Imagine if THIS were the first election of your lifetime…

I’m a political junkie. For the last two years, I’ve watched all the coverage, listened to all the talk radio, read blogs, thought about issues, etc. However, I’m not a “supporter”, meaning that I haven’t, to date and not sure I’ll ever be, one of those folks who puts a sign in the yard, wears a button, or volunteers for a candidate’s campaign. That’s not to say I’m not highly invested in the way in which any election goes, it just means that I vote for my candidates choosing to do so because I think they are the best of the worst options. Even if I was running for office, I’d vote for myself with trepidation because I know I have flaws and strengths and so do all the candidates who run.

So background aside, I’ve just been struck by the fact that THIS election is the first election in my daughter’s life. Now politics aside, imagine a world where THIS election was the first of your lifetime — this historic election where there was no other possibility but to have either an African American or a woman elected on a ticket. This election where technology played such a huge roll in the voting outcome, where youth mobilized to voice opinions on both sides of the fence in ways not seen in elections past, where it appears we will have record voting turnouts signaling an immense sense of engagement and commitment by citizenry in how our future will be shaped, and where in the end we elected the first African American to the highest office in the land.

What will it mean for my daughter as she grows up? We can only wait and see, but it’s it exciting to imagine what it will be like if this was the foundation of your political history.

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Babies at Work?

Very interesting article today on Boston.com about the trend toward companies allowing new moms, and I suppose new dads, the flexibility to bring their baby to work. Now, I’m a working mom. I work three days a week, my husband watches our daughter two days, and we have a nanny who helps out about 20 hours a week. I have to say, in the normally unfamily friendly career avenue I’ve taken; my company has been extremely flexible with me. I’m able to work from home when we have things going on with our daughter, when she’s sick, etc. However, we would never think of bringing babies to work for more than a visit.

I think the idea is interesting as a contingency plan. Say the nanny had a conflict; daycare fell through, something like that. But I’m not sure what I think about this option as a longer term childcare solution. Not necessarily because of its impact on the work environment, but what about the impact on the baby. Yes, I know the argument is always that the more time a baby spends with its parents as opposed to a child care worker the better. But when do babies just get to be babies? What kind of attention are they really getting playing on the floor of your cubicle?

This will be another interesting trend to watch. I’m glad employers are finally waking up to the fact that most families in today’s America need to consider some arrangement around two working parents. It’s not typically an option for most families to have only one income and choosing to have a child in this environment forces you to ask many questions about your career and how it fits into your family goals. I’m just not sure yet how I feel about babies in my office.

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Does chicken really need to have it’s ingredients listed?

So, I’ve been very conscious of what type of food goes into my body for years now. I have Celiac disease, a genetic autoimmune condition, which causes sensitivity to gluten (a protein in certain grains such as wheat, rye, etc). This makes you obsessive about reading food labels. You call the companies of products you like to ascertain whether this food you have to have has any gluten derived ingredients.

Last Thanksgiving I became aware that some omnipotent ingredients such as wheat and soy can be found in foods that you never thought they’d be in — Our Thanksgiving turkey proved to be a challenge. We had to find one that wasn’t basted, soaked, preserved, etc in any broths that contained wheat. We settled for soy…in our turkey!

But today I read an article in the Washington Post that brought the unexpected food additive issue into even greater light for me: Battle Over ‘Natural’ Food Designation. Now I knew that this word was tossed around willy nilly but I guess I never really realized how much. Who knew that high-fructose corn syrup can be in a product and it still be called natural. Additionally, this is the one that really got me was the discussion amongst the poultry industry about what types of additives can be in chicken for it to be called all natural. The thing about this that struck me was that I never really thought to look at the package of chicken breast for a list of ingredients other than say…chicken.

This debate over what can be called natural will be an interesting one to follow.

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