We have begun asking each other out for walks, usually around 9 pm when kids are in or going to bed. Or at least pretending to. It's pure, unadulterated, woman time. Plus, we get exercise. I happened to ask her this one night, "What do you dream about doing?".

Boy, talk about getting to know someone well and quickly! This was such a great, intimate question to ask. (I must say!) What it did, was, it cut to quick of matter. We could have spent our time talking about trivialities, who did what that day, what our partners said about something, things that came up that day with our kids. That stuff will always be there. It's simply busy-talk.

How often do we get to tell someone we trust about our dreams? There's something magical that happens once we begin talking about them, too. They begin to take on a life of their own. suddenly our dream is not such a secret anymore.

IF YOU ARE A WORKING PARENT, PARTICULARLY A WORKING MOM, IT'S LIKELY YOU ARE AMONG THE 95% WHO FEEL GUILTY WHEN THEY LEAVE THEIR KIDS AND GO TO WORK. Many moms leave their day care in tears and then spend rest of day aching to be with their child. Few people can afford to quit their jobs so they go on, day after day, living this vicious cycle of guilt. The truth is that until you acknowledge true antagonist, you cannot change it!

SO WHERE DID THIS GUILT COME FROM ANYWAY? Since monsters hide in dark, let's shine a light on this one so it will go away. Most likely, you were working before you had children and fully intended to work after you had children. No surprise there! The surprise came when that first day arrived to drop your baby off at day care. It was almost impossible to leave, wasn't it? As you got used to idea of saying good-bye to your child for day, that nagging guilt manifested in many other ways - you know, temptation to not discipline in evening so you could have "quality time"; keeping her up too late because you have not been with her all day. Not to mention that underlying fear that your child will become more attached to, and have a stronger relationship with your day care provider than she has with you.

BEING A WORKING PARENT IS PART OF TODAY'S WORLD. Most families cannot maintain lifestyle they have worked so hard to create without two incomes. The conflict arises for women when traditional model of stay-at-home-mom starts rumbling like a small earthquake in her heart. The necessity and expectation to have women be a breadwinner AND mom is still fairly new. There are a lot of hats to wear, and taking one off before putting another on is often impossible. The hat for a demanding job seems to never come off, even for some essential, 100%, mom-time.