Women lawyers in Chicago: Do you have five minutes to complete a survey about how you “balance” work and the rest of life? The questions are easy, and everyone who participates gets a coupon for $20 off a 60-minute massage at Urban Oasis. Please share this with other female lawyers in the Chicago area — they’ll get the massage coupon, too.
Here’s the scoop:
A Chicago-based startup called The Legal Balance is relaunching later this year with a new suite of offerings designed to make it easier than ever for women lawyers in Chicago to develop their businesses, connect with potential clients and referral sources, and manage their lives. The Legal Balance wants to elevate the conversation about the advancement of women in the legal profession. Which is why they need to know what would help YOU the most.
Please click the link to answer the questions and print your Urban Oasis coupon. Remember, it should only take five minutes to complete: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TheLegalBalance
Don’t wait … the survey closes at midnight on Friday, Jan. 18, 2013.
Are You Dad Enough to Argue about Parenting Issues?
As I write this, it is 6 a.m. in the small apartment we’re renting in the inner west suburbs of Sydney, Australia, and Pete is making the girls some bacon and eggs while I putter around on my laptop. Last night, I ran to the grocery while he made dinner and put the girls to bed; the other day, I did laundry while he cleaned the kitchen. There was no discussion or delegation; we each jumped in where it made sense. In most respects, we’re moved past gender-driven division of labor. Neither of us is “in charge” of these things.
Which is why I read with interest this New York Times debate about whether dads are excluded and unheard when spats over parenting issues erupt in the media. (After all, some argue, we never hear about about the Mommy-and-Daddy Wars or have Time covers asking whether we’re “Dad Enough,” although my sister-in-law yesterday sent me a very funny “Dad Enough” spoof showing a man teaching a toddler to nurse a beer … )
It does seem that when we argue about parenting issues, moms lead the debates. Some of that is a vestige of old gender division. It may also be that women are more likely to get caught up in debates (and, perhaps, more likely to cast judgment) over parenting. I have to admit, I rarely hear men sitting around playgrounds whispering, “You know, he’s sending his child to Waldorf next year for preschool. Who knew he was into that kind of hippie education … ”
But I’m pretty sure none of that means modern dads care less about the big parenting issues than women. I don’t even think it means they say less, not when it really matters. They may get left out of news stories — let’s be honest, reporters are more likely to ask a mom what she thinks about a hot-button how-we-rear-our-kids issue — and they may spend less time talking about parenting with their friends. But these aren’t the real debates anyway. The real debates happen at home, when actual decisions are being made.
Dads are there — we just need to do a better job of reflecting it.