Mommy, Please Don't Go to Work!

When news breaks, you turn to people you trust to tell you what’s happening. Rhiannon Ally has anchored the news in major cities across the country for more than 13 years. Millions have trusted her to give them accurate news and help them process the tragedies and celebrate the triumphs. But for Rhiannon, her most important – and favorite – job is being a mom.Like so many working moms, Rhiannon struggles with “mommy guilt.” Am I working too much? Do I spend enough time with my kids? How is this affecting them as they grow? In the U.S., 75% of mothers with children under 18 work full time. When Rhiannon’s four-year-old son begged her, “Mommy, please don’t go to work!” she knew she had to write a children’s book showing the struggle for working moms and explaining to kids why mom goes to work.Mommy, Please Don’t Go to Work! is a story for young children feeling sad when mom leaves for work. Leo and his sister, Luci, try to get Mommy to stay home from work. But when a mishap at their school threatens to cancel a bake sale, Leo and Luci’s Mommy jumps into action. Mommy is a TV reporter and she can rally the community to help. We meet other working moms who are a doctor, principal, baker, and more who help make the bake sale happen. Leo and Luci learn that even though moms work, they don’t forget that family always comes first.

Rhiannon Ally is the Emmy-award winning evening co-anchor with her husband, Mike Marusarz at 41 Action News, the NBC station in Kansas City. Prior to joining KSHB-TV, Rhiannon had been the morning anchor for the CBS station in Miami, the host for a nationally syndicated show in New York City and a reporter and anchor at WCBS in New York. Rhiannon has covered tropical storms and bombings and interviewed celebrities from Madonna and Denzel Washington to Gloria Steinem and Caroline Kennedy, but her favorite role is mommy. Rhiannon and Mike have a son, Roman, and a daughter, Camila.