Yes, after forestalling this feeling for so many weeks, the dog days of summer have arrived. It's the last week, I have minimal babysitting (how did I once-upon-a-time stay home full time? I must pull out my journals to see how I was really feeling then). Plus, it's rainy and wet out, for days, so it's all quite disorienting. Samira keeps waking up the baby from her nap. "Mom, it was by accident, I swear," is something I've heard several times today already.


We're trying to keep it positive by organizing and getting ready for the school season. Giving in, I bought one of those "Mom" calendars at the book store up the street (and wondered too, where are the similar "Dad" calendars: surely somewhere in America there are fathers responsibile for getting their family members and themselves to school, playdates, swim practice and dentist appointments). I've given in, yes. I am officially not cool. The Sandra Boynton Mom Calendar now hangs on my refrigerator, next to the magnetic Mom's Phone List, complete with school numbers, plumber, doctor and dentist numbers. I even put my grandmother's number down, since her latest move pushed me over the peak of how many numbers I can remember. Maybe that will help me remember to call her.

And the final, final footnote on Forbes.com and its willingness to publish trashy sexist stuff to boost its ratings: my friend Becky wrote to none other than Steve Forbes about it. She also wrote to a large handful of women authors who often write about women and work and asked them to voice their complaint.

Here's what Steve wrote back:

I want to acknowledge your communication with us on the article "Don't Marry Career Women." Sensitive issues demand sensitive treatment. The piece that appeared on Forbes.com this past week was intended to be part academic and part humorous. Instead, it profoundly offended hard-working career women everywhere. We deeply regret having done so.

Steve Forbes
President and Editor-in-Chief
Forbes

The blogosphere is certainly alive this past week with discussions of the Forbes article. I was most intrigued, though, by an article in the business section of today's NYTimes. In short, Forbes.com charges its advertisers a great deal to appear there, but the website on a normal day doesn't actually get the number of hits it needs to back up its exorbitant rates. Solution: every so often it places an incendiary article on the website to get readers' collective goats. Readers read sexist male writer bashing career women, readers get mad, readers email their ten closest friends and tell them to click on Forbes.com and read. Result: Forbes.com's hits go up, its ad rates stay high. In short, we're played both ways. If no one responds, the awful words stand. If we do respond, we're encouraging their strategy and raising their profits. Talk about putting women between a rock and a hard place.

Advertisers are encouraged to play on the battle of the sexes and the mommy wars as a way to gain attention from women by touching on topics that hit us deep in the heart. I wrote about this in my book "The Truth Behind the Mommy Wars," and I leafed through my copy tonight to reread page 40 and after. What is the best way to stop this callous use of women's attention and energy? Who's phrase was "stop the madness"? How apropos.