I'm No Superwoman: True Stories of Kids, Career and the Chaos of Modern Motherhood.

This book paints a vivid picture of what smart, driven women encounter as they try to balance a successful professional life with family and children. The first book of its kind to let women express their own voices on the subject of work-life balance, I'm No Superwoman: True Stories of Kids, Career and the Chaos of Modern Motherhood. exposes the difficulties women face as they attempt to balance career with family life, inner happiness with the happiness of those dependent on them, the predictable life of the office with the chaotic life of the home. Honest, funny, frustrated, provocative, and, in some cases, in love with their work, these women don't claim to be able to "do it all well." Sacrifices must be made on all ends, and feeling content and fulfilled on both a professional and personal level does not come easy.

The anthology brings together original stories by women of varied ages and backgrounds, who share experiences of the conflicts that inevitably arise when motherhood and career collide—from struggling to keep down morning sickness while presenting to a board room of me, to writing a novel while care for a child with special needs, to getting a text message from a sick child while flying an F-16 over Afghanistan. Celebratory but realistic, the stories illustrate the multitude of choices available (and still unavailable) to women and the great rewards (and considerable pitfalls) of fitting motherhood into the professional mold.

I'm No Superwoman: True Stories of Kids, Career and the Chaos of Modern Motherhood.will appeal to a wide-ranging audience, including college graduates contemplating motherhood, parents overwhelmed by the demands of work and family life, stay-at-home mothers and mothers trying to “on ramp” back into the workforce, husbands trying to understand the plight of the women in their lives, and anyone wondering how mothers are faring in the professional world today.

The editor—a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Princeton University, award-winning journalist and mother of four—draws out from the authors all of the messiness, the highs and lows, the fears and hopes, the sense of failure and accomplishment, that comprise life for so many ambitious women trying to make it in the professional world today.

What Do Real Princesses Do?

At last, a princess that mothers and daughters alike can be proud of...

As the mother of two girls, ages 5 and 1, I have never been keen on the myth of the fairy tale princess: a young heroine sits around, looking pretty and longing for happiness until Prince Charming swoops in and saves her, taking her off to a castle where she will presumably spend the rest of her days doing little more than looking pretty and being happy.

Despite my efforts to keep my daughters away from all things “princess,” there is no escape. Princess paraphernalia is everywhere—books, movies, toys, dolls, clothing, and more. The insidious message being conveyed to our little girls is that you have to be beautiful to have worth, and that only a handsome prince can save you from the bad choices you make in life. Take a look at some of our most popular fairy tale princesses and the choices they make:

• Snow White is a felon who breaks and enters into the dwarves’ house, eating their food and sleeping on their beds. She disobeys the dwarves “stranger danger” warning and eats a poison apple given to her by an old hag.

• Sleeping Beauty, despite being told her whole life not to go near a spinning wheel, goes straight toward the first one she sees and pricks her finger, putting herself and the whole kingdom into a deep sleep.

• Ariel, the Little Mermaid, defies her father’s orders not to go to the surface of the sea, and ends up losing her voice, her tail and nearly her life.

What Do Real Princesses Do? takes on the princess myth and helps girls understand that being a “real princess” means more than wearing fancy dresses and crowns. This book provides girls, ages 3-8, with another role model to emulate—a strong, smart and caring young woman who learns that real princesses help other people; they study hard so they can do well in school; they grow up to be smart and successful women.