Welcome, readers from Ireland's The Journal!

Through the magic of Twitter, I met Jennifer O'Connell (@jenoconnell), editor of the Dublin-based news website The Journal, and who asked to reprint my essay about the high cost of staying home with your kids. The piece ran Sunday in the Minneapolis Star Tribune (and previously on Salon) and was well-tweeted by Strib staffers. All of this has led to my acquiring new Twitter followers and blog visitors with mellifluous Irish names.

Welcome! I look forward to hearing your perspectives, and finding out more about how mothers and parents are (or aren't) supported in Ireland. Even before my piece ran in The Journal, I had received an email or two from Irish readers who'd seen it on Salon, and heard some all-too recognizable tales. So even though some of us say "mom" and others "mum," I know we share some common experiences.

I tend to think of the United States as an outlier among Western countries in terms of its shabby support for working parents, its lack of paid parental leave, insufficient daycare options, workplace inflexibility and so on. I'm eager to hear how the situation compares in other countries. So please, comment frequently, compare your situations to mine, correct any misconceptions you see me writing, and let's pool our knowledge.