Valerie Schultz: Who needs Sarah Palin more — her country or her family?

[The Straight Story]

Valerie Schultz: Who needs Sarah Palin more — her country or her family?
BY VALERIE SCHULTZ, contributing columnist
[e-mail] | Wednesday, Sep 17 2008 12:55 PM

Last Updated: Wednesday, Sep 17 2008 1:04 PM

This column is not about Sarah Palin, although, believe me, based on her views, there are few politicians I would less likely vote for. Rather, this column concerns a topic that Palin’s candidacy has sparked in American conversation: mothering. More specifically, sequencing.

Sequencing is a concept we mothers have come up with as we cope with less-than-ideal work options. When we sequence, we may leave the work force, or scale back to part time, to care for our children, and return to our careers later. Sequencing is not a bad answer to the question of whether women can have it all. When we sequence, choices and jobs are weighed and measured in the context of the whole of our responsibilities. Simply put, we find ways to follow our hearts without closing career doors.

We have birthed a generation of women who have been brought up to believe that having it all is an attainable goal — a fabulous career, a fulfilling marriage, and the blessing of children. But they have also seen their mothers struggling with the God’s-honest truth that such a perfect mix is almost impossible to achieve in a society that rewards paid work so much more highly that unpaid caregiving.

Most of us mothers stitch together a tapestry of part-time, flextime and full-time jobs, telecommuting, budgeting, sacrifice and guilt. We stretch ourselves and our dollars tautly. We balance within us the nurturing mother and the skilled worker. We try to figure out our priorities without compromising our values, but we are undercut by a materialistic society that promotes success over family care, and encourages parents not to put their children first. We sequencing mothers know that we are not keeping up with the Joneses, but we tell ourselves that the workaholic Joneses are not really all that happy. We sequence, and we re-evaluate, and we worry.

http://www.bakersfield.com/hourly_news/story/555111.html

[Sebastian Doyle]

1. Well that's easy enough to answer

The country doesn't need her - or McCain - at all.

[theoldman]

2. A mother can have a full time job if she is married to the right guy.

A local lady politician is married to a man who take good care of the children when she is not at home. Sara's husband obviously was not watching his teenage daughter or their son. Can you imagine what would happen if she were VP and on trips to other parts of the world?