COO BABY

Hi Everyone and Happy Monday! I hope everyone is hanging in there. We got a lot of requests to share some of our favorite Instant Pot recipes after our Instagram stories this past weekend highlighting the Bucatini Bolognese I made, so here is a list of what we've made so far and had success with! If you have others, please share in the comments below! 

Chicken Noodle Soup - I've made a big batch of this every week for the past three weeks for lunches - it's that good! https://kristineskitchenblog.com/instant-pot-chicken-noodle-soup-stovetop/

French Dip Sandwiches - Great for a group, not that we'll be in large groups anytime soon...https://amindfullmom.com/french-dip-sandwiches

Chicken and Potatoes - Another one that's great for large groups or if you want for leftovers all week! https://ifoodreal.com/instant-pot-chicken-and-potatoes/

Tips for Working from Home Without Childcare 

As a "work from home with my spouse" pro (we both have separate jobs that allow us to work remotely full time and have been doing this for 5+ years) - I've got some tips and tricks to help make things more manageable if you're stuck at home trying to work with no child care. Leave me a comment below with your thoughts or if you have any other suggestions! 

The Night Before: Establish a game plan 

• Coordinate schedules with your partner for the next day - try and break it down into hour blocks, determine who has meetings when, what can be rescheduled to another time or day, etc. From there - decide who will work during what timeframes, while the other is in charge of the kid(s)
• Try and schedule meetings during nap time if possible 
• Respect each other's schedules and try to accommodate. Fighting over who's meeting is more important doesn't help anyone. Understand which meetings you can and cannot move, expect your partner to do the same, and work as a team

I’m here to tell you - maternity leave, in any form, is not a luxury. That sentiment is not only ignorant, but also highly damaging to our culture here in the US. We need to fight for better and more postpartum support for all working mothers (and parents) in those first several months of a baby’s life. 

The sad thing is, if you receive even 12 weeks of paid maternity leave in America, you are considered lucky. FMLA requires 12 weeks of unpaid leave annually for mothers of newborn or newly adopted children if they work for a company with 50 or more employees. For so many, 12 weeks of unpaid work is not an option. According to PL+US, one in four new moms go back to work 10 days after childbirth.