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The things you can’t control

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by Katrina on September 10, 2012

I’ve hit one of those weird rough patches. In the last two months… The radiator hose on our car exploded in a steaming mess while driving our daughter to a camping trip. The day Car #1 got back from the shop, Car #2 blew a tire. A week later, on my way to an important […]

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40 hours, 40 years

by Katrina on March 27, 2012

The number 40 has been on my mind a lot lately. For one thing, I’m turning 40 this week. You would think I’d have had ample time to prepare for this milestone, but somehow it snuck up on me like the Norwegian rat that once scampered across my kitchen floor at 6 o’clock in the […]

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My hospital fantasy

by Katrina on July 14, 2011

I’m getting knee surgery on Tuesday. And I need your help. What should I do with my week on the couch? Remember that thing I wrote a while back? About people fantasizing about going into the hospital, just to get a break, because they were so stressed out? I put together a poll, and found […]

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Avoiding the “Workation”

by Katrina on July 7, 2011

We’re back, after a peaceful week in a tent, at the edge of Yosemite. For one exciting, very wet day, thunder and lightening crashed around us. The rest of our vacation was sunny days by the river, swimming, fishing, and eating popsicles. I even read a whole Aimee Bender novel! The absolute best part of […]

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I just put together a very simple survey about working parents and stress. It takes only 5 minutes to complete. If you’re a parent and you work to help support your family, here’s what I’d like you to do: 1. Take the survey. 2. Forward the survey (or this post) to everyone you know. 3. […]

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Nancy Davis Kho is a freelance writer and consultant in the Bay Area, with two daughters, age 13 and 10. Since her first child was born, she has tried just about every possible work schedule, from full time to part time to no time, and some other stuff in between. Today she gives us a […]

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The problem that has many names

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by Katrina on February 7, 2011

I just stumbled across an interesting story about the term ‘nervous breakdown‘ that came out in The New York Times last year. It explains why the term fell out of favor decades ago with psychiatrists, who now prefer labels like ‘anxiety disorder,’ ‘depression,’ or ‘schizophrenia’ when diagnosing patients. But the term ‘nervous breakdown’ is still […]

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I’m pleased to announce Working Moms Break has its first foreign correspondent! Also known as my friend, former coworker, and fellow working mom, Lucie Moses. Years ago, while I was quietly descending into full-time job madness, Lucie seemed to have arranged the perfect life as a part-time freelance designer. Now I have that part-time freelance […]

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Are you stoned, or just multitasking?

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by Katrina on January 21, 2011

It’s a much studied fact that too much multitasking has the same effect on our I.Q. as a bong hit. It makes us stupid. And yet, life with young children can require, at times, an absurd, stuntman level of multitasking. I first noticed the stoner effect of multitasking after my first child was born. That’s […]

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Leftovers

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by Katrina on December 13, 2010

I went to a mellow birthday brunch this weekend for a friend’s 2-year-old. While Ruby picked out “Happy Birthday” on the piano and Jake pretended to drill things to the Christmas tree, I sipped coffee in the kitchen with a few other moms. As usual, the conversation turned to the questions that seem to plague […]

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