My New Package at GH Launched!

As we've just come THROUGH IT with the holidays and are looking towards making changes in 2024, Good Housekeeping is taking a deep look into how families share household duties. As Equal Partners author Kate Mangino says in our opening essay, one of the most common household dynamics is one where both partners work, but one does 2/3 of the housework. Are we making any progress? Read for how the pandemic changed things, whose changes stuck (and why), and where we go from here, with an eye towards dividing financial, childcare and household work. Check it out,

"When We Split Household Duties, Everyone Wins. Why Won’t We Do It?"

I also have to share my own contribution to the Good Housekeeping "Sharing the Load" package, inspired by my biggest parenting pet peeve — the sign-up sheet with room for only ONE parent contact. My husband and I try to be equal caregivers. Why do we keep being pushed to name a default?

"Why Won’t the Myth of the 'Primary' Parent Just Disappear Already?"

But there's so much more in there, from chore-splitting secrets from families with 5+ kids to different ways to approach family finances. (Plus, I love the board-game motif that art came up with!)

I'm Speaking at ASJA!

Amy Paturel, a writer I'm so lucky to work with, and I are going to get together to talk about doing reported essays at the 2023 American Society of Journalists and Authors Virtual Annual Conference! I hope to help writers figure out how to position their personal narratives in a way that will make editors want to buy them. 

The details:

The conference takes place June 13-15

My session is 4 pm ET to 5 pm ET on Tuesday, June 13 in the journalism track.

You can register here.

Oh, and they gave me a discount code! Use the discount code IKNOWASPEAKER to save 10% on your registration. 

Ask Me About Toys!

At GH, we spend a lot of time testing toys, so I was thrilled to talk to Maisonette about the best toys for 5-year-old boys. "“We started to see during the pandemic a big resurgence in toys that fostered learning … especially in the STEM area.” See what else I recommended to them!

The Best Toys for 5-Year-Old Boys

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Good Housekeepings lists of the best gifts for kids (scroll down to the bottom for an age-by-age guide, from 1 to 14), including our own Good Housekeeping Best Toy Awards 2022.




Parenting Summit: The Power of Play

The 2022 Good Housekeeping We Are Family Parenting Summit has come to a close, and I was so lucky to have such a great conversation about "The Power of Play" with experts who all came to the table with something to share.

If you weren't able to make it, you can see a recap of my panel and all of the other panels/chats/discussions up at the Good Housekeeping website!


I wanted to give a behind-the-scenes tidbit from the event. Up top, you can see what the event looked like to people who were tuning in virtually. But here's what no one saw:


When I'm on Zoom, I don't like to look down and look like I'm reading notes, so I carefully taped them all up behind my computer screen. One of the benefits of virtual events!


Moderating a Panel on the Power of Play

For the Good Housekeeping Parenting Summit, I'm moderating a panel on a very serious topic: play! I'll be asking a panel of distinguished guests what play is, why it's so important, and — the million-dollar question — how to encourage kids to play independently. I'll be joined by Dr. Ann-Louise Lockhart, Dr. Rebecca Schrag Hershberg, Melissa Bernstein (of Melissa & Doug and Lifelines) and Jessica Rolph (of Lovevery). Come watch! 


 Register for free here: http://ghkp.us/BIDi4Fq

Another One Down

So sad to hear that Working Mother magazine will be no longer. That publication was truly groundbreaking when it comes to navigating work-life balance (or work-life integration), flexible work (which, despite a two-plus-year pandemic as proof of concept, employers are still fighting), and about women standing up and asking for what they deserve. 

This was my favorite story I wrote for them, about the barriers to building a better breast pump. It's funny, because in the years since I wrote this in 2016, there have been others on the same topic, writing about the same MIT hackathon. (I truly believe that if everyone had to use a breast pump, they'd be silent, efficient and the size of a credit card. And we'd have paid leave.) It's sad how little progress has been made. Still more work to do!