The Shortchange Debate: Can A Mom with Five Kids and A Demanding Career Do Both Well?

I do think her younger kids may suffer for it, and I say the same for Obama.  Of course, the kids will miss out on their parents' attention - the jobs require a lot of travel and time.  The families of leaders always have to sacrifice - I really think that public service at that level is actually made by contributions from whole families rather than just the elected official.  

I guess we don't know what goes on in each family so who really knows?  Maybe Palin's husband is the nurturer of the family and it works well for them.  Maybe not.

http://watermelonmama.wordpress.com/

Yah know we used to have a word for double standards like the one advocated by Elana.  What was it now???? Oh yeah.  SEXISM.

http://sandradginzburg.typepad.com/inner_city_mama...

I don't think you can do justice to two incredibly demanding jobs at the same time.  No person is perfect, but inevitably one of those jobs will suffer.  I don't want to sound judgmental, but as Governor her daughter was got pregnant.  Was she involved then?  Did she know her daughter was having unprotected sex or not? If not who was supervising the kids?  You can't be two places at one time.  Her job as a mother should be to raise her children - you can't be a conservative republican and have a unwed pregnant daughter without a little criticism.

To suggest that Palin is even doing ONE thing right stretches my credulity at this point. 

Sure, she's charismatic. She gives great speeches.  She looks like Tina Fey and has great comedy timing.

She also has a teenage pregnant daughter and a four-month old with special needs. Who, apparently, she completely disregards.  She is set on "solving" her daughter's pregnancy by marrying her off to the guy who got her pregnant, who doesn't have any interest in marriage or fatherhood himself. That, to Palin, seems like a good idea. That's not a progressive woman who is in charge of her life. That's a hypocrite who thinks cover-ups are the way to make very real problems disappear.

I think anyone looking at her situation would have to say, "Well, she's not doing such a great job just now of taking care of her own house, why should we think she would be capable of leading us in the White House?"

Because of course that's where our minds go. McCain is 72.  He's not a young, or particularly healthy, man.  So, would Palin make a good President?

I'd love to see a woman President. But I don't think Palin could handle it. I don't think she can handle her responsibilities as a parent as it is. If I were going to have a woman in office, I would damn sure want one that supported a woman's right to choose AND believed in telling her kids about responsibility and birth control.

And I think Palin would be short-changing her family even more by running in this election when her daughter is pregnant and her son (or grandson, some speculate!) is only 4 months old and has Down's syndrome.

Does that mean a Mom shouldn't run for office? If she wants to, every Mom should have that right, certainly. 

But it's a selfish thing to put your own ambitions above your children. All of you that say "you can have it all"--wishes don't make it true. Kids don't just need you on weekends and after six in the evening. Just holding down a job to keep from going under financially is hard enough for most families, and Palin doesn't need to do that.

So, no, I don't think she should run. I wouldn't run, if given the chance. Serving my country would not be at the top of my list. Sorry. My family, my loved ones, that's my number one priority.

And yes, I know I am judging her. I don't normally go for judging other Moms and their choices.  But she's in the public eye, and she's put herself and her family there, even bringing the pregnant daughter's "fiance'" to her big speech, so I don't feel too guilty about putting my thoughts out there.

Viv

www.coolmomsrule.blogspot.com ( http://www.coolmomsrule.blogspot.com )

I would say NO. As I said earlier in a post relating to this issue, we are not the same as men and that is not a bad thing. We are different so we complement each other. I think fathers and mothers are equally important in the life of the child but play different roles in the life of a child. When children are babies/at a tender age, men are incapable of caring for them the way women can in terms of attention to detail, being sensitive to certain things, and so on. There is a reason we are the one's milking and able to breastfeed and not the man.

I think the presence of a mother in the life of a child is irreplaceable. Not by a father, or  nannys or play school. And for that reason and a few more, I would say no if I was in Palin's situation (4 kids under the age of 18, one with special needs, and a grand child on the way) because i'm not a 'Super mum' and can't to both justice. As a mother (soon :) ) I am aware when my children are younger there is a trade off between raising my kids the way I want and charging up the career ladder.

If like Hillary Clinton, my kids are grown, why not? I'd say a big yes! Then I would have given my all to raising my kids and can give my all to my career. Thats my take on it and i'm not saying it should be the norm. Women have different priorities in life and it is not in my place to judge.

I am a feminist myself but not extreme. I love the fact women are charging forward and paving the way for other women but I think the main thing here is so women can have a choice to go for it when the time is right for them and not for the opportunities  to compete with the raising of their children.

 Temi

 Definitely. The chance to make a difference on such a incredible scale would be irresistable. 

~TW ( http://ramblewoman.blogspot.com )
Retro-Food ( http://retro-food.com/ )

( http://ramblewoman.blogspot.com )

If you put sexism, feminism, conservatism,  and iberalism  aside I am just interested in hearing if given the same circumstance people would say YES to the vice presidency. I am not making a value statement about  Ms. Palin  or her role  as a mother. The only people who should make that judgement will be her own kids when they are grown.

bBut  I realized that given the same option I would nsay no which made me curious as to how other women who have fabulous careers would  honestly answer that question.

elana
Blogher Contributing Editor,Business&CareersFunnyBusiness ( http://funnybusiness.typepad.com/funnybusiness )

Well then, if we are going to keep talking about it let's ask it of the men who run for high profile offices. Fathers are as important as mothers - at least in my household. I anticipate we'd hear some answers that are pretty surprising.

Notions of Identity ( http://www.notionsofidentity.com )

Simply put, why not ask this same question of Mr. Obama.

Fact is that we don't ask dad's if they're shortchanging their children or families when they take high pressure/profile positions. 

I'm appalled at the number of women who continue to ask this question.

I'm a feminist who is defending her. She strikes me as a woman who CAN do this. She's got a huge support network and I don't see how it's any of my business, or in my best interest to hold her back by applying my ability or inability to do everything. 

On my girl empowerment blog I'm encouraging all mothers and fathers
to speak respectfully of Sarah Palin whether the agree with her
politics or not.

My hope is that our daughters never see another election with 4 men
on the tickets and how we react to Sarah Palin will stick with our
daughters in a fundamental way. 

http://traceesioux.blogspot.com/2008/09/i-hate-sar...

Empowering Girls: So Sioux Me ( http://www.traceesioux.blogspot.com )

Blog Fabulous ( http://www.blogfabulous.com )

I think the more appropriate question is if you had five kids and an infant with special needs would you even be considered for a demanding new career that would definitely take away from time with
your family? 

Many women complain that they aren't even in the running for the most challenging, meaningful, substantive careers.  However, when the career in question is the presidency or the vice-presidency of the most powerful nation in the world, a woman has an obligation to consider it and after reviewing her support system and personal ambitions, to pursue it.  In that intelligent, educated people are still asking this question in 2008 shows how far America still has to go.

Sarah Palin is no single mom, so there is also the issue of reverse sexism that is evident in the questions being bandied about.  Children need both parents and giving birth doesn't mean giving up your ambitions.  Men have been handing over their parental obligations to pursue their careers since the beginning of time and only in recent times have we acknowledged the emotional as well as financial toll to family due to the absent father.  What is needed is a model of a balanced parenting system that shares the parental responsibilities of both mother and father to raise balanced young men and women to adulthood.  A woman president or vice-president would create a model of balance that is all too often absent in American households.

In that Ms. Palin has advanced as far as she has is a testament to her household and the partnership she has with her husband.  While I don't support or agree with her politics, I do support her option to go as far as her talents and ambitions will take her.

I believe that America is poorer and further behind because of the backwards notion that women must choose between being great mothers within a traditional family structure or being great leaders in an organization and by implication, forgoing or deferring a family.  No man is ever forced to consider, let alone make that decision. It is unfair, punitive and beneath us as a nation to give women this same set of options which is really no option at all. 

In preparing this response, I can understand the frustration and pain of Hilary Clinton's supporters.  From all appearances, Chelsea Clinton is an intelligent and well adjusted young woman despite being raised by a past president of the United States and an intelligent and ambitious professionally successful mother. As all of will admit if we are honest, none of our parents were perfect and even the best of them made mistakes. While encouraging and supporting the goals of our citizens won't guarantee them raising happy, well adjusted, productive children to adulthood, deliberately hobbling the ambitions of one parent definitely won't.

The same creativity, thinking and reasoning that develops great citizens in the home must be used in the development of our country if we are to remain in the forefront of an increasingly global economy.  I believe that qualified men and women have an obligation to consider the presidency or the vice-presidency of America and we have the obligation to support them and create the policies and government to develop the other half of our population in order to remain competitive.

Um, this topic has been beaten to death already in a slew of posts here.  Can we move on to the issues discussion please?

(I am a woman voting for Obama/Biden who believes that Palin should be able to work and run for VP with 5 kids, yadda, yadda...)