Last week Avon invited me to an event at the United Nations in celebration of International Women’s Day. I was invited because of the award I won last year, for the “Hello Tomorrow Fund”…I have to be honest, I had no idea what to expect when I went. I wouldn’t have even been surprised if I was shuffled to the back or made to collect coats (my “day job” has lately led me to expect the worst at all times!)   

Instead I had the amazing experience of sitting 10 feet from Andrea Jung, CEO of Avon, a truly inspirining woman. I was 10 feet also from Reese Witherspoon who is JUST as cute in real life as she is in the movies. They gave a private talk to the 12 of us winners (of the 100 overall, to date) who were there about how important we were and how inspiring we were to the folks at Avon…so nice! I was asking all the other winners, what they’d won for–amazing things like helping women escape domestic violence, helping women released from prison find jobs, and the like. I’d answer in response to “What did you win for?” “A forum for working mothers…” thinking that maybe that wouldn’t seem as “important”.  On the contrary. Everyone there said “That’s SO important!” And wanted to hear all about the forum, what options were out there, etc. Made me feel great, and inspired (it’s so important to have that periodic shot in the arm!) And like I was involved in something that was worthwhile and important. OH! And I even cried on the PATH train on the way home, as I flipped through Avon’s global brochure and found a picture of myself and my twins as an example of one of the winners. 

After our “private lunch” we then got to go to the big room where the delegates meet, where you can hang the translator-things over your ear (fyi: possibly the reason not a ton gets done at the UN is because you can’t hear a THING through those). So very exciting and made me feel very VIP-ish.  

Then I came home and my husband and the girls reinforced that I’m not, in fact, VIP ish at all. Or, that I’m important as a MOM, someone who needs to feed/bathe/clean/laundry sort/drive etc etc and celebrity meetings aside, I’d better hop to it. Regardless, gave me the push  I needed and I certainly encourage anyone who’s got a great idea to investigate the AVON Hello Tomorrow Fund, set up to fund women “changing the world and empowering women”.  

Here’s a (horrible) picture of me and Suze Ormon–a judge of the Hello Tomorrow Fund, and another women doing great things, for women…and I’ll certainly let everyone know if I start hanging out with Reese.

A little while ago a friend of mine was planning a vacation and she was on one flight with her kids while her husband was on another…I thought gosh, that’s really thinking ahead, and asked if it was because they were worried if the plane went down, their name would live on, at least part of them would “go on”. This was NOT, in fact, the case. The real reason had a little to do with her husband’s work schedule and even more to do with getting cheap flights.

Now I will say I am famous for looking for flights and trying to get great deals. It bothers me to no end to pay any more to airlines than I have to–even though I know I can’t win and it’s a scam like used cars…last week, I was looking for flights and within a 21 minute period saw a swing in fares of $90. Which, times a family of 5, is kind of a lot of money! I even CALLED the airline to insist I wanted the cheapest they could do and…didn’t get it. However sometimes the need for sunshine outweighs the need to win, vs. the airlines. So I took what I could. But a couple years ago, I remember flying to an airport “only an hour further away”, to save like $40. Of course, where we were going was already an hour FROM the airport, and then as you’re sitting in an unfamiliar place with your kid running amuck because you had to get there two hours early and it’s two hours away you’re thinking “I would pay ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY (ie at least $40) TO AVOID THIS AGAIN.”

But back to my friend. She told me that in fact she was doing all she could to get them all on ONE flight. Forget saving the family line…as she put it, “Child-care wise it’s going to be a lot easier if we all go down at once”.

This leads me in a roundabout way to the point of this post. Of course I never want to think about not being here and in fact flat out DON’T think about it. I remember growing up, my parents would go away for a week here or there and leave the written instructions that whoever was in charge of us (an uncle, usually, passing by and staying at our house nights, for safety, leaving us free to watch countless hours of tv and eat ice cream by the half gallon unsupervised, in the afternoon)–that responsible person in charge of us was left with permission to get us treated at a hospital, or what have you.

Now, my approach on this front now that I have my own kids has been to haphazardly write on an old menu or something in crayon that my brother can make decisions for my kids. But it seems that there is a better way! A friend turned me on to a new site, forms4parents.com. This is a site that was created by a mom and a lawyer and she saw a need, and filled it. All of the forms–covering every instance, and situation–are extremely secure and easily downloadable and official (much more so than crayoned documents). It’s extremely easy, extremely user friendly, and how great that a mom put it all together. It’s not just if you travel…there’s the right forms you need for babysitters, nannies, any caregivers; your child’s name and even a photo, of the child or the caregiver, can be officially posted. The information is secure and the forms have been thoroughly vetted. So: check it out and here’s to responsible parenting!