Today's post might be all over the place -- you have been warned. Last weekend was really special. Lauren and Sarah flew to Tampa to join me in some warm weather (New England has seen an early, cold and snowy, arrival of winter) and to participate in the Arthritis Foundation's Jingle Bell Run. Our small but mighty team of two runners, dubbed "Lauren's team" was in the top ten of all fundraisers (see our site here:  https://events.arthritis.org/participant/Jane-Swift) and while the weather was a lot warmer than we would have liked, and the markings on the course didn't give us a good sense of what our pacing was, we ended up having a really good showing. Lauren actually came in third in her age group and I placed 8th in mine. That was icing -- last year at this time Lauren was so sick she was going to school about half the time, undergoing really invasive tests to figure out if there was something besides Juvenile Arthritis impacting her and losing her unbeli...

Nineteen years ago the holiday season was not the most tranquil ever for me even though I was thrilled to be a new mom with a one year old and had a high profile dream job as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. However, just before her first birthday Elizabeth had surgery to correct a condition called hypoplasia of the thumb. It was and is a relatively benign condition that likely only meant she was never going to be a concert pianist. It changed her monkey bar grip and to this day, if you know to look, you can tell the difference. But a world-class surgeon at Children's in Boston did a several hour surgery and her Barney-purple cast was adorable and that was that. However, soon after surgery we went on a trade mission to Israel, Jordan and then a personal trip to Poland to visit friends and right before we left Chuck and Elizabeth had a weird stomach virus. (That I suffered with during the trip). By the time we got home in early November we were all run down and E's chronic ...

One of the things I have struggled with as a high profile working mom is how to balance giving inspiration to younger women with not creating the type of unreal expectations that have been born from social media and created too much pressure on our kids and us. Early in my networking and speaking at women's events I started to notice that working moms and successful moms were so grateful to find fellow travelers that even on stages we would fall into a pattern of 'one upping' each other with stories of the worst insults and challenges that had happened to us. It was starting to occur to me that we were indulging in some much needed therapy but scaring the shit out of the young women in the audience. That point was really driven home to me at a particular professional dinner a few years later. I  can't even totally remember the event. But I was seated next to a successful doctor and you won't be surprised that I have become quite skilled at these big banquets at en...

This chaotic picture of a Christmas Card photo shoot gone terribly wrong is really funny today -- despite the looks on our faces, neither Chuck nor I found it all that amusing in the moment. I had recently left political office after having lots of folks criticize nearly every decision around parenting & work I made -- or at least it felt that way. I clearly, if this picture is to be believed, had gotten really good at faking normalcy! And Chuck has always been good at not saying "I told you so." This particular day I had somehow decided that driving over an hour to get a professional photographer in Great Barrington (I don't even remember where I found this guy) to do a family Christmas card was a good idea. Now, there are two other really bad/sad/almost funny if they weren't true parts of this story. 1. On the drive home after the photographer blessedly gave up trying to get a good shot, we were almost killed by a driver who probably fell asleep but crossed ...

As a high profile working mom I can't count the number of times I've been asked the "How do you do it" question referring to efforts to succeed as an involved working mother and at my career. The reason this bugs me so much is that I chafe at questions that women get asked that men never get asked. I also think it leaves the impression for younger women that there is something slightly wrong or off about women like me who choose demanding (and fulfilling, rewarding, etc...) careers and family. Also, let's just admit it doesn't take much to irritate women of a certain age, okay? (I can use gendered stereotypes in jest -- that is one of the rules for this blog. I just made it up.) I've written about this before and I've been working through some thoughts related to work and family that I'll write more about later, but recently I've been asked the question in a new context. I started a new job last January and I had to fill out an I9 form so...

As promised, I am moving all my longer threads off Facebook and to this blog. Most of the snark will be in abeyance today as I know I have many followers of both parties who read my posts for reasonable discussion. And, one of my (hopefully, she won't resign after this) co-bloggers -- the fabulous Dr. Heather Kelly, will I think weigh in from the left. FLORIDA: I voted for Hilary and for Ron Desantis. I need to tell you why & I especially need to tell you that it is really hard for me to say all this in public. For the first time in my adult life, I voted for all the winners at the top of the ticket. I am now a registered Republican in Florida so you might think that is the beginning and end of the story -- Republican in Vermont and Massachusetts = loser, Republican in Florida = winner. However, I not only didn't vote for Trump in the last election, I voted for Hilary. As many folks may know, the GOP candidate for Governor in Florida was and is a big Trump supporter. Thi...

If you are not sure if this blog will have content that appeals to you, then just follow this link to my Spotify playlist (I just figured out how to make a playlist this week). If this music makes you want to dance and if you think you know most of the words (don't worry you don't really need to know them) and if dancing and singing these in public has ever or would embarrass your children in public, then you should definitely be subscribed to this blog. If you simply aspire to having children to embarrass one day, you are welcome, too. And Red Sox fans. If you don't have Spotify, then you aren't as cool as me but if you have a child they can show you (like I have Sarah Hunt) .... or there is a really easy prompt to sign up for free using your Facebook or email. (Mom -- just call Sarah or Elizabeth) https://open.spotify.com/user/ sarah.hunt19/playlist/ 4a3ca1PgI5tQtwPs08Rp6K?si=- DbI3uWxQ_CYUwmUCBYuBw

For quite a while I have had folks encourage me to write a book. I have no idea if those folks would actually buy a book I wrote but I think I know why they suggest it and I think I know why I haven't done it, although I have always been a little deficient in the self-reflection arena. I secured this website on a lark during some back and forth with college friends on Facebook and have threatened to do a webcast by this name as often as I have been encouraged to write a book. Somewhere along the way and as I've begun to give more speeches again, I started to get more serious about sharing my thoughts in a more public forum and the reality of my (still) really busy life plus my proclivity for posting on social media and preference for sharing pictures of my family has led me to this venue, a blog, as a start. Let's see how this goes! Why I think women want me to write a book. First, if you are or become one of the women who has ever or does ever encourage me to write a b...