For all the moms—and future moms, friends of moms, daughters of moms (heck, everywoman!)— you’ll want to check out Sh*tty Mom, a laugh-out-loud humor book about all those awkward parenting scenarios. Like how to drop off a sick kid at daycare (um, not that I’ve ever tried that haha!). I loved, loved, loved the book and was honored to catch up with two of its co-authors, Mary Ann Zoellner (left) and Alicia Ybarbo, who happen to be producers at the Today Show.

Debra: Okay, why the title Sh*tty Mom?

Alicia: Why not Sh*tty Mom? Whether we choose to admit it or not we’ve all been (or are going to be) Sh*tty Moms . . . Yes, the title is an eye opener (we love attention) but the overall message of the book is to liberate women from this “all or nothing” ideal of parenting. Moms need to cut themselves a break and laugh at those less-than-perfect parenting moments while finding a way to press the recharge button. A happy mom is a happy family. Right?

Mary Ann: Because there is no better word to describe those moments when you just fail as a parent. This isn’t about being a “Bad” mom. It is about being a relatively good mom— but not being that good always. Basically, parenting the way our parents parented.

Debra: In the book there’s a hilarious chapter suggesting McDonald’s as childcare so mom can work. You both have demanding jobs at the Today Show—so how did you find time to write the book?

Alicia: Well, it takes a village! Mary Ann Zoellner, Karen Moline and I were out to dinner—enjoying margaritas and chips and salsa —when we had our Aha parenting moment. We realized that instead of letting the guilt ride us for “life” happening (like buying store bought Halloween costumes or eating one too many take-out meals during the week) we needed to embrace them. Think of it as parenting lite, with 40% the effort. Lowering expectations on yourself allows you to love your children more, smile more, laugh more. Anyhow, the three of us came up with the idea and brought on comedian Laurie Kilmartin (a stand-up comic and writer for Conan) to deliver the funny.

Debra: Most of the book is tongue and cheek, which all us moms appreciate. But what’s your best real tip for managing the proverbial juggle?

Alicia: Let the balls fall where they may. There’s no secret to juggling work/life, because it is truly impossible to do. Understand that some days work is going to win and other days your family will win, but rarely do I as a career women handle both with similar success. Rely on husbands and partners, and thank them often, and be in the moment as much as you can. Now that’s a quality I wish I was better at.

Mary Ann: It’s impossible. Try as hard as you can without driving yourself, your kids or your partner crazy. Some weeks we are great at work, other weeks we are good at home, other times we are good with our husbands. It is a major balancing act and knowing that you will fail to be perfect helps alleviate some of the guilt.

She’s the owner of eponymous Rosie Pope Maternity, author of the new book Mommy IQ, star of Bravo’s “Pregnant in Heels” and mom of three young kids. I spoke with designer Rosie Pope shortly before the birth of her third (we were due a few weeks apart!) about her business and making it all work. Here are three great tips she shared with me:

Organize old-school. We have a huge chalkboard in our apartment that’s near the front door. It has information like who’s picking up oldest son up from preschool; supermarket shopping that needs to be done; if anything needs to be turned in for a school trip so our nanny and family members are on same page. Nobody else can touch it! I normally fill out the board on Sunday evenings.

Prepare the night before. I shower and make lunches in the evening. I try to incorporate my sons in basic things I do in the morning—like sit in the bathroom with me when I put makeup on. They end up painting on the walls with makeup brushes. But we’re doing it together, so it’s a bit of quality time.

Surrender to the chaos of motherhood. It took me being pregnant with my third child to let go of the control. Some days we look around the messy apartment and cry. I did just fall over a Tonka truck. There’s icing in my hair. But my kids are smiling and laughing. It sounds so cliché: you talk to people to who don’t have kids and they roll their eyes, and think it’s crazy that I’d rather be playing with my kids in this chaos than sipping a martini in my Christian Louboutins. But it’s true.

Yesterday I spoke with cbsatlanta.com about tips for standing out in the job hunt. We covered how you can use social media to find contacts at your dream company, and the all important use of “key words” to save your resume from the so-called black hole. Check out the video above!

Are you getting what you’re worth at work? Probably not. Yesterday I spoke with WABC about a new report that shows men outearn women in nearly every major U.S. market. In many places the gap is more than 100%! Yet, at the same time, a recent study by Catalyst has challenged the myth that women “don’t ask” for promotions and raises. They found that some women do in fact ask– they just aren’t offered as much in return. How can you reconcile this information and do your best to close your own pay gap? Check out the video below for some my tips:

Harvard MBA. Fluent in Spanish, German, and French (plus a little Dari). Expert multi-tasker as deputy director of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Women and Foreign Policy program, contributing editor-at-large for Newsweek and The Daily Beast, and mom to a 10-month-old baby. Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is a woman who got up at 4 a.m. to squeeze writing a (NY Times bestselling) book around a full-time job and actually conducted an interview for a Newsweek story from the hospital when her baby was five days old. She’s driven by some wise words her cousin once told her. “He said, ‘Changing your life is supposed to be this hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it.’ In other words, don’t try to go around the work. You have to go through it,” she says. I caught up with Gayle one morning to learn a few more of her secrets.

I believe in having a plan A, B, and C. You can’t say I’m going to “follow my passion” unless you can also make sure the rent gets paid. I learned this because my mom and aunt were single moms who worked more than one job to make rent.

I try to work out six days a week. It really helped me manage the hormone swings after pregnancy. I do a combination of yoga, dance, and classes at the Tracy Anderson studio.

I recently switched to an iPhone. But I miss my Blackberry keyboard! Now it takes me an hour to send one message.

I’ve been a vegetarian since I was little, to the horror of my family, and try to follow a vegan diet. When I’m traveling [to far-off places], I eat a lot of protein bars, especially Think Thin ones. Afghan food is great. Airplane food is not.

I live by the words of strong women in my family. My mother used to say, “On a scale of major world tragedies, yours isn’t even a three.” Meaning, keep it all in perspective. My aunt would say, “After the dance [i.e., once you make your dream happen], they can’t take it away from you.” And my grandma always encouraged me to take big leaps and not dwell on the downside. She reminded me, “McDonald’s is always hiring.”

To learn more about Gayle, visit her website. And, check out her fantastic TEDx speech here.