STAY TUNED FOR SOME BIG NEWS— THE STUCK IN THE MIDDLE PODCAST WILL COMING OUT SOON..!!!!

HEALTH
We need to care for ourselves too

I’m not writing next week and it feels wonderful.

Don’t get me wrong. This is one of my favorite parts of the job. It’s still a job.

Memorial Day weekend is the first of the holy trinity of summer holidays. It’s the kickoff of the regular season for those of us in the professional league of weekend grilling, drinking, and floating in some natural or manmade body of water. The Fourth of July is the Super Bowl. Labor Day is the end-of-season all-star game. Each is sacred.

When I’m President, the mandatory school year will end on the Thursday before Memorial Day and not start again until the Wednesday after Labor Day. And anyone who schedules a kids’ baseball tournament, choir banquet, or wedding during a trinity weekend will be flogged in the public square (on a Tuesday in October). Summer holiday weekends are for family, friends, and flip-flops, not collared shirts, fancy shoes, or team uniforms.

As if I wasn’t looking forward to next weekend enough, our board meeting is on Tuesday. And as much as I sincerely adore my board, preparing for our quarterly gatherings is exhausting. It’s like taking pictures of yourself, naked, from every angle, and asking the fittest people you know to critique them. You’ll get some candid feedback, but you’ll be glad when it’s over. .
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YOUR MARRIAGE

Piling on the pressure: new research reveals working parents in high-stress sectors need more tailored support

New findings reveal increased pressure is taking its toll. Employees in high-stress sectors are actively seeking companies that will help them better balance career aspirations alongside family life. Employers of parents in demanding industries are at greater risk of losing talent unless they take steps to provide practical support.

Key sectors at risk

Banking and finance, tech, healthcare and NHS are among the sectors most likely to see employees quitting in the next 12 months, according to Bright Horizons’ recent annual Modern Families Index survey of over 3,000 random UK working parents.

Women show increased likelihood to vote with their feet. Mothers in banking are 21% more likely to look for new employment than the wider population and those in tech 55% more likely.

The challenges faced

Breakdowns in childcare are a particular issue. Over three quarters (76%) of working parents in the legal sector and 80% in finance needed days off for last-minute childcare in the last year, compared to 67% overall..

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FINANCE AND INVESTING TIPS FOR THE SANDWICH GENERATION

Can you afford to take care of your children and parents?

As President Joe Biden runs for reelection, he's resurrecting proposals to reshape American life from the cradle to the grave by lowering the cost of child care, expanding preschool opportunities and making home aides more available to the elderly.

The initiatives were once part of Build Back Better, Biden's gargantuan legislative agenda that stalled on Capitol Hill two years ago. Now they're what Neera Tanden, the Democratic president's top domestic policy adviser, describes as "unfinished business."

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^{YOUR KIDS}

Moving up - Tips to smooth the transition from elementary to middle school

^{Advice – wanted or not – is found at every turn during pregnancy and the newborn stage. But by the time kiddos are moving up from elementary to middle school, there are fewer resources to help parents pave the way for their tweens. That doesn’t mean this season is any less important for a child’s physical and emotional development than those early months. And the summer break is prime time to assess where you are and how to make the first day of school a little less daunting for everyone in the family.} 

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CARING FOR PARENTS

‘Sandwich generation’: How this family built an ADU for aging parents in the side yard

RALEIGH, N.C. — It’s Friday night. Sara and Lee Stein are leaving their home to meet her mother and stepfather, Abby and Bob Millhauser, for an early dinner.

From their front door, they walk 42 steps to reach her parents’ brand-new, 940-square-foot accessory dwelling unit, or ADU. It’s even less (14 steps) if they leave from the garage.

Technically, the Millhausers live in their daughter’s side yard. For most, it’d be a nonstarter, even for those on good terms with their parents or in-laws.

Not the Steins.

Back in Los Angeles, where they’d resided for decades before moving to North Carolina in 2021, they lived “three to four times” closer to their neighbors.

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YOUR JOB

Caregivers are struggling to handle work and family duties. Employers can offer more help.

For those responsible for caring for a parent, or any adult relative, caregiving takes a financial toll and can disrupt careers. A new report by AARP and S&P Global offers insights on the difficulties for caregivers, and suggests employers need to do better to support workers.

The report focuses on those caring for adult family members, as opposed to parents raising children, although the report notes many Americans find themselves with taking care of kids and aging parents.
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