Aspirations with a side of children...

Okay, everyone else is doing it so I guess I'm going to jump on the "lets judge Sarah Palin boat" just for a minute.

It seems everyone has an opinion, including people like me who have never been incredibly involved on the political front.

In all honesty when she was first announced as John McCains running mate and the details of her family life started being revealed I thought, "Who is this horrible mother? She just had a baby with special needs, she has a teenage daughter that is about to become a mother herself [I was 25 when I had my first baby and I needed my mommy. I can't imagine what it must be like at 17!] and this woman is focused on forwarding her career." Yes, it is narrow minded and judgemental and I am not proud to admit that when I don't keep myself in check I can be very quick to judge.

I have to admit, during her speech at the Republican Convention she won me over. Yes, it is characteristic of a good politician that they be good BSers and talk a good talk, but she is intelligent, she has spunk, and as I have done more and more research on the things she accomplished as Governor of Alaska she's qualified enough to act as an "agent to the president".

In short, I like Sarah Palin. Based on the things she says she would do in her term as VP I would vote for her.

When I vote, I try to do it based on what the candidate will do for our country, not on their personal life. Although, from a religious point of view, I really would like to have the Lord backing up the presiding authority of our country so no child molesters or murderers please.

Putting aside who you think should be running our country I want to know what my friends think of the personal aspect of this. I am not saying that anyone is a bad parent, and I want to be clear when I say that there is more than one RIGHT way to be a good parent.

I also think that it is very important for a parent to keep their sense of self. When you lose yourself behind the title of mommy or daddy you lose a little bit of your ability to dedicate all the time you have with your children to what THEY need. I think they also need a good example of finding out who you really are as a person.

BUT has the world taken this too far? What is the dividing line between taking care of your needs and going after your passions, even helping other people, and taking care of your number one responsibility: your family. I'm not just talking about women, I'm talking about men AND women. The family seems to be taking a back seat lately. More and more celebrities are deciding they want to have children. Of course they don't want to give up the lifestyle they are accustomed to, so they all have nannies. Politicians do it too, men and women enter the office of extreme responsibility to their community. I don't think that's necissarily a bad thing, but lets ask this question: when a crisis comes up at home and in the community you are responsible for who has to take a back seat.

When you decide to take on a career like politics, you realize that you and your family will have to make some sacrifices. That is a decision for individuals to make. Sarah Palins husband can stay home with the kids, or they can hire a nanny, but what about moments when you just need your mom? Anyone that has lost their mother would tell you that there are times when no one else can fill that void. You learn to deal with it as an adult, but children need their mothers. Call me sexist, call me old fashioned, but I think that it is a God given gift to women. We go through the "joys" of pregnancy and childbirth and in return we get a bond with each child that cannot be replaced by anyone... nanny or daddy.

I think the decisions that other people make for their own families are none of anyone elses business... until it starts to affect the rest of the community. Until the celebrity children that have been raised by nanny's so their parents can chase after their own dreams start driving drunk and hurting people, or eat up our tax dollars sitting in their private jail cell. These children we are raising won't be children forever. They are the future leaders of our country. I don't know about you, but I would really like this world we live in to be a safe place for my chilren and my childrens children when a nurse is changing my diapers and wiping drool off my chin.

I am not against working moms. Some people need to do it for money. Others need to do it because they enjoy it. It is a personal decision and one of the great blessings we were given when we came to this earth is that of agency.

My question to you, however, is how far can we chase our own dreams before it starts affecting the LIVES of our children. (and YES this question is for moms AND dads). And do you think that timing is an ussue, do you think parents should put BIG dreams on hold while their kids are in their formative years if that dream is going to take them away from their family a lot.