Week 15: Peanut Butter Cookies & "Pay Up"

WHY THIS BOOK?

This book is a quick read @ 189 pages. I think all books should be 250-275 @ most because if you cannot get your message across by then I will begin to skim sections.

Reshma shares how she fell into this ridiculous “have it all motherhood scheme” & how a lot of us have fallen trap to it. She is the CEO of Girls who code, which I am a huge fan of as I have focused a lot of my career on girls & STEM.

She shares her meltdown moment & how the "have it all" mentality is one big lie. I completely agree with her. I will never forget the moment another mom at a playgroup said "Oh are you teaching her sign language at 8 months?" I politely said no & walked away thinking…are you f&&***& kidding me? Now on top of all the organic baby food I need to make, as well as sleep training and get back into my pre-pregnancy clothes I need to teach my kid to sign.

Heck no…

In Chapter 5, she discusses the 4 forces of making real change: empower, educate, revise and advocate.

One of my favourite sections w/in Chapter 7 was the discussion on the motherhood penalty. The motherhood penalty is a term coined by sociologists who argue that in the workplace, working mothers encounter biological & cultural based disadvantages in pay, perceived competence, & benefits relative to childless women. I recall hearing stories of moms who would leave their coat on the back of their chair even though they had left to go pick up their child. Or what about not even being asked about an opportunity because you would have to travel & you have young kids.

Who else has had to deal with this?

Reshma also shares her Marshall plan for moms Homepage - Marshall Plan for Moms, which calls on US companies and policy makers to create policies on paid family leave, affordable childcare & rooting out the motherhood penalty

What I wished this book had was more of a global perspective. It is mainly based on US content & I realize how living in Canada I would really like to read more Canadian content & perspectives

Curious to hear what are your thoughts on the book?