Transitions

The Capitol Mamas have been focused on lots of transitions lately.  Or at least, I feel like I have.  In the last few months I have shifted jobs:
1)  from mother of 2 to mother of 3
2)  from Vice President at my consulting firm of 8 years to independent appropriations consultant.
These transitions conjure up a less tangible and more emotional transition as I struggle- as all working moms do- with prioritizing.  There's the balance among the kids as well as the push/pull of workplace issues.
It continues to challenge me and teach me something new each day.  As always, I'm glad to have many women to lean on and share with me their tricks of the trade- namely my Captiol Mamas co-founder, Katherine.  I'm continually thankful for the network of old and new friends, colleagues, and fellow mamas who help me and others in our shared quest to balance and to make it through the tough times.

Last week, Capitol Mamas hosted an event appropriately focused on- you guessed it- transitions.  We heard from two accomplished female professionals who gave us advice on negotiating in the job marketplace and constructing your resume for maximum success.  You can read all about it on our site hosted by bigtent.com which you can access here.

At that meeting we also sought advice on the final touches, colors, and design of our logo.  I'm pleased with the result of this collaboration.  You may have seen the logo on the recent invitation to the Ladies Golf Clinic.  http://www.bigtent.com/home/calendar/event/76940185
Hopefully you'll see it around town more and more in the future as Capitol Mamas transitions into its second full year and becomes a stronger and stronger entity to function as a mutual support group for working moms.

We hope Capitol Mamas can be a welcoming place for women as they transition through all stages of motherhood or their careers.  Whether you are still pushing a baby carraige, working for a member of Congress, or have left those years of sleepless nights far in the past!

How technology can help the working mother do it all

On July 23 Capitol Mamas hosted an event entitled "How Technology Can Help the Working Mother Do It All".  We had a great turnout, heard from our distinguished panel, and held a lively discussion afterward.

Below is an informal write up of some of the sites and also specific apps mentioned.  Following Lynette's fabulous list is a brief summary of some other topics and apps discussed.  What would be most helpful is for the Capitol Mamas to comment below with their favorites.  I'll start by touting a great new blog/website launched by one of our own, Kirstie Tucker.  Its called Kids Will Travel and it focuses on traveling to DC with kids. Share it with all of your out of town friends planning a trip!  http://kidswilltravelguide.com/

Lynette was our first panelist.  Her site is  www.momswithapps.com - Their cooperative group MomsWithApps holds weekly AppFriday events where we feature apps created by indie developers that are FREE or deeply discounted for the day. Discussions and reviews take place on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AppFridayhttp://www.facebook.com/AppFriday Many of the featured apps climb the charts to the top 25 or top 10 iOS apps on AppFridays.

Digital Storytime: http://digital-storytime.com/ : Best Kid's iPad Book Apps, plus over 500 reviews and handpicked Daily Deals.

Common Sense Media: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/
Reviews of movies, games, websites, apps, & more so parents can make informed decisions.

Specific app recommendations (mostly iOS apps):

...of course anything from PicPocket Books (Kids' picture books for iPad, iPhone and iPad touch) http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/picpocket-books/id321206790

For preschool kids:

Toca Boca apps, Pirate Trio (math and phonics practice), Murky Reef, Splash Math, Oceanhouse Media (Dr. Seuss book apps and more), Auryn Apps (picture book apps), Pirate Scribblebeard

Elementary school kids:
Stack the States, Stack the Countries, Presidents and Aliens, Where's my Water, Math Bingo
LightBike 2 (not at all educational, but certainly not princess-y and girly) :)

Middle school:
Monster Physics

General fun:
Instagram, Draw Something, Words With Friends

Lynette also recommends Good Reads as a great place to keep track of books you want to read and ones that friends recommend. It is a website and also available as a mobile app.

Erica Swanson of Google was our second panelist.  She talked to us about using Google Hangouts as a way to help stay in touch with family and friends.  All you need to access this is a Gmail account.
For organizing work and life in general:
Shane Tews of Verisign was the third speaker on the panel and praised the utility of evernote.

Kids and Privacy concerns:
A secure browser you can use on your device when you hand it to your kids is mobicip, but remember to turn off all other search engines for it to work

Entertainment for young children:
There are show episodes on PBS sprout and Nick Jr. that you can stream or download.

Handing your device to a young child:
In general, not a good idea for lots of reasons.  But I did just buy this plastic toy case and it seems to work well and disables the home key on your iphone.  So, the device stays on the game or show you chose.

Family calendar management:
This was a hot topic of conversation.  Some people have firewalls and work and can't take advantage of google calendar- an option many moms like.  Others go the outlook route and just send invitations to their spouse.  Vivian suggested using cozi which looks like a great mobile application for busy families.  Their motto is bye bye chaos- hello coordinated!

So, if you have others to add- and we hope to learn from you- please comment below.  And this doesn't have to  be only applications- it can be any tech trick that helps you do things better!

Welcome to the Capitol Mamas blog

Welcome to the Capitol Mamas blog.  You probably found your way here though my friend Katherine, or me, or one of the Capitol Mamas recent events on Capitol Hill.  You are also probably reading this because like me you are a working mom who is just trying to do her best at the office, at home, and everywhere in between.  Its hard, isn't it? 
Several years ago my friend, Katherine, and I were both working for the Senate Appropriations Committee.  We hadn't gotten married yet or started families and our careers were in full gear.  We had a lot in common then, but even more so now.  Recently, we have forged an even stronger friendship-supporting each other as we try to sustain successful careers while raising young children.  Last year over lunch Katherine brought a great idea to me, "wouldn't it be brilliant if we could gather current and former Capitol Hill mothers together in a networking and support group to share and learn from each other?"  That is how Capitol Mamas was born.  We are thrilled the group is over 100 strong and growing by the day.  Hopefully you will join us at one of our events which you can learn more about through our group portal which you can access right here from this site. 
We hope this blog will serve as an additional forum for our musings on conquering the challenges of work-life balance, raising spirited kids, managing the pressure of working in the heart of Washington, DC, finding reliable child care, tracking down the latest development on Capitol Hill, managing your household, and just about any other issue a Capitol Mama has to tackle day to day.
What's so great about Capitol Mamas is that its all about sharing with and learning from each other.  We're glad you are here.  Thanks for joining us!