| #ffffff;" /> | | | | code also kept them alert so if a problem came up |
| Michelle Lamar is a mother, wife, marketing geek and | | | | while I was at “Charlie’s,” they |
| author. Michelle writes a parenting blog called | | | | could call me on my cell. I can’t tell you how |
| “White Trash Mom” and wrote the | | | | many work problems I took care of while on |
| book “White Trash Mom Handbook” | | | | playground duty at my kids’ school. |
| (August 2008). Michelle lives with her two daughters, | | | | I know lying is sad and twisted. But so is the fact that |
| ages 10 and 14, and her husband Tim. | | | | there are no good childcare options for families here in |
| I tried to be a perfect mother. I tried to do it | | | | the United States, one of the richest countries in the |
| “all,” because I thought that was what I | | | | world. |
| was supposed to do. Then one day I woke up and | | | | We are on our own to figure out how to care for our |
| realized that it was completely insane to try to think I | | | | children and make a living. Did you know that: |
| could do it all. Something had to give. In my case, I had | | | | - 70 percent of Moms with children under 18 work and |
| to get creative with the truth. | | | | that a recent study by Harvard and McGill Universities |
| I worked in sales for years at an ad agency. Along the | | | | ranks the U.S. at the bottom of the world's nations in |
| way, I become a mother of two girls…and a | | | | terms of providing a safety net for Moms and |
| pathological liar. To manufacture more time and | | | | children? |
| flexibility in order to take kids to appointments, do work | | | | - Of the 52 million working parents in the United States, |
| at their school, I made up a fake client. It made it easier | | | | it is estimated that between $50 billion and $300 billion |
| for me to keep track of (lying is much more difficult | | | | dollars are lost every year because of lost job |
| than telling the truth), and it became a | | | | productivity due to parents being worried and stressed |
| “code” for my co-workers (the women | | | | about their children in after school care or without |
| of course) that I was on a “child duty” | | | | proper care after-school. |
| when I left the office. I would tell my co-workers that I | | | | Since the modern workplace pretends that my children |
| was going to see “Charlie” over at | | | | don’t exist, and this isn’t going to change |
| “Corporate Solutions” for a meeting. | | | | anytime soon, I am working around it. If the world is |
| At the mention of “Charlie” or the | | | | going to pretend I don’t have kids, I am going to |
| “Corporate Solutions” meeting, my | | | | have imaginary clients. |
| friends would know that one of the girls had to go to | | | | You can read more of my tips on how to keep sane |
| the doctor, or that I had playground duty at school. The | | | | in my book, The White Trash Mom Handbook. |