Airing my dirty laundry and a bowl of pasta

There are a few constants in my not so predictable life every week : I can count on having to prepare dinner, clean the house at least twice a week, do homework with my son most days, grocery shopping, K2's bath and how can I forget the 3 LOADS of laundry that I wash, fold and keep away week after week after week...this along with a 50+hours work week for most women...one wonders how a woman is expected to juggle multiple balls in the air and not come undone.I feel a deep sense of envy as I see the perfectly dressed mothers with not a hair out of place come in drop their kids off at school,  fly a kiss good bye and then calmly walk to their shiny washed cars while I rush in flustered --- is the homework in the backpack (check), snack (check), lunch box (check), kid (thank god!check)...we have avoided getting tardy slips in the first 100 days of school but I am wondering how the next 100 days shape up...there are days when I want to throw my hands up in the air and give up...
Brings more credibility to an interesting talk I heard by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook - some stats she shared:

• Only 15% of the C-Level Executives are women ( numbers haven't moved since 2002 and are trending the wrong direction)
• Out of the married executives polled 2/3rd of the men executives had children and only 1/3rd of the women executives had children

But she didn't stop at the statistics, she gave working women 3 things to think about:

1. Sit at the table : women systematically underestimate their own abilities, is it surprising that even today a woman with the same experience as her male counterpart makes 15%+ less ( hard statistics my friends!). Success and likability is positively correlated for men vs. women (meaning the more successful a woman, the less they are liked).
2. Make your partner a real partner : If a woman and a man work full time and have a child, the woman does twice the amount of house work the man does and the woman does three times the child care ( don't know where Sheryl gets her stats from but I think they are spot on...)
3. Don't leave before you leave : don't lean back and take your feet off the gas pedal...

I do believe there has been progress in terms of women crossing the traditional boundaries and moving in different positive directions yet I also think that despite all this progress there has been undue stress on the woman in general...having to keep both the home front and work front running smoothly....and more importantly feel like they are not shortchanging one for the other.

Anyhow getting off the serious horse....I wanted to share this yummy pasta I make for my son for all you busy moms :

I buy the whole wheat Ravioli from Butoni ( boil as per instructions)

I make the sauce from scratch - 4 large cloves of garlic, 4 Campari Tomatoes, 2 Carrots, 2 Zucchini, Chicken/Vegetable Stock .

• Saute the garlic in EVOO
• Add tomatoes, roughly cut carrots and zucchini ( I use whatever vegetables I have on hand - beans, cauliflower, broccoli,beans)
• Add stock as per thickness desired
• Pressure cook for 1-2 whistles
• Blend, Add salt towards the end...I usually don't need it
• Freeze or Use

Take the sauce in the pasta bowl. Add some shredded mozzarella cheese. Heat in the oven or microwave. Add the cooked ravioli....start to finish, I can have this meal on the table in 20 minutes (I usually make enough sauce to last me three meals - so yes I freeze the sauce).

K2 helped me prepare this pasta and he did try to help me fold some of the laundry...so here's to raising a boy who will be an equal partner in every sense...;-)