What was your moment of truth?

Posted January 3rd, 2007 by Mojo Mom -- Amy Tiemann

Who ever decided that motherhood and politics should be kept separate? I find this very frustrating in Moms’ groups. Many groups have stated policies that political views and discussions are not welcome within the confines of the organization. The mandate to be “nice” is holding us back. There seems to be a fear that it’s more important to “all get along” than to allow an open dialogue.

Mothers aren’t going to get political power unless we act like we want it, and in fact demand it. That is why I am so drawn to MomsRising and “The Motherhood Manifesto.” The facts are aired and the stage is been set for real discussion. Sure, we won’t all agree, but as mothers there is a whole lot of common ground we can cover together.

I encourage you to challenge the limits of the Moms’ groups you belong to. Political doesn’t have to mean partisan. How about if candidates from all parties are invited to speak to your group before the next election? Even more important than helping you to decide who you’ll vote for, inviting representatives and challengers shows that Moms care about the policies that leaders are enacting on our behalf. We’re smart, we’re paying attention, and we vote.

Motherhood is inherently political for me. As a woman who had the privilege of a professional education, gender equality was a near-reality for me before I became a Mom. Then adding a baby to our family brought gender roles to the forefront. I was lucky to be able to afford self-financed maternity leave, and I have health insurance for my husband, but I am all too aware that many women are lacking these basic support systems.

I love that motherhood burst my little bubble and revved up my political engines. The motherhood movement faces many challenges, but we have fantastic resources to draw on if we all work together.

How did motherhood change your political views and involvement? Did you have a lightning-strike moment of truth, or a slowly dawning awareness? I’d love to hear your stories.

anchor

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6 Comments

January 21, 2007 at 4:34 pm by Anonymous

The only thing that didn’t change when I became a mother was my name, address and phone number.

Before becoming a mom, I was your average apathetic American, blissfully unaware of how public policy was relevant to my life. Now that I’m a mom, it’s clear to me that EVERY social and political issue is relevant to me, not because I want my children to inherit a better world, but because I now realize that parents are central to making the world a better place.

You just have to watch one episode of “Supernanny” to understand how critical parental love, diligence and involvement is to creating respectful and responsible children. Why are we surprised that children are walking into schools with assault weapons and increasingly turning to drugs, violence and food (is the childhood obesity epidemic really a surprise to anyone?) when their parents are too busy trying to pay the bills or too exhausted trying to keep up with their unattached corporate counterparts to be as involved with their kids as they should be? Solving issues like paid family leave, flexible work hours and affordable childcare isn’t just about improving women’s quality of life. It’s about creating a stronger nation with less drugs, violence, poverty and crime, not to mention a healthy, well-educated and motivated future generation. And we might just happen to improve some people’s quality of life, including our nation’s fathers, in the process.

This has been a slow dawning for me, one that was born out of my own feelings of being an overwhelmed mom longing for a better way, leading to an eventual realization that the issues were much bigger than me. So I’m fired up and ready to do my part. My only question is, how do I fit changing the world onto my already overbureoning to-do list? Between shuttling kids to and from Sunday school, my four loads of laundry and a trip to the grocery store, it took me all day just to write this message!

Amy in Atlanta

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January 6, 2007 at 11:29 pm by Anonymous

This country is the best because we challenge each other. If we can’t then we’re doomed. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be nice in our conversation, we should discuss like mature adults. Thanks for your post.
Priscilla
http://www.millenniummommy.blogspot.com

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January 4, 2007 at 8:35 pm by Anonymous

Why should America foot the bill for people who get pregnant when they cant take care of the child financially. Its called Adoption

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January 4, 2007 at 11:16 am by Mojo Mom

Hey PunditMom, it’s great to see you over here on MomsRising. I am looking forward to working with you on advancing these issues.

Amy Tiemann, creator of MojoMom.com
http://www.mojomom.com

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January 18, 2007 at 10:06 am by Anonymous

Wow, that’s quite a comment “Why??” As an adoptive mother, I must ask you — if you believe this is the answer, how many children have you adopted?

PunditMom
http://punditmom1.blogspot.com

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January 4, 2007 at 11:15 am by Anonymous

MojoMom, I couldn’t agree more. I’ve been a political animal all of my life, so motherhood hasn’t changed that. I keep wondering how much change we could effect, as mothers, if we would focus on the common issues we are concerned about and forget about our party affiliations. Political parties may be a sensitive topic, but issues about family leave, children’s health, etc., shouldn’t be. Perhaps we’ll more closer to that in 2007 … ???

PunditMom
http://punditmom1.blogspot.com

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What was your moment of truth?

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