2005 Mothers Day Campaign:
Mothers - The Real Story

Campaign Blog

Our real stories are about time. The time all mothers spend taking care of their families, the economic and social value of that time, the unpredictability of it, the invisibility of it, the way it changes our lives after we become mothers. It's about time that we come together to tell our stories loud and clear.

Read our blog in full.

Campaign Highlights

See highlighted posts selected from the blog.

Individual Bloggers

• Amy B - Amy is the mother of two children, ages five and two, who lives in Northern California. She worked as a full-time technical writer for a few years before becoming a freelance writer who works from home. Amy is co-leader of her Mothers & More chapter and an active blogger.
• Amy W - Working as a freelance public affairs consultant, Amy has her hands full with two kiddos (Caroline: age 3; Jeremiah: age 5) and an overwhelming number of community action projects.  After spending years in the urban centers of Atlanta and New York, she returned to her mountain mama roots upon the birth of her son accompanied by her New Yorker husband.  They live in the downtown historic district of Charleston, West Virginia.
• Anjali - Anjali has two daughters, ages 3.5 years and 10 months.  She practiced labor law until the birth of her second child, when she decided to stay home full time to reduce her stress level and simplify her life. As it turns out, she was way off mark.  She spends her free time daydreaming about meaningful part-time jobs for both she and her husband, so that childrearing and chores could be split evenly.  She, her family, and her daydreams live outside of Philadelphia.
• Beverly - Beverly resides in Southern California with one 6-yr-old son and one violinist husband.  They live in one Craftsman-style house which came with one stray cat.  In her upper forties, Beverly has efficiently combined a mid-life crisis with first-time motherhood, and thus could not return to her management position in human resources.  Plans for reinventing herself are currently underway.
• Karli - Karli is the stay-at-home mother of two girls, ages 1 and 3. Prior to motherhood, she enjoyed her career as an in-home caregiver for children with severe physical disabilities. While Karli finds being a mom extremely challenging, there's nowhere on earth she'd rather be that at home with the people she loves the most.
• Katy - Katy is a professional writer/essayist who has written for Brain, Child, Working Mother, Parents, Real Simple, Salon, Minnesota Monthly, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and other publications about motherhood. A former reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, she lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two sons, aged 9 and 11. She is working on a collection of essays about the perils of modern motherhood.
• Lauren - Lauren was an English professor for several years,  and does some freelance writing now. She is the mother of two boys, ages 3 and 5, who she had over the age of 40.
• Leslie - 10 years ago Leslie was a single mom working overtime trying to support two special-needs kids. Today Leslie hasn't earned a penny in 3 years, is married, and has added 1.5 more kids to the mix (her newest is due in early June). Leslie's eldest, a boy who turns 17 in June, has severe ADHD. Her second, a 13-year-old girl, has spina bifida and multiple learning disabilities. Her third is a boy who turns 4 in May. When she worked for money, Leslie was a software engineer and did some technical writing. She is 41 years old and lives in Texas.
• Linda - Linda is a mother of a five year old boy and a nearly three year old girl. After surviving two pregnancies on bed rest she periodically works in a part time human resource position. Linda is a midwestern mom who decided after seeing the world that living where she grew up is a pretty great. Writing has become a new hobby and she is inspired by her family to capture the moments, the good, the bad and the really ugly.
• Marianna - Marianna arrived in North Carolina from London in December 1999, with her husband and two small daughters. Now, her daughters are eight and ten, and she has a son, who is nearly three. In England, she combined various careers, from international market research to teaching. She has kept a journal for over twenty years.
• Mary Anne - Mary Anne is mom to a four-year-old daughter and a two-year-old son.  She's started a new business at home marbling papers and she plays Japanese taiko drums for fun.  Before becoming a mom, she had too many lives to count.  This life is going to last longer than those others.  At least 20 years.
• Michelle - In the past ten years, Michelle has experienced nearly every possible combination of employment and parenting.  She has worked full-time outside of the home, part-time, flex-time and been a full time at home mother.  Now she is doing freelance and consultant work out of her home while parenting her two children, a nine year old girl and a two year old boy.
• Rachel - Rachel is the mother of two boys, 3 and 6. Staying home full time is the current state of affairs, but she has explored all other work/family options as well: full time, full time with some home based work, part time and consulting.  While parenting full time is her current choice, she's actively mulling options for her eventual return to the work force.
• Robyn - Robyn is the mother of 2 girls age 3 and 15 months. She lives near Seattle, WA.  She worked as a research scientist prior to becoming a Stay-At-Home-Mom.
• Sandy - Sandy lives near Ann Arbor, Michigan with her 3 year old daughter, 8 year old son, 12 year old dog, 43 year old husband, and two hermit crabs of undetermined age and sex.  In her life before children, she attended graduate school, worked as an archaeologist, and wrote esoteric articles on prehistoric plant remains.  When she isn't reading, avoiding housework, or taking care of her kids, she thinks about writing articles explaining the overlap of science, ecology, and history for a popular audience.
• Tracy - Tracy lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her 4 year old daughter, husband and puppy.  Currently a stay-at-home mom, Tracy worked as an attorney before becoming a mother.