I try to avoid to many political discussions especially with people I don’t know. But I am really appalled that people are questioning whether she can be VP since she has 5 children, one of them being a newborn with special needs. The pundits gave Hilary a h*ll of a time when she was running and I was ticked by the “get back in the kitchen” type comments too. What would this race look like if we questioned her policies, what she stands for and what a McCain-Palin ticket really means for this country? I am more interested in seeing the debate between Biden and Palin when she actually has to be able to discuss issues and policies and not just read someone else’s words.
Being a working mom and business owner, I do understand all to well the struggles related to having kids and a business. I have inner struggles because there are days I think I should be spending time with her when I am working and think of work while with her. Yes, sometimes I feel guilty because I have 4 shoots in a week and I only have time to get her ready in the morning and peek in on her dreaming face at night.
However, my husband struggles with the same thing. He tries to make room in his schedule for her and feels guilty when he can’t. I think all parents deal with these issues.
I wonder, is this guilt truly our own or brought on by society? My daughter thrives with us but I also think she thrives in school: making friends, learning to share and listen to others, discovering her own personality in the world.
I love what I do. I love my clients and I love photography. I love creating lasting moments in time for their lives and sharing in them. I also love my child. I love creating moments with her and seeing her discover new things. I don’t think I would be able to enjoy her fully if I didn’t create things for myself. How will I teach her that she can do anything she wants, if I am forced, by society, to conform and give up a part of myself. Yes, it would be giving up a huge part of who I am.
Some moms discover themselves through their children and feel a strong desire to be with them all the time. Their passion is their children. Me, like so many working moms choose to give their children a mom who has a passion for both their children and their work. Some call it being selfish but I call it being true to yourself and your child. My parents both worked and I turned out great. There are many people in the world that succeed in life and have working mothers. The key is that I still had a strong support system at home.
None of this really seems necessary in this race for the White House. But since it is an issue, maybe the question isn’t, “How could she do this to her children?”, “How could she be so selfish?”, “Will she be able to handle it?” but “Will her husband be stepping in and making time for the kids?”, “How much time will he be spending with them?”, “Will they find great caregivers when they are both working?”, “Will the children be in good schools so they can succeed in life?”, “Will McCain make quality time with his family?”, “Will they instill strong values and a good support system so their children can make their own decisions?”, “Will Sarah and her husband teach their children integrity and cleaning up things when they have lost that integrity and living with the consequences of their own actions?”
Sarah’s personal questions may be: “Can I handle the guilt that will be laid on me by society and my own desires to spend time with my children and be true to myself?”, “Will I be able to really spend time with them when it is their time?” Each day Sarah and her family will have to honor her word to her family to be with them during family time and her word to serve the country when it is country time. It will not be perfect everyday.
Does anyone ask McCain how he is going to handle being president and father his kids? Does anyone consider that there are many kids in this nation that have troubles because they have no father in their lives? No parents in their lives? No strong caregiver in their lives?
What could this race be like if all we cared about was the integrity of each candidate and the integrity of their policies?
How would parents be if they could have the freedom to create a family that works for everyone in that family? No matter what it looks like. How would our future society look like if our kids grow up in these families, all different but with one common theme: love, integrity and support?
Off my soapbox and back to our regularly scheduled programming…..
