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Not a day goes by, on leaving my daughter in daycare, that her little brown eyes don’t well up with tears, looking up at me so sadly, reluctantly removing the buttons of her coat and stomping her feet in protest. I press my lips so hard they bleed sometimes, and force a smile on my face, telling her I’ll be back soon to pick her up and take her to the park (when in reality, in most cases I barely make it home in time for bedtime).

It’s a common dilemma for many mothers – going back to work after the baby. In many cases it’s not a choice, but a financial necessity, yet we are filled with overwhelming guilt. Can I be a good mom and rock at my career?

The guilt, of course, is almost exclusively a female problem.  I have yet to meet a Dad who expresses guilt for having to work and provide for his family. So I work, very hard.  As well as running a few volunteer networking  groups, giving back to the community, regular visits to Granny and all the other things that ‘Momdom’ entails. It’s like keeping the plates spinning – needing organization, patience and coordination.

Like every other Mom, I end up working twice as hard in the workplace, because I face a different type of guilt there -  am I putting in as much time as my non-mom colleagues?   Will skipping Social Happy Hour reflect negatively on me?  I’d rather be home drinking juice with my daughter… but will they think I am not a team player?

Luckily, I work for a company marketing a product that is truly servicing Moms: Recalls Plus is a fantastic new app to help busy Moms by alerting them to any recalls of their kids’ stuff, including vital allergy alerts. It’s a product I really believe in.  But, ironically, a new type of guilt is emerging now.  Why? Because I actually love what I do.

I asked my husband if I was a bad Mom for wanting to steal a precious hour on a Saturday morning to write this blog, instead of making Belgian Waffles from scratch like I usually do?  My husband looked at me stupefied, “What is wrong with Eggo”?

Of course, a good Mom would probably take this opportunity to educate him on all the facts associated with why one must avoid processed food, but instead, I grab our video camera and our daughter, and head out to combine motherhood, playdate and work in this fun new video.

Any thoughts on dealing with “motherhood guilt” would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading,

Layla – Guest Blogger

Recalls Plus is a Knowledge Partner on Yahoo! Answers.

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Hey Guys,

With the rise of the casual office, the men’s necktie has lost much of its mojo. Who came up with the necktie in the first place?

Opinions vary, but many believe the concept originated in Croatia. Sometime during the thirty years war of the 17th century, Croatian soldiers visited King Louis XIV of France. The soldiers apparently wore loose scarves around their necks. Louis liked the look. “By 1650, Louis and his court were wearing Croatian neck scarves instead of the full lace ruffs that had previously been fashionable.”

Some argue that the necktie goes much further back. The terracotta soldiers buried with Chinese emperor Shih Huang Ti seem to wear a kind of neck scarf that may be a type of early necktie. That’s from 210 B.C. Another possible originator — Ancient Rome. On a marble column constructed in 113 A.D., a group of soldiers appear to have neckwear.

Whether those instances “count” as neckties is open to debate, but most folks give King Louis XIV credit with making the look popular. Sister site Ask Yahoo! explains: “Exiled King Charles II of England brought the French cravat with him when he returned to his throne. Englishmen soon began sporting stylish neck scarves and tied them in as many as 100 different knots.”

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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**Secret Revealed**

March 17th is the big day. I’m giving you some notice so you can dig to the bottom of your laundry pile, find your green shirt from last year and put it in the washing machine. If you can’t find a green shirt, go with a blue one instead. According to historians, blue was the original color associated with Saint Patrick. In fact, the 1912 dress code for Lord Chamberlain specified that the household of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland should wear St. Patrick’s blue.

The 1924 Irish Olympic football team wore St Patrick’s blue and the Northern Ireland team (known then as the “Ireland association football team”) wore St. Patrick’s blue jerseys from 1882 until 1931, when they switched to green.

Let me tell you why…

Saint Patrick was born in Roman Britain in the fifth century. Although little is known about his early life, we know that he was kidnapped by Irish Raiders at age 16 and taken to Ireland as a slave. He said that God talked to him in a dream, telling him to flee from captivity and head for the coast where he could board a ship and return to Britain.

He did exactly that and upon returning to Britain, he studied to be a priest. He said he was called back to Ireland on a mission where he went as a bishop in the year 432. Apparently, he was very good at converting royalty, aristocracy and the poor. He was known for using the three-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity (the father, the son and the Holy Spirit) and the shamrock became his symbol.

People later wore shamrocks on their lapels during St. Patrick’s day. On St. Patrick’s day in 1798, Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms to make a political statement in support of the Society of United Irishmen — a political organization aimed at ending British rule over Ireland. Green became a symbol of rebellion and the famous ballad “The Wearing of the Green” was sung in the streets.

Because of this event, green eventually became the official color of St. Patrick’s day. It celebrated freedom from British rule and the shamrock paid tribute to St. Patrick himself.

St. Patrick’s day is a public holiday in Ireland, although it is widely celebrated in countries with large numbers of Irish descendants. It started as a feast day in the 1600s, a break during the fasting period of lent. We continue to indulge today, although that mostly involves green beer.

For this reason, I think the day after St. Patrick’s day would also make a good public holiday.

Chad Upton is the editor-in-chief of Broken Secrets and an official Yahoo Answers contributor.

Thanks for reading,

Source: History.com, St Patrick’s Blue, The Wearing of the Green, St Patrick’s Day

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St. Patrick’s Day is coming up on March 17, originally a religious holiday recognizing the patron saint of Ireland, but it’s now a popular festivity all over the world.  In celebration of this holiday here are five ways to celebrate this most popular saint’s day.

1. Eat traditional Irish food.  Corned beef and cabbage is popular among Irish Americans, but in Ireland, potatoes, Irish stew, colcannon, bacon and cabbage are one of the staples of the Irish cuisine.
2. Listen or play some Irish music.  Traditional Irish pub, folk, or Celtic songs will get you in the Irish spirit!
3. Attend your local parade. New York City, Boston, St. Louis, San Francisco, Montreal and many other big cities across the world have great parades.
4. Go to an Irish pub.  Many pubs and bars plan St. Patrick day theme parties, with special beers, food and music.
5. Watch Father Ted. A classic Irish comedy about three priests, and a housekeeper living off the west coast of Ireland.  If you dig Irish humor you’ll be quoting this sitcom.

What ways do you plan on celebrating St. Patrick’s Day?  Feel free to share with the community below!

Thanks for reading,

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Hey Guys,

Whenever something can go wrong, it will go wrong. That cynical bit of wisdom is known as Murphy’s Law. But who was Murphy and why was he such a Gloomy Gus?

In the late 1940s, Air Force engineer Edward A. Murphy worked at Edwards Air Force Base near Los Angeles. In 1949, the dawn of the jet age, it was Captain Murphy’s job to figure out how much rapid deceleration the human body could tolerate. The findings would help inform future plane design.

Murphy went about this task as best he could. He instructed his assistant to mount 16 different accelerometers to a human subject. The idea was to use the instruments to measure how well the human body could tolerate the force of gravity. A rocket sled, with the human aboard, would take off super fast and then come to a quick stop.

Unfortunately, the assistant installed the accelerometers the wrong way. Upon hearing this, Murphy was said to have proclaimed, “If there is anyway to do it wrong, he’ll find it.” The comment was picked up by the press. And before long, “Murphy’s Law” became an idiom meaning “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.”

And that’s the story of Murphy’s Law. It’s a law that everybody, at one time or another, follows. Whether they want to or not.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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