I know I'm treading into dangerous territory by commenting on what the Palin's should or shouldn't do for her family but her nomination has triggered a national conversation about parenting, and I think there's a big point being missed.
Let me start with an interesting post from Beliefnet member 1AmazingGrace, who describes herself as a former Hillary supporter:
"I have a brother with Down Syndrome and a daughter who has had rheumatoid arthritis since age four. I love them both and can't imagine my life without them. Also, my remarks are directed toward Gov. Palin as a parent, and as a candidate, not as a woman. Whether you are a man or a woman, it is unrealistic to expect to be an involved parent of a child with disabilities and take on even more responsibilities as Vice President of the United States. Someone will get shortchanged.It's hard to have children, but kids with problems add a level of difficulty impossible to imagine without experiencing it. Despite what you were told in the 1970's, you really CANNOT ha've it all, Governor Palin. Right now, you need to give your family more time and energy than ever before -- and you want to give them less? That's not very pro-child to me."
Combine the difficulty of having a child with Downs Syndrome with the supreme stress of helping your 17 year old daughter deal with an unplanned pregnancy and the birth of a new child -- oh, and then add, running for the vice presidency -- and you have a monumental burden on the family.
But AmazingGrace and other critics assume that Sarah is the one who needs to renounce work to spend more time with the kids. She's the governor of a state and has a chance to shape the world for the good as vice president. I don't think she by any means has a moral obligation to turn away from that. The obvious solution would be for Todd Palin to announce immediately that he was becoming a full-time dad.
Maybe in her circles this sounds like wierd lefty thinking but this is 2008, for crying out loud. No one should expect Sarah Palin to give up this opportunity for her kids; we wouldn't ask a man to. But we would expect the Palin Family to come up with a solution that works for their kids, which in this case would be for dad to spend more time at home.
Now, in googling this, I'm having a hard time telling how much Todd is working now. There's some indication he's taking more time to be with the family. If so, fantastic. But with a family that has a disabled child, a teen mother and a matriarch running for vice president, Todd should, it seems to me, be on full-time home duty.
What's more, if the Palins (and the McCains) are making such a big deal about Sarah caring for the disabled child, why not also trumpet Todd's stay-at-home role? Think of what a great teaching moment this could be. A conservative, blue-collar guy giving up his job to take care of the kids, so his wife can help change the world.
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Steven - thanks so much for taking the time to read my blog and to quote from it. You are highlighting a relevant issue in the campaign, because our personal lives do impact our professional ones.
I also believe that Mr. Palin should consider becoming a stay-at-home Dad. But, I wanted to emphasize that even with that proviso, Mrs. Palin would be shortchanging her family OR herself OR the country by taking on such onerous additional responsibilities. Especially in light of the newest revelation of her daughter's pregnancy.
Everyone is an individual and I don't proclaim to know what superwoman capabilities Mrs. Palin has, nor do I know what she or her family is willing to sacrifice on behalf of the Vice Presidency. But speaking for myself as a former superwoman, there will be a breaking point and I prefer not to have my country be on the short end of the stick then.
I just stumbled upon this website, and I must say that this is genius. Fantastic idea, seems to be good execution, my only complaint is that I didn't think of it first.
As for this being an "issue": who cares? Really, who cares? What does the VP do, aside from casting a deciding vote in the senate and make the electorical college vote official? 1AmazingGrace - super cool name btw - implies that fulfilling the VP roles and your family / personal responsibilities are mutually exclusive. I balance an 80hr a week job, my personal life and my family obligations, I'm certainly no super-hero. I highly doubt that the vice president's office does not employ enough staff such that he has to work 80hr+ work weeks on a regular basis. Even if that is the case, this would not preclude that individual from fulfilling all of their responsibilities; I am not an exception to the rule, most if not all of my colleagues are in a similar situation in their life.
Somethings just dont add up. For instance if you keep telling me that you had a baby five weeks early, then you are not validating the babies birth but you are validating the baby's conception. If you had a baby on
April 18 and it was a nine month birth, you conceived during the later part of July. If you husband work half a month on and half a month off and he worked the later part of July, then somebody needs a paternity test. If you are a mature mother with a seventeen year old daughter, you dont keep your pregnancy a secret from her until the seventh month or one month before you before you give birth. I have heard fish stories before and this smells like one. If your water breaks in Texas why would you ride a plane all the way to Alaska to give birth hmmmmmmmmm!
If you gave birth in April, and your daughter is now five months pregnant, she conceived in April after you gave birth. hmmmmmmmmm
Can't run on a "family values" platform if your own family is being raised by other people. Can't have both parents working full time with 5 children, one being developmentally disabled, and say that your family comes first in your life. Raising humans requires 24 hour participation. Put the ego aside for the next few years, and run again after the children are on their own. The biggest problem in our culture is that all the parents went off to find their calling and make their way in the world, but left the children to others when young, and unsupervised after the age of 13.
She quit today. Her little boy is sick.
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