Archive for the 'motherhood' Category

Working mum’s medley

Published September 9, 2008 motherhood 2 Comments
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When I woke up early this morning the house was clean. By 8am it was looking….um, like an eclectic ensemble. While I was getting ready the youngest jumped on our bed and left an apple peel montage on my pillow. The older ones had fun taking photos of the house and each other and ate about three breakfasts. Which leaves me with three loads of breakfast dishes. Toys were played with, scattered, PJs were flung around. Milk spilt. Every room was explored and “decorated” by the time we made it out the door.

But we left the house at a sane time of the morning. We spent time together. I avoided time in transit. I was able to drop off the oldest at school, say hello to his teacher - and I get to work from home today. On second thoughts…looking around at my eclectic ensemble..it’s quite fabulous, actually.

Edit. With photos by my little monkeys. For Kieran.

Connected, baby!

Published August 13, 2008 motherhood , web 2.0 8 Comments
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You’re enjoying your career working with a great team. And then you have a baby. Congratulations!

After a period of joy, angst, laughter, sleep deprivation parental leave you return to work. In a couple of weeks you settle back into the swing of things. Right? Err, not quite.

Not for the most obvious, life changing reasons. A lot can happen in six months or a year in a large enterprise. When you return you might have a new manager. A new job title. There could be a reorganisation. Maybe even a company acquisition. Some of your colleagues could change positions. New people might join the team. There will be different work methods and techniques introduced over time. If you are working part time so you might miss out on team events. Some days you may need to work from home. Suddenly, you are the new girl, again (and in my case, again…and again with the arrival of three precious little boy wonders.)

Throw social media into the mix and things start looking up.

It’s easier for people to know more about you. And for you to know more about them. Quickly.
Your network is now extended to a global “team”. You have access to the latest insights, techniques and thought leadership. Mentoring is no longer restricted to the people you see in the office. Your ability to find relevant information is significantly improved. You’re connected, baby!

When I returned to work after my most recent parental leave in June last year, I found it so much easier to connect. I could access blogs, wikis, communities, social bookmarks, search for people using tags on our directory, meet up with colleagues in a virtual world and see their photos on Flickr or Facebook. Very quickly, I felt much more connected to the company through the people I work with. I have also been able to be part of some fun and rewarding initiatives as a result.

Social media is a great way to connect with people in the workplace, especially for those returning from extended leave, working part time, in global teams and for people working from home or at a client location. Don’t you think?

Making connections. Making a difference.

Published August 11, 2008 inspiration , learning , motherhood , non profit , web 2.0 17 Comments
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It’s been great to connect with web industry people again AND have opportunities to contribute to some exciting projects, thanks to social media. Part time working mums - like me - don’t always get to attend special industry shindigs (like we did back in ‘96.) But we can engage in the online conversation without having to call the babysitter! Here’s a few examples of how social media has made a difference to me.

1. The meeting of minds. Over the last year I have met up with some great folks through Twitter including Stephen Collins, Matt Moore, Brad Kasell, Michael Specht and Shane Goldberg (note to self..must meet with some great women Tweeple too!). I don’t spend all my time on Twitter, I don’t read every Tweet and some days I don’t read it at all. I use it sometimes at whim, sometimes strategically by dipping in on the web, my iPod or phone. But somehow through this seemingly odd interaction of shared status updates - and in some cases through blogging, we were able to have relaxed, conversation rich meetings when we met up in person. We have also been able to help each other to make sense of emerging technology trends.

2. Personal development. I’ve mentioned before how much I appreciate my mentors. Although none of them live in Australia, we know each other well through our blogs (also behind the firewall) and through other networks like Twitter, Facebook, etc. We use social media to communicate and they have all given me some great opportunities to develop my skills. I doubt I would ever have made the connection with them if it wasn’t for blogging.

3. Opportunities to make a difference. Blogging here on Wonderwebby has also helped me develop confidence in writing and practice my writing style. It meant that when Gavin Heaton (another person I follow on Twitter) announced the new Age of Conversation collaborative book on his blog, I didn’t hesitate in raising my hand to contribute. The best part - all the proceeds to go the Variety Childrens’ Charity.

The Age of Conversation 2 book cover

The Age of Conversation 2 book cover

Those three things are important to me at work - connecting, developing and contributing. How has social media helped you in your career?

Enjoying Balance

Published June 6, 2008 motherhood 11 Comments
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As you probably know I work part time - three days per week - so I can spend the rest of my time with these special guys:

my guys

It can be a bit of a juggle, but we make it work. I was going to share some tips but I’d like to hear from you instead :)

Do you have a story to share or advice on being a working parent? How do you make it work?

Mother’s Day

Published May 10, 2008 motherhood 1 Comment
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mother and baby

I’m not one of these women who spent their childhoods dreaming of being a mother or a wife. But here I find myself with a wonderful husband and three young boys. They jump. They make noise. Lots of noise. They sing and dance and paint. They love to make muddy mess (yes even my husband). They heap their affection on me and I on them.

Being a mother - something I never really thought about until I arrived in parenting 101- is an incredible, mysterious and sometimes daunting rite of passage. I now understand some of my own mother’s actions and find myself imitating some of her best child rearing techniques and mannerisms. My mother-in-law has taught me some of her best survival tips and domestic goddess secrets including how to fold pillow cases “properly”.

I don’t find my identity in motherhood. But motherhood is certainly part of my identity.

Tomorrow I’m hoping for a nice sleep-in. Maybe a cup of tea so I can read in bed a while before I get up and open the hand-made presents from my little ones (at this stage I am told these beauties include a cup with something secret inside it, one is purple and rattles inside the packaging and the other is a one year old’s hand stamped into plaster). And I’ll remember how blessed I am to have three wonderful children, two wonderful mothers and one wonderful husband.

So glad I’m a mum. Happy Mother’s Day to me. And to you. And you and you and you.

Flexible Fantastic

Published February 27, 2008 motherhood 8 Comments
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I’m often amazed how much I have come to depend on social media to be effective at work. We have a very busy (and noisy) household. We have three young children and I work three days per week. I make the effort to live a passionate life. I also try to pay attention to the task at hand. When my children need me, I give them my attention. I set aside time for my husband, our home, my work, friendships, time to pursue things I enjoy and embrace the chaos that turns up on my doorstep from time to time.

mummy are you an octopus?

We are all busy whether it be children, work, or commitments outside of work. So I depend on the technical support and workplace flexibility I have in place, so that I can give my best to my family and my employer.

  1. Flexible working arrangements. The ability to work from home at times, flexible working hours.
  2. Wi-Fi set up at home, so I can quickly check emails on the go via my Thinkpad or iPod.
  3. Social media & networking eg
    • Twitter keeps me in touch with a collective of interesting minds and information
    • Corporate blogging site and wikis - I have met some wonderful minds, discovered some interesting projects relative to my work happening in different countries. I have met mentors and friends and further developed those friendships on Twitter, Facebook, Instant Messaging, corporate social networking tools and Secondlife.
    • My blog. It gives me a chance to collect my thoughts, notepad my ramblings, express myself, and hear from you in the comments you leave :)
    • GoogleReader for my RSS feeds so I can keep up with my favourite blogs. I have even created a category in my reader called “Growth”, for half a dozen of my must read blogs that particularly inspire me, stretching my mind and imagination. If I am really busy, I only read my Growth posts in the morning.
    • Del.icio.us and Dogear for social bookmarking. I can tag my bookmarks with keywords for quick reference, share them, and find URL goodness delivered to me when I log in when others share with me!
    • Various other tools I use at work to share files, podcasts I download (not many…I don’t get much time to listen to them)…and on the list goes. Not video blogging right now tho, I tried and it took too long.

Do I abuse the liberty of being able to work from home or spend hours on Facebook because I can? Absolutely not!
Do I work more than three days per week? Well, err yes, I do…not necessarily because I have to, but because I choose to get involved with some interesting, worthwhile projects outside the scope of my day job.
Do I learn much from these tools? Absolutely yes! Some days it is a case of information overload. My bookshelf has grown as a result and I have become involved in new creative endeavours too.

I am so glad I live a life where my work, my interests and my life intersect and overflow. I’m grateful for the days I can work from home with a sick child or attend an important school event. I’m glad for the people I meet and the precious moments I can spend with my family. The small investment I have made in developing my online profile has benefited me in terms of the knowledge I have acquired and the friendships I have made tremendously. And my employer reaps the rewards of these connections as I apply it to the projects I work on.

As for keeping a balance with family and work, I can’t say that it’s easy and I make various adjustments on a daily basis. I try to prepare healthy meals with the sanity pizza thrown in for good measure, I remember to ask for help, have great friendships, I try to rest (hmmm..must do that more often) and I feed my spirit. It works for us. :)

Augmenting Motherhood

Published September 27, 2007 motherhood 0 Comments
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At this stage of my life I am working part time and caring for our three little “monkeys” under the age of five. You know what? I’m so glad things have turned out this way. I think women who are full-time mothers do an amazing, awesome job. Personally I also love being able to work part-time doing something I enjoy. I go a bit stir-crazy at home all day :)

I especially love the power of social media to connect with a global workforce, when I have less time than other co-workers. It makes it easier to keep up-to-date and collaborate with colleagues - without having to trawl through email. I find I am less likely to miss out on thought leadership in the organisation, because I can read about it on a blog or listen to it on a podcast. I love the fact that “it’s not what you know but who you know” is less about schmoozing these days and more about tagging.

I’m connected to some vibrant minds, news, links and events via the power of blogging and twitter at odd times of the day. I am not as dependent on “real-time” communication. I have the opportunity to occasionally work from home - saving time in transit and giving me flexibility to work around family needs. I am meeting like-minded colleagues from the other side of the globe in Secondlife. I enjoy my work and the special projects I help out on. A lot. Sometimes work seems like play.

I have known young women to consider working in fields such as nursing and teaching to have better opportunities for work/life balance and careers post-motherhood. I hope that blogging and other social media opens up opportunities for women to work in many other equally rewarding and admirable (and male dominated) areas, and in senior roles, so that women don’t limit their potential by a pre-conceived notion of a “balanced” career.

Needless to say I am enjoying the monkeys while they are young, although I’m not about to pretend it’s easy. Pre-school years are busy and wondrous. They amaze me every day. I’m very blessed.

Three Monkeys

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