The first time I traveled after my second son was born, he wasn’t even two weeks old. I remember shuffling onto the airplane with him nestled into my sweating cleavage, the Ergo carrier strapped to my aching shoulders and hips. One hand out behind me holding onto his brother’s hand as we made our way slowly towards our seats.“How old is your baby?”

Something kind of ridiculous, and if I’m being honest, pretty crappy happened to me yesterday. While I wish I could say it was an uncommon occurrence, it’s not. It’s something that has happened to just about any woman who has been “daring” enough to share her thoughts or opinions online. Let me explain.

It is 11 p.m. My phone battery is dying. I am sitting at Gate A10 at San Francisco International Airport holding my 9-week-old baby, surrounded by a laptop and a breast pump. A voice overhead announces that my flight will take off two hours and 10 minutes late. I know immediately how I will use the time. I recently started a company that provides shared workspaces and events targeted to women, and the work is endless; eight months after launch, I have 15 employees and an entire business to grow and manage. But there is also the issue of the baby in my lap. I compromise and dictate a to-do list into my phone.

Just five years ago, I never went anywhere. At 36, I was semi-fresh out of college, trying desperately to launch a professional writing career while caring for a five-month-old and seven-year-old on my own. We’d just scored a small apartment in low-income housing, and I fought on a sometimes hourly basis to work. I had three or four small jobs, all of which had to do with creating or editing or posting content.

It’s 2020, but dealing with microaggressions at work is still a regular experience for professionals from underrepresented backgrounds. Whether you’re a person of color who’s experienced this yourself or a would-be ally who wants to avoid being a microaggresser at all costs, here’s a primer.

Finding reliable childcare solutions is one of the toughest hurdles parents face in the best of times — and the situation becomes vastly more complicated when you throw in a natural disaster or otherwise society-disrupting event. When a single parent or both parents in a partnered relationship work full time, an unexpected breakdown in childcare becomes even harder to manage. That’s why creating a backup childcare plan is crucial. Having backup childcare keeps your kids secure — and your career intact.