BluBlog

The baby is 4 months and not two months, the baby was born in April and she has a husband who can take care of the baby, What makes you assume that the Daddy cannot take care of this baby? I believe he was consulted before she said yes. haven't you heard of stay at home daddies? I know of one who stayed at home to take care of their special needs baby because the wife was making more money than him and the little girl flourished. I think you are being very sexist.

i don't think you are being sexist. i do think that it may be harder for her than maybe she thinks, but i did read an article about how her and her husband spend more time at home than they do at the office. i think, and i am not speaking from experience, that it'sgoing to get tough when this child is a little older. there are so many varying degrees of down syndrome, so really no one knows how hard it is going to be for them. there is something about the mommy/baby care situation. i think it is very important for babies to have their mommies. i think daddies do a great job, but it's just different, not bad different, but different.

To anonymous:

Yes and no. I believe, despite the current political climate and the feminists movement, that there are fundamental differences between men and women. And I believe that children need their mothers and the younger they are, the more I believe this is so.

Do I think men can raise children? I hope so - I'm married to one that did it for 8 years. In fact, I don't think society or our legal system is supportive enough of single fathers, but I won't get into that here. Of course, I don't think any single parent is ideal.

There is a huge fundamental difference between the example you gave and the situation with Ms. Palin. I don't know any more about your example than what you gave, but I still think it's safe to assume by what little you said that both parents were motivated by what was best for the baby. Babies are expensive, and special needs babies are surely more so. That family could better care for their baby by the mother going back to work. Ms. Palin; however, can surely provide for her family with her current office as governor. There are surely aspects of this case I don't know, but based on what I do know, it appears she is putting her political ambition ahead of the needs of her family. Her motivation in accepting the V.P. nomination is not what is best for her baby. Another reason I say this, is the V.P. is not just a job. In your example, the mother surely was guaranteed evenings and weekends with her family. I don't think the V.P. of the United States can have that same hope. I wasn't criticizing her for working, and I wasn't saying a female should not be in a leadership role, but I am saying that I don't agree with her accepting such a demanding position while she has such large needs at home.

well, we do not really know all the details of the situation, maybe she has always desired to have such a political office and she happened to be on the short list and then she was chosen, her family may need her more, especially because of the baby, but this maybe something she wanted..should I say she is wrong for putting her political ambition ahead of her needs of the family, I am not the judge...

Yes, I think you CAN say it is wrong to put political ambitions before the needs of your family!!!

I will be the first to say that I am a selfish human being and I often (much more often than I should) put my wants and desires ahead of the needs of my family. I will also be the first to say I am wrong to do that.

Being a mother is very possibly the toughest job in the world, because being a mother means you are being slapped in the face with your own selfishness every second of the day. It also means choosing to be selfless and put the NEEDS of your children ahead of your own WANTS. I didn't say putting the WANTS of your children ahead of your own NEEDS. There is a difference.

There are things about Palin that I am excited about and think I like. But I too thought about what she is asking of her family.

I worry not only her special needs baby, but also her teenagers who will be pulled out of their school, away from the friends they have grown up with and moved to the opposite side of the country to live in a place that is very very very different than where they call home. Their mother will have crazy hours, be gone on loooong trips and be absent during critical times when they need to have a mother at home.

That is a lot to ask of your family.

I've hesitated about weighing in on this because I have mixed feelings. I think that Sarah Palin is a brilliant choice for VP, and from what I've read about her, I already like her a lot.

That being said, as a mother, I don't know if I could be away from my children as much as she will have to be. Those close to me know how hard and long I've worked to get a job where I could work from home, and that's the most important thing to me, especially now that we're expecting our third child.

We may never know the answer to this, but if she and her husband made this decision together, with input from the children, the older ones especially, and if everyone is on board, then I won't fault her choice. Yes, she'll be extremely busy and away a fair amount of the time, but her husband will still be there, and the children will have the absolute best of everything. Maybe this will provide them with opportunities they might not otherwise have had.

It might be the best thing for them, or it might not. The fact of the matter is that everyone has to make these decisions for themselves along with their families. Would I make the same decision in her place? Likely not, but I'm a different person. Maybe she and her husband came to the conclusion that this decision was the best thing for their family. Who knows?

I guess I'm of the opinion that I'm not in her shoes, I'm not privvy to her decision making process, and I don't know how she and her husband arrived at this decision. Regardless of whether I agree with her decision to accept the nomination or not is irrelavent. She is the VP nominee, and I think she was a great choice. And even if I did vastly disagree with her decision to run, it will absolutely positively NOT make me switch my vote to Obama.