No better way to get me to write a blog again than to attack a stay at home mom (which in my mind attacks all stay at home moms) on National TV. (Is it bad that I was seriously considering inserting the phrase, “Bring it Bit-h” right there?)
In case you live under a rock, last night on Anderson Cooper’s 360, Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen said, about Mitt Romney’s wife, “His wife has actually never worked a day in her life.” She then went on to say, “She’s never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing in terms of how do we feed our kids, how do we send them to school, and how do we…why we worry (ing) about their future.”
Then a couple hours later, Ann Romney’s tweet popped up saying, “I made a choice to stay at home and raise 5 boys. Believe me, it was hard work.” Go Ann!!
First of all, what mother, working or otherwise, hasn’t worried or struggled with thoughts of ‘how to feed our children’, ‘how to send them to school’, and ‘worrying about their future’?! The thoughts may be somewhat different but every mother/parent has had those thoughts! I have those thoughts almost everyday and it has nothing to do with my economic issues, it has to do with many other things too, such as allergies, safety, what is best for them, what is best for the family, not to mention, I don’t know a parent alive that doesn’t worry about their child’s future!
Being a stay at home mom (I will be saying ‘mom’ from now on, just to simplify..so do NOT attack me for not including dads) is a CHOICE, pure and simple. Unless you have extreme circumstances…it is mostly a choice. For most arguments you have, I will have an answer as to how you can make the choice to stay at home…11 years ago, even when I was a single parent, I made the choice to do everything in my power to stay at home with my son, no matter what it took. I started an at home business and worked my schedule around his naps and when I did have to leave the home for a party, (I was a Tupperware sales person) I tried to schedule it late enough so that I could still put him to bed.
After I got married, I quit that job, because it didn’t work for our growing family and I chose to stay at home full time. It was a mutual decision my husband and I made and from day 1 of us deciding to get married, every decision we made was based around the fact that, I would stay at home. So, instead of an engagement ring, we got a family friendly car, instead of a honeymoon, we purchased a modest home. They weren’t sacrifices to us, they were obvious choices to make for the better of our family. We don’t live in a fancy house or a fancy neighborhood, we chose to live in a 1st ring suburb of WWII homes and smaller lots, in a lesser expensive neighborhood so I could stay at home. We haven’t regretted that decision once in the over 10 years we have lived here.
Another thing, don’t ever tell me that stay at home mom’s don’t work! I don’t know a stay at home mom that doesn’t work! We have to balance household budgets, figure out schedules, carpools, playdates , sports teams, we coach, we cheer, we clean the house (not in my case of course, if you have seen my house), we are teachers/educators, financial wizards, CEO’s, chauffeurs, coaches, etc….we wear many hats as stay at home moms. We often, willingly, sacrifice our own lives for our children and our family. There were many years that I didn’t have a conversation with another adult, other than my husband, for days in a row and somehow kept my sanity….ok, word is out on that, but still. I can’t think of another adult raising my children better than me, no one knows them better or can love them more than me. Hey, I get it, some of you like to work, some feel there isn’t a choice and for those of you who have chosen to work, that is great, but don’t take your guilt of working out of the home and try and pass it on to me or any other stay at home mom because we don’t work. I am by far the minority in my circle of friends/family in being a stay at home mom and I do have a few friends/family that wish they could find a way to stay at home, but overall, most have chosen to work.
By they way, Hilary Rosen, I did some research on you! Who are YOU to talk about how much money the Romney’s have or don’t have?! First of all, you don’t know their family intimately and after looking at your bio and work history, unless you volunteered at your previous jobs, I would say you don’t have a leg to stand on when it comes to trying to call out Ann Romney on her not having to deal with economic issues like most, as far as I can tell, you can’t relate to the “99%” either, if I follow the same criteria based on your blatant insult on National TV last night. I don’t care what your political views are, keep the family out of the spotlight!
I promise you Hilary Rosen and anyone supporting her or her ideals, you have brought on a war that you will not be able to stop or contain. I don’t know a single group with more power behind them than, not only moms, but stay at home moms. We all blog, talk, tweet, are involved in more than many of those in the working field could imagine….you want to know if a business will fail or succeed, talk to a group of stay at home moms, you want to know who will win an election, talk to a group of stay at home moms. We are the perverbial sleeping dragons, as long as you don’t rock our caverns we will quietly go about our JOBS of raising our children and WORKING for our family, but if you hurt one of us, be prepared for all of us to strike and strike hard.