Zeno's Bar & Grill

Apparently things aren’t all sauerbraten and smiles in Germany on the mommy wars either. As reported in Sunday’s NY Times, the buzz word there is rabenmutter, which translates to raven mother. It refers to women “who leave their children in an empty nest while they fly away to pursue a career.” Despite the nasty moniker, the Germans seem to be on the right track overall. The first female chancellor, Angela Merkel, has nominated a mother of seven to hold the position of minister for family affairs. One of her more interesting proposals would require fathers to take at least two months off from work in order for the family to receive the full twelve months of paid maternity leave. This is a really clever idea. It gets men more involved with their children from the start and helps to level the playing field at work as well.

--Kelly & Melanie