I couldn't be more proud of you
I couldn't be more proud of you
nothing could have prepared us for another tumultuous 2021, but you did it mama
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This final post of the year is sponsored by Vivvi, our partner in childcare solutions at home and in the workplace.
What a year its been for mothers everywhere at home and in the workplace. I started off the year ranting about the extreme focus on problems rather than solutions as we continue to combine work and family, especially in the middle of a global pandemic.
Collectively we showed up everyday where it mattered for our career, our businesses, our family, and our home. None of that was easy in a year where we were hopeful about:
☀️being back to a somewhat new normal as more of us got vaccinated
🏡 getting relief from the relentless and crushing demand of the home
👶🏽 easing the childcare deserts with roughly 108,000 workers still missing
🤰🏽paid leave and what it meant for women’s mental and financial well-being
÷ further equity on the homefront as men began to pick up some unpaid labor
💻 the future of flexible work and what that means for our sanity and family
💪🏼 additional support in the workplace as we returned to the office
While this hopeful list is still a work-in-progress, a lot have been accomplished in the workplace and at home. We’ve found new ways to connect, to live, to parent, to work, and to be a better person. More importantly, we’ve discovered what matters most to us.
It has been one heck of year! And there is a recurring theme through all of this. Around the world, millions of people are rethinking how they work and live—and how to better balance the two. Parents especially are wondering how they can earn less and spend more time with their loved ones. The Great Resignation has U.S. workers quitting their jobs in record numbers—more than 24 million did so from April to September this year—and many are staying out of the labor force. Germany, Japan, and other wealthy nations are seeing shades of the same trend. This trend will continue in 2022 as the Omicron variant makes its wave across continents.
We started this year with our very our first 2021 Summit in partnership with Sittercity “The Journey Ahead” where over 600+ women, employers, and partners held discussions and frank conversations on the road ahead. We laid the foundation for what was to come and prepared mothers on how to tackle the Homefront, work front, childcare, mental health, and more. We activated a roundtable to discuss what to expect on the pandemic front. That was in February.
During the course of the year, we continued supporting mothers as they left promising careers to cater to their family and loved ones, work remotely to evade the crushing nature of the pandemic, and in their return to the office post-vaccine.
We took a much needed break during the summer to focus on our loved ones, and came back stronger in the Fall with our Mother: The Summit 2021 with thousands of attendees. We wanted mothers to bounce back stronger at home and at work, providing you with the toolkit, resources, and community you needed. Our roundtables focused on tech, childcare, household management, work-life solutions, and more. It was a gathering we needed before the holidays.
You continue to inspire in more ways than one. I am incredibly proud of all that you were able to accomplish despite the pregnancy, breastfeeding, commuting, cleaning, cooking, laundry, exercising, working, tending to a sick child, and so much more. Moms are the real TIME person of the year and we know it! :)
What is next for Mother Honestly In 2022?
Advice, Content, and Community. We want to get better at fostering community, and bringing mothers together in a way that allows you to thrive personally and professionally by focusing on optimizing the homefront and streamline how you manage the workfront challenges. We will announce this and more in the new year.
Here are a few things that caught our attention this week:
Find Your Unicorn Space
Our mama friend Eve Rodksy wrote a new book Find Your Unicorn Space. I am incredibly proud. With her acclaimed New York Times bestseller (and Reese’s Book Club pick) Fair Play, Eve Rodsky began a national conversation about greater equality on the home front. But she soon realized that even when the domestic workload becomes more balanced, people still report something missing in their lives—that is, unless they create and prioritize time for activities that not only fill their calendars but also unleash their creativity.
Rodsky calls this vital time Unicorn Space—the active and open pursuit of creative self-expression in any form that makes you uniquely YOU. Purchase on Amazon
Grandparents are getting a new surprise
In recognition of the role many grandparents play either before, during, or immediately after the birth of a grandchild, one company in the United Kingdom has moved to offer paid leave to grandparents. Saga, a travel and insurance company for people over the age of 50, will provide employees with one week of paid leave following the birth of a grandchild. Read More
Kids Not Parents Returning To The Office?
As the child-care industry crumbles, Bright Horizon is making a move on corporate America, and its betting on children returning to the office even when their parents work from home Read More
YOU GOT THIS!
This newsletter was written by Blessing Adesiyan, Founder & CEO of Mother Honestly. My best wishes for a safe holiday and a happy new year. Send any home and workplace news, sponsorship and speaking opportunities + virtual networking invitations to hello@motherhonestly.com.