We just got back from a road trip and, after several days in my uncle and aunt’s pristine, gorgeously decorated, child-free home, I have to admit that my own house feels like a pig’s sty.

There’s mud on the carpets. Something gritty under the kitchen table. Things scattered on countertops. Laundry piled on the floor of our bedroom. A downstairs bathroom counter full of bottles and brushes. And a toy-filled family room that is starting to cause problems.
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I’m writing this as we road trip, thanks to the power of technology and an exceedingly tolerant husband who does not mind long stretches behind the wheel. Three of our five kids are packed in the back, and even though it’s around noon and, as such, a prime time for a squabble, they’re quiet and – gasp – content.

Our long drives have not always been like this. We’ve heard our fair share of “I want to get out!” from those strapped into car seats and “This is not my idea of fun” from sulky teens, and it goes without saying that all of the kids, from teen to toddler, usually ask at least a couple times, “Are we there yet?”
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I keep a running list of things I never thought I’d say as a parent. Today I added another sentence to it, courtesy of my 2-1/2-year-old son: “We don’t kiss the walls during karate class.”

As if it’s perfectly OK to kiss them at any other time.
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When it comes to earning a salary, the gender gap is old news. An article in Business Week says that, according to a recent study, the new inequality is the difference in pay between working women who are mothers and those who aren’t.

It’s easy to focus on the paycheck — mothers were offered an average of $11,000 less in starting salary than non-mothers, the study found — but working moms often aren’t only struggling for equal pay, they’re often struggling for equal respect as well. And that may be even more difficult to come by.
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I used to wonder why anyone needed to be connected to work 24/7. Well, not everyone — there are some jobs where it’s pretty clearly warranted — but I couldn’t see any reason for me to be like that. Except now, I do.

I’m writing this on my phone. While sitting in a parking lot. At the airport. Waiting for my mother-in-law’s plane to arrive. Today, this tiny gadget is the fulcrum upon which my work and my life are balanced.
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I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, mostly about my career. I started working as a journalist when I was 16 — I mean working for pay, as opposed to on the school paper or something — and I pursued my career goals with a single-mindedness that surprises me today, in retrospect.

I didn’t really have a mentor, 15 or 20 years ago. I could have used one — as a  young woman, as a woman of color, as a journalist, as a professional. I could have used a primer on office politics (who couldn’t?), some guidance on setting goals, a reminder that work-life balance is important even when the only think on the “life” side of the equation is yourself.
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Starting Sunday I’ll be earning 23 percent less for doing the same amount of work at the office. Twenty-three percent less for doing more work, really, given the economy and the fact that “do more with less” isn’t just a catch phrases on this column.

Unfortunately, my mortgage, household expenses, bills, daycare fees, school tuitions, and health insurance costs aren’t going down by 23 percent. Gas isn’t going to start costing 23 percent less on Sunday, and my commute isn’t going to be 23 percent shorter. And since my husband works for the same company, his paycheck is being slashed by 23 percent, too.

And I am angry.
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My husband has several wives. Me, of course. But he also has a wife who is his dietitian for the medical study he’s involved in, and another who sits just a few feet away from him at the office — his work wives.

There’s no flirting involved; his dietitian is engaged, and his work wife has been happily married years, with kids who are grown and out on their own. And though my husband and I work for the same company (and have since long before we were married), at the office, for the most part, we are married to each other but I am not his work spouse.
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For all the flak mommy bloggers get when they post about their kids, I have to think that it pales in comparison to “reality” shows like Jon and Kate plus Eight. If having a film crew follow your family around all the time isn’t exploiting your children for money, I don’t know what is.

But what about your own videos, posted on YouTube, Vimeo, and the like? You intend those clips to be seen by far-flung family and friends, but what happens when a video of your kid goes viral?
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One of most basic ways to do more with less is to bring your lunch to work; if you usually spend just $7 a day on lunch, bringing it four days a week (splurge and buy lunch on the fifth, if you like) can easily leave $100 or more in your wallet each month. Though you do end up spending a little more on groceries, the savings — especially if you learn to love leftovers — can be substantial.

Bringing your lunch to work doesn’t mean throwing a soggy sandwich into a baggie and tossing it in your purse, though. It also doesn’t mean a dazzling selection of non-nutritive items from the snack machine. Here are five lunches that take little effort to prepare:
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