Legally Mom

My article about sex offenders in your neghborhood was published in the July issue of Parents & Kids Magazine. In it, I explore some of the things parents can do if they discover that a convicted sex offender is living close by–and some of the things they CAN’T do.

Like any law dealing with convicted offenders, the Massachusetts statute (which, among other things established the Sex Offender Registry Board) must balance to key issues: public safety, and the constitutional rights of sex offenders. The courts are challenged to balance those delicated interests with each conviction, sentencing, and release–and recent cases of sex offenders who were released and struck again have re-focused attention on the statute and the broader issues.

Do you think of sex offender legislation in Massachusetts should be revamped? If you had a way to improve it, what would be your first recommendation?

My recent article on fathers’ rights was published by Parents & Kids Magazine this month. We’d love to read your comments and letters to the editor–what did you think of the article?

We had some great news yesterday: my oldest was accepted to the brand new Silver Hill Horace Mann Charter School. Even better, he was accepted to the school’s full-day kindergarten program–a novelty in my city, which only offers half-day programs routinely.

Cities that don’t offer full-day programs may want to look to the SHHM program and its accelerated (and free) full-day kindergarten classes. In fact, they should consider providing pre-K education to all children. Governor Patrick’s Commonwealth Readiness Project seeks to address gaps in early childhood education, including full-day kindergarten and pre-K programs for all kids in Massachusetts.

What do you think of the Governor’s proposal? Is there anything else you’d like to see added to his ECE plans? How does your town or city measure up when it comes to ECE?

Thanks as always to the Haverhill Gazette for its recent profile of me.

Work-life balance sure gets a lot of press, but it’s usually painted as an issue that plagues moms only. Yet working fathers are also faced with the difficulty of balancing work and family time. In fact, a recent survey by Careerbuilder.com says “nearly one in four (24 percent) working dads feel work is negatively impacting their relationship with their children. Forty-eight percent have missed a significant event in their child’s life due to work at least once in the last year and nearly one in five (18 percent) have missed four or more.”

For dads trying to balance work and family, there are some resources. The Families and Work Institute offers online help, while The National Center for Fathering also has plenty of articles and resources on work-life balance for dads.