By now, everyone in America has heard the remarks of Hilary Rosen in regards to Ann Romney. It seems that Ms. Rosen, an advisor to the Obama administration, believes that women who choose to stay at home and raise a family shouldn’t be considered as workers. I’m sure there are already millions of Moms who have been offended by these ill-chosen remarks; as well, they should be. Our President, Barack Hussein Obama, has already made an apology for his advisor’s statements, although I don’t believe he made a phone call to Ann Romney the way he did to Sandra Fluke.
I would like to take this time to defend all those Moms who work endless hours in never-ending days doing their best to take care of their families. Ann Romney has had the particulars of her life all over television, talking about raising five sons, fighting cancer and M.S.; to me, this sounds like a pretty full plate, while it doesn’t even address being the First Lady of Massachusetts.
I knew another lady who chose to be a Mom as her career. She married at 21 years old to her high school sweetheart. She attended the Chicago Art Institute and had remarkable talent in all types of mediums. I have some of her work hanging in my house. The lady I’m speaking of is my Mom. She was the glue that held everything together, and made all of our family plans work.
As the eldest child of a large family, I saw my Mom take on tasks that would drive many people crazy, with cool aplomb. As the oldest of six children, I was probably a little more aware of the things Mom did before the rest of our tribe. We had a laundry chute in our kitchen that emptied into our basement where the washer and dryer were. I never remember the space below that laundry chute being empty (unless it was a holiday). The washing machine was on every day, even week-ends. Back then, most of our clothes needed to be ironed, so from the dryer, those clothes went back upstairs to the ironing board, which was also used on a perpetual schedule.
Food preparation was also part of Mom’s “job”. Dad, Nona, Great-Uncle Salvatore, my two brothers and three sisters and I needed to be fed every day: This included packing lunch for my Dad and having a lunch at home for all of the children. Holidays were only real holidays for everybody else, as Mom was on “double duty” with massive house cleaning, followed by preparing an Italian feast for all of us, plus every relative that was expected to show up.
House cleaning included vacuuming, dusting, kitchen and bathroom scrubbing and the making of numerous beds, every day of the week except Sunday.
Mom didn’t draw a paycheck or earn a pension while doing this “job”. She never “clocked in” or “clocked out”. She never asked for a “raise”, except for an occasional “I love you Mom”, or a card on Mother’s Day. Strangely, I never remember her complaining about her lot in life, and I still remember her taking care of me during countless childhood sicknesses and injuries with a warm smile and a sympathetic ear.
If anybody out there thinks being a “stay at home Mom” is some ticket to all day television and sleeping late, they have quite a bit to learn. There are very few people like those wonderful ladies who have really taken on “work” with a capitol “W” and taken it on with the only reward being loved by others. I’m glad I had a Mom who wasn’t afraid to “work” the hardest job a lady can choose.
No comments:
Post a Comment