STAY AT HOME MOMS

The election year campaigns are in full gear, with all kinds of remarks being made on either side, some made without placing the mind in gear. One recent remark was made that a particular candidates wife "never worked a day in her life", that she chose to be a stay at home mom to five children. The remark was made to imply that stay at home moms had no clue about the world outside the home or about economics. I don't know about you, but I see things in a different light.

My wife is a stay at home mom, and my mother and grandmother were as well. I do not see any of those wonderful ladies as "uninformed" or lacking knowledge about economics. In fact, if you were to let a committee of stay at home moms handle the federal budget, it would be balanced very quickly. Funds would be distributed based on how badly something was needed.

Of all the people I can think of that are "lost in the shadows", moms come close to the top of the list. There seems to be a media conception that stay at home moms lounge around all day, drinking coffee, tea, or bottled water, while watching television and chatting away on the telephone. All in total ignorance of current news or without worries over finances.

If a family was ran like a corporation, the husband would in most cases be the Chief Executive Officer, who would be responsible for the overall well being of the company. But behind the scenes, every CEO has to rely on a huge number of people that actually make the wheels turn and keep everything moving along. In the family, those people are combined into one person; mom.

She is the Chief Operations Officer, scheduling family affairs and making sure that sports, scouting, library trips, grocery shopping, car maintenance, church events, and meals all fit into the day, with hopefully enough time for her to tend to her own personal needs.

She is the Chief Financial Officer, balancing a sometimes meager budget to ensure that meals are on the table, the light come on, the cable/internet is still on, gas in in the car, the phones work, and maybe still have some left over for the occassional recreational activity.

She is a counselor, offering soothing words for a missed promotion, a broken toy, or a broken heart.

She is a nurse, tending to daily bumps, bruises, cuts, and scrapes. She schedules doctor's appointments, and dispenses medications on time. At times she is also the family veterinarian, treating Fido or Fluffy, as well as tending to the final arrangements of a beloved goldfish or hamster.

She is a teacher, instructing the finer points of life that public school teachers cannot cover. She answers the "why" even if the answer is that she doesn't know for sure. Why did the goldfish die, why did grandpa die? Are all boys like that? Why are people so mean? Why is the sky blue? Where is Africa?

The list goes on and on. She is all the above as well as a best friend and lover. She is a mom.

Maybe if we had a stay at home president, things would get done a lot better.