a lovely award

Thanks to Coding Mama at WAHM-BAM for this award.


I recently joined "British mummy bloggers" and came across all sorts of lovely people, including Coding Mama. As a recipient of the award I am to tag five blogs I have recently started to follow, and to tell you my five pet peeves.

When I got this tag I thought "I'm a very chilled out person. Not much peeves me", and I struggled with what to write. Then a news article and its blog fallout, followed by a related issue at work both made my blood boil, and triggered all manner of peevishness!

So here are my five:

1. The absolutely awful, dismal employment rights protections that this country (the USA) provides for women with children. It didn't escape my notice that the article about women being unhappier now than in the 1970's that spurred the debate on the Times blog was an American one. When it comes to our kids and our careers, most of us have the stark choice "Come back after 12 (often unpaid) weeks, or leave, and take your chances on getting back into the workplace if/when you do want to return"

2. People in HR who don't know their job, almost screw my people out of the meager legal maternity protections that they do have, and then blame others for their errors.

3. Women who don't support other women (see above).

4. People who oppose gay marriage, especially those who say that "we need to protect our children" from it. I hate to break it to you, but some of our children are/will be gay. Don't we want their relationships with their chosen partners to be equally valued under the law? We need gay marriage in order to protect the rights of all gay people, now and in the future.

5. Children who don't say please and thank you. Especially when they are my own.

Now I need to link to five blogs I have recently discovered, and pass this award on to them. I don't actually have five recent finds, too busy, but I have recently enjoyed reading the eloquent Noble Savage, the amusing and touching Mothership, and the savvy Susannah at a modern mother. I'm also going to break the rules and link to my bestest friend Followthatdog, over at "From stage dives to station wagons" , because she rocks, and because by chance she just posted a list of peeves anyway!