Palin should put baby before campaign

Congratulations on raising two teenagers.

I would agree that being there and maintaining communication with your sons is more important than whether the primary care-giver is a mom or dad and there are many examples of moms that have done a great job raising sons by themselves.

But, when I see how many young men are in jail it makes me feel that we have to do a better job raising our sons.

Maybe the boys that could benefit most from this extra “hands on male” attention are not the ones that have capabilities of making the honor roll, but the ones that the school systems stick in the “special education” classrooms.  We are transferring too many of our sons from the “special education” classrooms to the criminal justice system.

These boys need someone to spend time with them splitting wood, changing mufflers, shooting pool, and helping them find things that they are good at, because every day in school they are being told how stupid they are.  If the mom can take on any or all of that role, then go for it; but if you are working a traditional 40 hour per week job, you don’t have much time left over to spend with these boys.  That is why I was recommending a role reversal, but maybe the answer is two parents working 30 hour per week jobs if one of them can get health care at 30 hours per week. 

As mokka0807 said, maybe with this downturn in the economy, some folks will slow down and get their priorities straight.

I am sure that politics is full of people making bad parenting choices.......and I do mean people that are making choices, compared to others that may not have as many options.

If we talk enough about the bad parenting choices the people in politics are making, eventually people may recognize that parenting should be the primary focus and not the career. 

The other thing I would love to hear some opinions on is how we are parenting teenage boys.

It is my opinion that the dad should be the primary caregiver for teenage boys and in families where there are boys, a mom and a dad; that the mom should be the primary wage earner during the teenage years allowing the dad to be the primary caregiver.

After reading this article, I am wondering how many people are choosing not to have a child that is diagnosed in the womb with a disease because they don't have the financial resources to have the child...................If that was a big number, I wonder if a National Health Plan may reduce the amount of people that are choosing not go through with pregnancies for diseases that might sentence the family to a life of poverty without the insurance.

It is late and I have only quickly read the article,,,,,,,,, BUT my knee-jerk reaction is to agree with your characterization of the writer.......At the beginning of the article, he says that the parent needs to have the wealth to provide for the lifetime assistance of the child and then at the end of the article........accuses Palin of "worshiping mental retardation" for choosing to have her baby.......seems to me like Palin has the financial recources that she needs to take care of her child.

 If this was a football game, I would expect to see referees  blowing whistles and throwing flags at this article, and I don't think any of the coaches would bother to ask for a review.

I wonder where the Federal Employees retirement money sits?

Our social security money goes into the general treasury account and not into an account of it's own.  As a first step, I would like to see some more politicians talking about putting it back into it's own account as it was originally (before it was raided to finance the Vietnam War).

I was disappointed to hear Clinton and Obama talking about Social Security in the primaries because they were arguing about where the Social Security Cap should be and no mention of putting Social Security back into its own account.

I would also like to be managing my own retirement money, but there have been a lot of "experts" out there recently saying that the average person doesn't know enough about investing to manage their own money.  When you think about it, 12% of your pay for your life is a lot of money (6% paid from you and 6% paid by your employer)

I can't imagine not wanting SS privatized.  Federal employees DON'T have to pay into the SS system-that was one of the few reasons I liked working for the feds many years ago.  The government is a poor manager of money.  I certainly don't want them 'taking care' of my earnings. If it isn't good enough for the federal employees and congressmen, it isn't good enough for me.

You dont want anyone infringing on your rights but what about the rights of the fetus? What about the rights of a child that is born with serious challenges?  Wow....do only the wholly healthy, ambitious homeowner types get to  have rights never mind the right to life......

I can't imagine not wanting SS privatized.  Federal employees DON'T have to pay into the SS system-that was one of the few reasons I liked working for the feds many years ago.  The government is a poor manager of money.  I certainly don't want them 'taking care' of my earnings. If it isn't good enough for the federal employees and congressmen, it isn't good enough for me.

I am not blind. I can see my original post and those that have followed have stirred quite a debate. And that is the job of a blog, to get people talking and educating each other about matters of mutual interest.

This blog is about parenting, therefore discussing Sarah Palin's efforts to balance a high-powered career in politics with mothering five children should be expected, not rejected. I am not spitting in my mother's face for wondering what will happen to important family issues if this woman becomes VP.

In this blog we have been polite (most of us) to each other while discussing complicated family and political issues. Then you log on rybs and slam those who have been having a meaningful conversation, even trying to enlighten one another.  While you ask women to stop beating each other up, you throw your own punches and continue to call myself and others blind, sexist, catty, stereotypical gossips who don't deserve to be women. You rage on and ask if we are unhappy and jealous of Sarah Palin?

Come on rybs, lighten up. We live in a country where family issues are given so little respect it is ridiculous. Children are so low on the totem pole of concerns for politicians all over the US. We are in dark ages! And those of us dedicated to nurturing children every day are sometimes shamed and treated as if we have a screw loose.

Then here is a woman nominated for VP who will not likely further any rational debate on causes for parents and children I hold dear. Go figure, you expect me to be silent?

In addition to my distaste for Sarah Palin's right wing stand on many issues, I do not support her three-day maternity leave with Trig, nor her one-day maternity leave with Piper six years ago. I have a right to my opinion without being labled sexist.

I think the main reason we are discussing Palin’s parenting is because this is a parenting blog.  We aren't discussing her confusion regarding the difference between the percent of energy that Alaska provides to the US vs. the percent of domestic oil/gas that Alaska provides to the US.

I agree with your comment  “The feminist movement gave women the right to achieve dreams other than the perfect husband and children.”  The rest of that message “but someone needs to look after the children” seems to have gotten lost in the race to the glass ceiling.

There is nothing wrong with women questioning other women.  I am a Vietnam Veteran and I feel that I have every right to question McCain’s commitment to Iraq without having my ”right to be a Veteran” questioned.  Those of us that grew up in the 60’s, learned to question everything and we are going to continue doing it.  If some of the questions make you uncomfortable, maybe you need to take a look in the mirror.

 If you want the women’s movement to keep moving forward, you have to learn to keep questioning yourself and keep updating your theories.  If your book from the 60’s doesn’t have the phrase “but someone needs to look after the children”, please write it in the margin. As this country continues to move away from a manufacturing economy towards an information economy, the women are going to have an important role in generating the income required to maintain this countries lifestyle, so we need to get this parenting thing right.  A lot of the men will contribute to the information economy also, but go into your local school and look at the special eduction classrooms.  They are full of boys.  My guess is that the old manufacturing jobs won’t be there for those boys and they are going to be looking to marry successful women that have good jobs in the information economy. 

So let’s continue to talk about how Palin and Obama are handling the parenting with their spouses.  Just don’t get their parenting ability confused with their positions on issues.  Someone on this blog recommended FactCheck.org.  This should be mandatory reading for anyone that casts a vote in November.  

I have never seen the show, but I am sure it brings home the advances that we have made since the 50's.  I think that many men may also feel that the changes in roles has had a positive impact on their lives.

I would be intersted to hear if anyone has done any studies on how the families or the children are doing today as compared to the 50's.

In many ways I feel that I am a better parent than my parents.  It would be interesting if there are any studies that come to that same conclusion?

CPGNORTHEAST,

Where did you see a PH headline about this? This is a blog, a place for people to talk to each and express opinions. I suggest you separate the two because they are not one and the same

On a blog, people can say how they feel and who are you to say they can't?

The only cencorship of a blog would be for something like profanity and I have not seen any of that.

I have lived a life of opportunity thanks to the women before me who opened many doors so we can vote, study what we want, work where we want and decide how we want to raise our children.

That doesn't mean we don't have a long way to go before women achieve equality in the United States of America, where women do not receive equal wages for doing the same job as men.

I believe for personal and political reasons that Sarah Palin is the wrong pick for John McCain. I am not all liberals. I am one person. My truth is beautiful and your truth is beautiful. There is no need to making sweeping claims about millions of people based on my comments. My belief that women cannot have it all in this country is based on my life experience.

A month ago, Sarah Palin was asked by a reporter if she would consider being McCain's VP and she responded that she doesn't even know what the VP does. The reporter followed up with a question about her opinions on the Iraq war and she said she had not kept up with the war.

Does that really make you hopeful?

The long-term government studies show that babies do best when the mothers are the primary provider.  Dads and grandparents are ok, but babies and young children do best with their mothers.

When my son was 3, I could tell you whether he spent the day with my wife or with his aunt when I got home from work by observing his behavior.  That was a real eye-opener for my wife.