alone.”

In fact, moms needing to get out to someplace where their babies were welcome is the reason behind the formation of MOMS Clubs. In 1983, Mary James, an at-home mother in California, wanted to meet other at-home mothers and find at-home children to play with her children. When she discovered that there were no organizations that met her needs — meeting during the daytime and welcoming her baby and preschooler — she formed her own club. The idea spread until now there are more than 2,100 MOMS Club chapters in the United States, more than 30 of them in Colorado, and a few international chapters.

The Monument chapter’s boundaries are Palmer Divide (County Line) Road on the north, Baptist Road on the south, Black Forest Road on the east, and Rampart Range Road on the west. This includes the 80132 Monument and 80133 Palmer Lake zip codes, as well as the northern most portion of the 80908 Black Forest zip code.

For information about the Monument MOMS Club, email monumentmomsinfo@gmail.com.

View the original article here

Moms Clean Air Force Launches New Video Series with Celebrity Moms

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Moms Clean Air Force -- a community of more than 44,000 concerned parents, grandparents, and other relatives who are fighting for clean air for their children -- has launched a new video series with some celebrity members talking about why clean air is important to them.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111208/DC19614LOGO)

In the first videos of the new series, award winning actress Blythe Danner and novelist Ayelet Waldman talk about the reasons they joined the fight for safer, healthier air and the impact that environmental pollutants have had on their own families.

Two shorter PSA-style videos from Up All Night actresses Maya Rudolph and Christina Applegate have also been added to the Moms Clean Air Force web site.

Visitors to the Moms Clean Air Force website can also sign a new online petition to President Obama to help reduce one of the most dangerous air pollutants – mercury.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to unveil the new Mercury and Air Toxics Standard within the next few weeks. The new standard is expected to lower the amount of mercury, arsenic, acid gases, and other toxins in the emissions from power plants. Mercury damages brain and nervous system development in babies; coal-fired power plants are the single biggest source of mercury emissions in America, but the new Mercury and Air Toxics Standard will prevent the majority of the mercury in coal from being emitted into our air

The online petitions will be sent to the White House to underscore how important the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard is to American moms, and to the health of American families.

Moms Clean Air Force launched over the summer, and since then thousands of parents have signed up each week to speak up in favor of safe and healthy air for their children – and in defense of the Clean Air Act, which protects our air. We are approaching 50,000 moms who are speaking out, blogging and networking aggressively, including high profile and celebrity moms who want to speak out in defense of their children's health. You can join the fight for clean air at www.momscleanairforce.org and on Facebook and Twitter.

Contact:
Sharyn Stein, sstein@momscleanairforce.org
Lauren Guite, lguite@momscleanairforce.org

SOURCE Moms Clean Air Force

Back to top

View the original article here

‘Moms Who Kick’ 2nd Annual Contest for Models for Calendar

Friday, 09 December 2011 00:00

Moms Who Kick Inc, a 501(c)(3) public charity that promotes physical fitness & proper nutrition, will provide a unique and empowering experience to all the winners of their 2nd annual Model Mom Contest. The contest is running now through Feb. 29, 2012.

Moms over the age of 18 who live in the Tri-State area are encouraged to enter the contest by submitting photos that reflect their passion for fitness, and a compelling bio of how cancer affects them. Breast cancer survivors and those impacted by cancer through others are eligible to win. All winners will experience a glamorous, professional photo shoot and will be featured in their inspirational 2013 calendar. Moms Who Kick Inc will launch this fundraising calendar during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, October 2012, at a gala fashion show that honors the extraordinary women they feature in their 2013 publication.

One hundred percent of the net proceeds from the Model Mom Contest will benefit North Shore-LIJ Health System’s groundbreaking translational research study through collaboration between its medical and surgical oncology programs and its renowned Feinstein Institute for Medical Research: “The Breast and Ovarian Cancer Specimen Bank Related Investigations.”

North Shore-LIJ is among a handful of elite programs nationally that is poised to contribute new knowledge in this field, and specimens are being collected through a multi-institutional specimen bank. Aimed at improving survival rates for women with breast and ovarian cancers, the study is the first of its kind to uncover and validate biomarkers for early detection, prediction of disease course and outcome, and treatment response and risk of relapse.

Visit MomsWhoKick.com for complete details and official rules, and enter the Model Mom Contest.

View the original article here

Plum District's New Tech Tools Turn Stay-At-Home Moms Into Digital Era Street Teams

The "Groupon for Moms" just scooped up $20 million in funding. It's not your father’s deal company. Instead, this startup is figuring out how to use technology to drive business for local merchants.

You would be forgiven for thinking that cost-saving Plum District was just another deals company. And you could also be forgiven for thinking that its "moms" sales force were just a bunch of latter-day Avon ladies with no greater ambition than making a little pin money.

But if you thought either of those things, you'd be missing the fact that, amid all the talk in the tech world about how to bring local commerce online, Plum District is quietly reimagining the myriad ways local merchants can use digital marketing and other tools to drive business.

Not only that, but just as Zappos reimagined how companies should operate to serve modern-day digital customers, Plum District is creating new models of work to serve its employees and customers.

Some of the biggest names in the Silicon Valley venture community believe in the Plum District revolution. Today the two-year-old company announces it's received a new $20 million round of funding led by General Catalyst Partners. That's on top of more than $10 million already raised, from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, among others.

Plum District, which currently provides deals "for moms, by moms," is also announcing the acquisition of two other companies--Doodle Deals, which will give it a foothold on the East Coast, and, more interestingly, Chatterfly, a mobile platform for customer loyalty and rewards.

Chatterfly's tools expand the type of services Plum District's sales team can offer local businesses. And in the long run, Plum District CEO Megan Gardner tells Fast Company, the startup sees its sales team as becoming full-service consultants to local merchants, providing them with a range of digital options and advice on which strategies to use.

Until now, Plum District has touted its sales force as a pride of moms with the expertise to know what other moms would like. But what the company hasn't spoken about as widely is that these aren't just a bunch of bored housewives. Many are highly experienced former PR, sales, and marketing executives who stepped out of the workforce when they had kids.

"These women are salespeople," Gardner says. "They care about the money, bonuses, and making targets." Plum District becomes an attractive option because it offers the women a job in their chosen fields with the kind of flexibility often not available in the traditional workplace.

"They're looking to get back into the workforce on their own terms, and we're giving them products to sell," Gardner says. The company currently employs 400 people. Over 300 of them are salespeople working in 27 markets in the U.S.

But flexibility isn't the only thing Plum District offers its sales force. It's also inventing mobile tools that allow its "district consultants" to manage their territories during the interstitial moments of a mother's life. "If you have your iPad and you can work on it while you're in carpool line, that's a no-brainer," Gardner says.

Plum District's technological innovations are not limited to the sales force. Gardner says the company is also exploring new tools they can offer merchants.

For example, Starbucks today has a mobile app that allows customers to order a drink from afar and have it waiting for them by the time they arrive at the store. But that's not enough for some customers. "They know I'm coming," one focus group panelist told Plum District. "Why can't they bring the coffee to my car, so I don't have to take the dog and the kid out?"

Solving problems like that, through technology, are among the things Plum District is considering, Gardner says.

Read also: "Groupon for Moms: Plum District Finds a Following"

[Image: Flickr user Ed Yourdon]

E.B. Boyd is FastCompany.com's Silicon Valley reporter. Twitter | Google+ | Email

View the original article here