Older Women in the Workplace

Why is it excellent, preferable, to have women over 40, or 50, or 60 in the workplace? Let me count the ways (though the fact that I have to count at all makes me purple). The first one, obviously, is that it’s simply excellent to have a diverse workplace — people who don’t look, think, act, or talk like the boss — and as the data that follow illustrate, women over 40 are dramatically underrepresented in the top tiers of organizations. For another, studies show that women actually do good work. (Although, again, this is something we need to study?) According to a 2012 report by Dow Jones, companies with at least one female senior executive are more likely to succeed than companies that have only men at the top. Venture-based start-ups with five or more women onboard are significantly more successful than those without.

I loved this article about Why We Need Older Women in the Workplace. A lot of who I am today is due to my learning from the powerful women I’ve worked for and with; I hope that I model an approach to work that’s worthy of emulation as well. Though I’ll admit, that like the author, I too feel like I’m “just exhausted and scrambling like everyone else.”

Concerts in Ardenwald Park

Tonight for National Night Out, we went to one of the free summer concerts at our local (really local, like 5 block away) park. The Ardenwald-Johnson Creek Neighborhood Association puts on concerts at the humble and cozy Ardenwald Park every Thursday in August.

It was fun while we were there! Some friends and family joined us, we had a picnic, and the kids ran around like crazy. The only downer was that Amelia threw a huge fit about leaving at the set break (our usual bedtime is around 7, and it was 8 already) and we had a big argument. Well, and also that the kids didn’t eat much and Baxter had repeating tantrums when I cut off the sweets. Can anyone tell me at what age these later evening outdoor events become 100% fun to bring kids to? My munchkins tend to take the break in routine as an excuse to act like jerks, and it makes me not want to do this kind of stuff in the first place, you know?

Well, at least Amelia got to dance a little.

Not sulky; on a call

Normally I say no imaginary cell phone calls at breakfast, but our cousin left her stuffed panda with us last night for an extended visit, so Amelia had to call the stuffed animal school to let them know that Panda would be joining them this morning. Serious business indeed.  

Cute stuff Baxter says

Baxter at breakfast: “Mom, my brain says, ‘Baxter, Baxter! Drink this milk because it’s good for you.'”

Baxter, pouty: “Mama, nothing is the way I want it to be.”

Me: “Baxter, it’s going to be really hot today so I’d like you to wear a tank top.”
Baxter: “I don’t want to wear a tank top, so I won’t wear a shirt at all!”

All the lonely people

Mama, I will look for you if you are lonely, ok? 

If I’m lonely you’ll look for me with your binoculars? 

Yes, anyone with bi-nah-clee-ars can look for people who are lonely, so I will look for you. 

Do you think I’m lonely when you’re at school? 

Um yeah, because I can’t see you.