Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Is This Thing On? Working Moms Edition.

In the past two weeks, Hilary Rosen's comment about how Ann Romney "hasn't worked a day in her life," has sparked a lot of controversy, most of which has left me offended with my feelings hurt.

For the  record, for all the good moms out there, there is no such thing as a mom who doesn't work. We are all working moms, regardless of where we are putting in our time. I have never taken a moral stance in the "Mommy Wars," and have never criticized working mothers, but on the flip side, I have to defend my decisions, too.

Since I'm not a pundit or a comedian, I'll just vent my frustration.

First off, some on the left defend Rosen's comments and have suggested that working women are superior to the ones that choose to stay home with their children. One particular comment went as far as describing the day of a working mother (getting up early, traveling in the car, being tired, etc,) and comparing it to my life (I suppose), indicating that I was both lazy and uninformed. (Let's just say that I get up pretty early, strap a lot of kids in and out of car seats, and cry sometimes because my eyes are burning from fatigue).

How can you respond to people that suggest a stay at home mother is lazy and unintelligent? Is there really anything I could possibly to say to such ignorance? Clearly, the lack of spending a minute in the shoes of a stay-at-home mother is making members of the left look out of touch, and downright cruel in the way they are diminishing the God-given role of Motherhood to an unnatural urge that needs to be weeded out in order for women to understand the economy.

The economy. That's how this whole thing started. Because apparently a women who doesn't work can't understand things like that because she...doesn't...work...(outside the home)? I am still failing to reach the connection. Someone help me here.

So let's see here, since I don't know anything about the economy, I must know nothing about budgeting, gas prices, home sales, or flat incomes. These problems are just illusions to me, Silly Girl, who spends her day propped up on the couch reading french novels with a bowl of potato chips at hand. I can't be bothered with the increase in food prices and feeding a family of five, nor the price of anything, really. Obviously I leave those trivial issues to the people who go to work.

And clearly, I haven't worked a day in my life, either.

Ann Romney raised FIVE boys. I have three, and even when I humor myself thinking about what wealth may have provided Mrs. Romney in cooking, cleaning, and childcare, there isn't a part of me that doubts that carrying her five sons, tending to them in the night, and nurturing them during the day was not only hard work, but absolutely consumed and drove her life.

I'll go as far as believing that if wealth bought Ann Romney household comforts, that those things only allowed her to work harder, freeing up more of her time to volunteer, work with her husband, attend more events to keep her political mind sharp, and be more present to her sons' activities.

I defend Ann Romney, as well as myself, and all mothers, confidently knowing how hard I work, and the great responsibilities that rest on my shoulders to manage the government within my own home.

4 comments:

Sarah said...

You nailed it!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful.
Mom

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sticking up for us!

Anonymous said...

Amen!

Mom S

Google