There are big changes afoot here at the House of Mombian. I’m delighted to report that I’ve just taken a part-time job as the Online Content Manager for the SEED Project on Inclusive Curriculum, a 26-year-old  diversity program that helps educators “examine contemporary scholarship as well as ‘the textbooks of our lives’ in order to inform community conversation about schooling and culture.” It explores gender, race, culture, sexual orientation, and other aspects of identity, and prepares educators to bring their learnings back to their own schools.
The program is housed at the Wellesley Centers for Women, “one of the largest gender-focused research-and-action organizations in the world.” WCW is affiliated with my alma mater, Wellesley College, which makes me extra excited to work there.
I’ll be helping SEED launch and maintain a new Web site, full of rich content and multimedia goodness. (Right now, SEED information is kept on the overall Wellesley Centers for Women site.) The job will allow me to combine several aspects of my experience and interests: years spent working on Internet projects for both a startup and a large corporation, plus the writing and diversity work I’ve been doing for the past few years, particularly around schools and education.
The job is part time, but it’s still entailed a number of changes at home, including after-school care for my eight-year-old son on some days. He seems to be adjusting well, though, and even offered to help draw some designs for the Web site. I think I’m overcompensating, though—I cooked an entire turkey Sunday to make sure I’d have something to feed the family for dinner this week.
Don’t worry: Mombian will still continue. My posting schedule may be a little wacky until I settle into a rhythm, but I fully intend to keep it (and the associated newspaper column) going strong. And of course, all thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own, not my employer’s.
Have any of you gone back to outside employment after staying home with your kid(s)? Any good advice?
Congrats on the new job! I also do all my cooking on weekends or late evenings after my 2 preschoolers have gone to sleep. When my mom went back to work, she enlisted my brother (7) and me (11) to help plan menus, shop and make dinners. I don’t know how helpful it was for her, but it made us feel useful and independent. Good luck!