Category Archives: women

And just like that….

I had carefully scheduled my meetings around this morning’s fifth grade promotion ceremony. Our youngest daughter’s second to last day in our neighborhood school. As planned, I logged off my morning meetings promptly at 10 a.m. to dash over to … Continue reading

Posted in advice, everyday life, family, friendship, kids, lessons learned, love, marriage, parenthood, women | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

She would have been 70….

Back in February I bought my daughters each a pink hyacinth plant. When my mother was alive, she did the same for me all through my twenties. She was obsessed with spring flowers because their arrival on the scene coincided … Continue reading

Posted in advice, blogging, everyday life, family, kids, lessons learned, love, marriage, motherhood, thinking, women | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Sometimes it takes a village, except when it shouldn’t

Last week a story surfaced about a woman in South Carolina, Debra Harrell, who was arrested because she made the conscious choice to let her 9-year-old daughter play in a public park while she went to work. I had already seen … Continue reading

Posted in community, everyday life, family, kids, lessons learned, motherhood, parenthood, personal, vacation, women, work, writing | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Summertime with my academic babies….

It was a really good week. Some highlights: strawberry picking, blue skies, homemade shortcakes, playtime in the yard, swimming at the pool, and the first CSA delivery of the year. Some low moments: 2 sick days, plenty of bickering, a few … Continue reading

Posted in academia, blogging, community, everyday life, family, kids, lessons learned, motherhood, summer, what professors do, women, work, writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

A post on Conditionally Accepted that is actually published

I remarked three weeks ago that I thought the semester was flying.  It is indeed a slippery one.  By my calendar, it is Week 9.  The great push towards the end of the semester is on. Today, I am excited … Continue reading

Posted in academia, family, grad school, higher education, lessons learned, personal, sociology, teaching, tenure, women, work, writing | 1 Comment

The Real Housewives is sociological (I swear it is)

While in graduate school, I missed the boat on so many cultural touchstones.  There are new television shows, musicians, reality stars or movies with which I am only vaguely familiar.  For example, I know Mad Men is critically acclaimed but … Continue reading

Posted in culture, guilty pleasures, media, personal, procrastinating, television, women | 10 Comments

Reflections on Mama, PhD

My husband bought me Mama, PhD as a graduation gift. He thought I would appreciate the stories about “motherhood and academic life.”  In under a week, I tore through the anthology.  Divided into four sections, the editors captured women’s stories … Continue reading

Posted in academia, family, fatherhood, gender equality, grad school, higher education, kids, lessons learned, marriage, motherhood, parenthood, reading, women, work, writing | 78 Comments

Only 361 days until NEXT Mother’s Day.

I have never liked Mother’s Day.  There, I said it.  And it’s not because I lost my own mother six years ago.  In thinking through this post, I have done some informal social scientific polling and have found that I am … Continue reading

Posted in gender equality, holidays, motherhood, personal, women | 1 Comment

On academic chic

I have been writing in public spaces all over the campus where I’m teaching this semester. And I have felt totally overdressed.  Academic fashion is a delicate balance–how do you look professional enough to command authority in front of a … Continue reading

Posted in academia, culture, fashion, grad school, personal, teaching, women | 13 Comments

empowering my daughters 100%

I am raising two daughters in this world. And I am scared for them. I have followed the presidential election campaign since the spring from the very start of the Republican primaries and I feel troubled by the rhetoric that … Continue reading

Posted in economy, gender equality, politics, women, work | Leave a comment