Kid and Caboodle

I have volunteered to write a monthly column for Heart Song, the electronic magazine of the Internet-based women's group Ladies-of-the-Heart, that will discuss some of the "split-shift" parenting challenges I have examined from time to time in this journal. At this point I don't know how these two projects are going to mesh; probably I will continue to make journal entries here whenever I have free time, then use these pieces as a jumping-off point for the column. The column will come out only once a month, but it will be viewed by a much larger audience, so I need to make it as polished and interesting as I can. I think the word count is longer, too, so that will be an additional challenge.

Right now I'm just toying with ideas. I think I'm going to call the column "Kid and Caboodle," a play on the phrase "the whole kit and caboodle." That will give me room to talk about all sorts of things, but will also indicate (I hope) that the columns are somehow related to my family life. I'd like it to come across like Lian Dolan's "Chaos Chronicles" from Working Mother magazine. In contrast, this journal, "Interludes," is about the thoughts and feelings I have whenever I have a rare moment to myself. Sometimes these thoughts are about my family, but sometimes they are not. I'm curious to see how these two projects turn out; hopefully I will be able to manage them both -- in addition to my job at the State Department, work with the Asian American Journalists Association, and of course my family obligations....