Amazing. A woman named Hilary Rosen, who up until yesterday seemed to be BFFs with people at the White House -- she visited there 35 times, but Jay Carneybarker and other "official" mouthpieces now pretend they never heard of her -- at any rate. this Rosen person announced very smugly that Ann Romney couldn't be giving her husband very good advice on economic issues because Ann "never worked a day in her life."
Seems that Ms. Rosen has opted to pursue a career and leaves her own child-rearing responsibilities to a nanny or someone else. Or else she couldn't have made such a stupid remark.
I don't have kids. As a teenager I spent my summer vacations and most weekends babysitting, and figured there were a lot of other things I'd rather do. Raising kids is, well, too much work.
First, being a mom is a 24/7 job -- no days off unless you're hospitalized, and then only if your kids are too young to come during visiting hours. Second, with kids, you're responsible for eveything. It's not like getting up before they do to make sure they get to school, it's also imparting to them somehow that the world is an OK kind of place and they'll be all right there, even on their own. You have to be genuinely excited about the kids learning to read and write, ride a bike, etc. Make sure they don't store pizza under their beds for a snack later on. And educate them about how to deal with strangers, adult and juvenile, help them figure out how to spend their own lives, convince them that they can conquer the world, but not with a gun necessarily. And you can do as much damage to a kid as you can do good. And without really intending either outcome.
The emotional dimension is both exhilarating (I hear) and totally exhausting (I know.)
So then Hilary Rosen tried to walk back her comments -- since every other democrat on the planet now pretends they don't know her and promise to cross the street if they see her on the sidewalk. She was only pointing out that Ann Romney never faced the challenges of having to work and raise kids at the same time.
Something interesting here, too. If a mom has a husband who's employed -- and not necessarily making six figures -- it is sometimes better economics for the family if the mom does stay home with the kids. I know people who sat down and figured out the costs associated with a working couple. Count the cost of transportation, technology, the wardrobe, eating out (both during the day and with the family at night), and the cost of reliabile child care -- and it's sometimes cheaper for the mom to stay at home because it allows for a better-run and more cost-effective household. And on the personal side, it's usually better for the kids and for the family as a whole. Knowing Mom is home provides a very powerful sense of security and stability.
And I'm not even confining this to moms. I knew a couple where the mom had a degree in electrical engineering, while the dad was a writer. The mom had the potential for a much higher regular income than the dad. They had four kids. The dad stayed at home -- worked pretty much part-time from a bedroom office -- and took care of the kids. No one ever accused him of "not working a day in his life."
Let's face it. Raising kids and running a house is work. And if you have a lot of money, it can be a lot more work. More social demands and responsibilities, a bigger house -- lots of contractors to deal with.
Look at it this way: which is easier to replace? A mom or a job?
Think about it.
Save the Republic.
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