Westwood Working Mom Brings Home 'Bacon' Book

Working moms don't have it easy. For their kids, it's even harder for them to understand why mom needs to work. 

One Westwood working mom, Nikki Mark, decided to do something about it.

When her oldest son was 4, he couldn't stop asking why she needed to go to work. A search for a children's book on the subject came up empty. So Mark decided to write one herself.

Mommy Brings Home the Bacon is the result. 

Ever the multitasker, Mark, executive vice president of nightclub and restaurant operator SBE, wrote the book on the plane to a business trip to New York. 

Her original plan was to keep the book in the family for personal use but when she mentioned what she was doing to colleagues, they encouraged her to find a printer and sell it to the public. (Bacon sells for $14.99 on Amazon.com).

The book is for all kind of moms, not just their kids.

"All moms go to work, whether out of the home, or staying at home," Mark, who lives near UCLA, said in an interview.

Does Mark have advice for working moms?

"The key is to find boundaries," she said. "Focus on work when you're at work, then focus on quality time at home with the kids. Find strong doses of time that they'll really enjoy."

For Mark, that means waiting to hop on the computer until after her two kids have dinner and are in bed. She also schedules business dinners for later in the evening as well. 

When her kids do see her leave for work, "now they know to say, " 'Mommy's off to bring home the bacon,' " she said.

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