This stay at home Mom is not impressed. Her baby was born in April.

How much mothering can Governor Palin do if she is running on a presidential ticket? Don't mistake this for the Mommy Wars. I have Mom friends who work full time or part time, and I have friends who stay home. Each Mom's choice is deeply personal and should be a right fit. However, this is not about Ms. Palin choosing to be a working Mom. This is about her taking on one of the most grueling and taxing jobs in the world: running as Vice President. Running on a presidential ticket means you get no sleep, and have no life. If McCain/Palin win, she will continue with an extremely demanding job that will mean next to no family life for at least 4 years. FOUR YEARS.

I can't get past this part of her bio.

I hear you all talk about corruption, right wing politics and energy. All I can think is: she is running for Vice President with a 5 month old at home? Or worse, traveling with her, on airplanes. Multiple times a day. Has anyone ever heard a baby with an ear infection on an airplane?

She should have turned McCain down, saying she had an infant with special needs at home. Maybe as governor of a small state, her family/work situation worked. The governor of Alaska's job perhaps is not as demanding as say, the Governor of California's job. But make no mistake that running for Vice President means your personal/family life nearly ceases to exist. The fact that the infant has Downs Syndrome makes this situation even tougher. The baby will have extra needs. And she won't have time for it. I hope she has a really, really good Nanny.

I am a liberal stay at home Mom. But if this is my first reaction, imagine how more conservative Moms will feel.

I have an adult son in Alaska, and I know the complications of traveling to and from there. Palin's oldest kid is in the military, but her other three, plus the 4 month old infant, are still at home. They have spent their lives in a little wilderness town of 6,000. Now a lot of politicians - congressmen and women with families leave their families in their hometowns, get an apt. in DC, and basically commute to DC for session days, hearings, etc. The politicians are home on the weekends. You don't casually commute to Alaska on weekends. Even without weather complications it's one full travel day in each direction. I have been stuck in the Juneau airport in the SUMMER because of fog, which prevents takeoffs and landings. All flights have been cancelled for days at a time.

Sarah has never lived in a major city, let alone D.C. Her kids have been home-schooled (which is a questionable operation since her husband is a high school graduate and Sarah's not exactly home during the week.) So the kids get moved to a totally different culture and thrown into a real school for the first time? And then there's her husband, referred to with ridicule as "The First Dude" because of his devotion to extreme sports. Can you picture them at black tie functions with foreign dignitaries? Mixing it up at UN functions? Or the kids trying to deal with some very sophisticated East Coast offspring? Maybe Cokie Roberts will sponsor them for Junior Cottillions and etiquette classes. Question for Cokie: Is Alaska considered part of the US?

Especially because her newborn son has Down syndrome... his first year will be crucial to his entire lifetime development. I can't imagine stepping aside and letting someone else take on that responsibility. But maybe that's just me.

who will vote for Obama but thinks that it is perfectly ok for Palin to work outside of the home.

I think that is an important distinction.

Maybe women who want to have important jobs shouldn't have children? Or...should we just put all girls in special classes to teach them how to cook, clean, sew and let them be teachers and nurses?

Do doctors travel all across the country every week for months on end?

I am not sure how old you are but I am Gen X. A lot of Moms are going to agree with me, and a lot of them voted for Bush in '04. So you may have a problem with my opinion here, but I am not alone in having it.

And the pro-choice feminists who don't agree with me, aren't going to vote for the McCain/Palin ticket either. Palin has a very right wing record.

Furthermore, I tend to agree with the person on some thread somewhere who said a woman at 44 really needs to consider whether she wants to keep having children and taking care of them or getting into major-league politics.

Running for national office is not "working outside the home." It's a 24/7 total commitment.

In my opinion -- which I believe I'm still entitled to on this forum -- this Palin woman is NOT a mother at all. And if she plans to campaign on anything approaching a GOP "traditional values" platform, I'm gonna scream at her to stay home and take care of her kid. Passing him off onto nannies and otehr caretakers is NOT being a mother in any sense of the word.

I believe all women should have the right to make their own choices, whether to be stay at home mothers, childless career women, president of the united states or whatever their heart desires. But when they mouth one ideology for everyone else and then mock it with their own lives, I say fie on 'em.


Tansy Gold, who continues to think less and less of the goober party every day.

off to be with their baby and recover from pregnancy and childbirth. Some call it the Fourth Trimester.

People running for VP can't. If the baby needs surgery, she's not going to be there. She won't be taking care of the baby through the night because she'll need to be picture-perfect in the morning for the TV shows.

My husband's a doctor, and he's already scheduled the time off for our son's surgical procedure this fall. He can't always make everything, but he can get time off when he needs it, and people are okay with him looking like hell from being up all night. She's not going to have that at all.

not taking care of her family.

The truth is with this high-power a job her family has to be in second place.

But you also have to take into consideration her child is of special needs that's a new born. She's going to be campaigning and traveling excessively. So she's passing off such a child off to a special nanny. It does bring up some issues of family neglect. Plus she already has a pregnant 17 year old. It's just a bit weird to me.

But whatever...I'm mainly against her over the fact that she is a TROPHY candidate who is being paraded around by MSM and also McCain's campaign, used as manipulative tool to "steal" the women's vote and lastly she agreed to play such a role. What she does in regards to her children are her own perogative even if I, myself, find them off.

I agree. We wouldn't say it if it was a male candidate and the situation were the same. We shouldn't even go there. She is such a shit candidate who is so utterly unqualified that we need to hammer her on that and that alone.

Now if the argument is that parents who have very young children should not run for high office for the good of the child, regardless of the candidate's sex, fine. I agree. Make the case ( would be a very good one, coupled with real parental leave and child care policies ), but don't set a standard for women candidates that male candidates don't have to uphold. Particularly one that upholds a standard that debases all parents by implicitly suggesting that women are innately better parents. (Oh, and if they are innately better as parents, then, of course, we know where women belong).

Look, everyone here knows that Women should have total access to every opportunity, at the same time, decent human beings put some thought into balancing between family and career.

VP is the second hardest/time-consuming job in the world behind being Pres.

Every politician short changes their family by necessity, but you don't sign on for such a grueling task when you're child is only half a year old.

I think even most dad's wouldn't want to be gone that much during the first year. When your kids are a little older and can understand and even undertake traveling with you on occasion, yeah, it's a sacrifice, but one that they can understand and appreciate.

I left my job and put up with living with my folks so I could take the first 4 months off and then worked part time just to make sure I was around. Did I really want to lose the money I lost giving up a nice promotion to do so? not really, I just wanted to be there more than I wanted the money or opportunity.

And remember the natural mother-bear protectiveness and attachment my wife showed for the first year, I know there is no way she would be willing to leave her baby behind for months at a time and forcing her travel by plane over and over again. No way!

shows you the kind of 'family values' she has:

"sure my special needs child can be raise by a nanny for the next 4 years!"

what a worthless excuse for a human being.

There are nannies who travel.

Palin is happy to keep Americans from getting health insurance. She doesn't give a damn. Why should she? Her children and her husband get free health care - why should she care about anyone else?

I'll call hypocrisy when I see it.

people who push "family values" don't put that much of a premium on interaction with their children.

The Mormon family who lived in a nearby apt. when my children were growing up were a nice, typical family who did the "Family Night" stuff and all, but their attitude made me think twice. They always raved about how close we were to each other.

To me, a single, working mom at the time, it seemed only natural that I and my daughters would spend most of our free time doing things together. Apparently lots of families don't.

???

She is NOT putting her special needs child first and I think it is a damn disgrace.

?

Though how severely he is effected by the DS is not public knowledge, nor should it necessarily be.

Not all kids with DS are as severely effected as most. Funnily enough, my husband's cousin had a baby with DS at about the time Palin's own DS baby was born, and his cousin's baby is also not severely effected by his DS. In fact, he's meeting developmental milestones at a relatively decent rate as compared to non- DS babies. H's cousin's DS son is also quite healthy, having none of the heart defects and other health issues that many DS kids tend to have.

My own son has no genetic disorders but is severely disabled and had severe health problems due to being born prematurely at 24 weeks. Would I have been an irresponsible mother had I found the need to work outside the home during his infancy? But we were "lucky". Colin was born during what I refer to as the "Halcyon Days" during Clinton's first Presidential term and had no problem accessing all the public services my son needed then - Medicaid, SSI, Early Intervention, etc. I became a stay-at-home mom out of necessity and I've been lucky to remain so to date. Though I am looking into going back to school next year so that I can start working soon! :)

I know nothing about being a parent (and I don't ever want to know about it) that said, I'm kinda confounded how she's going to truly pull in the base conservatives. Correct me if I'm wrong but don't those conservatives believe that women should stay home and raise their babies?

I think she's going to be good for the McSame campaign but I don't think this gives them an automatic win.

when my son was young. I had an excellent "nanny" (my aunt) and was lucky in so many ways but I HATED being away from my son any more than I "had" to be.

of course a woman should be able to work and pursue whatever path they wish, and no one is saying that because she is a mother she shouldn't be a VP candidate. But, her child is so young. When is she going to have time to get to know and bond with this new person she brought into the world? I am sure he is well taken care of, but I think it is okay and not sexist for parents to actually want to spend time with their newly born. I wouldn't have the same reaction if her youngest was even a few years old.

I agree with you and this post. I thought the child was older but to see that her child is only four months old makes me cringe.

:hi:

You are right, this is a very deeply personal choice that depends on so many factors unique to each woman. But I can't help but cringe at the thought of that little baby not having mom around for days at a time. To complicate matters even more, the baby has Down's Syndrome (just heard it on Hartmann's show). I would imagine that the kid needs a bit more attention than most infants without disabilities.

but that is over the top

Women are damned either which way we choose, aren't we?

The fact that there are people agreeing that the "she should stay home with her child" angle is a feasible line of attack against Sarah Palin has got to be one of the dumbest and most offensive things I've seen on this site.

I'm sure that the Obama camp already has a long and lovely list of items with which to go after Palin. I'm willing to be the farm (if I had one) that this ain't one of them.

It's the same sort of question the press asked Edwards about his wife... She should have to address it!

This is about her taking on one of the most grueling and taxing jobs in the world: running as Vice President. Running on a presidential ticket means you get no sleep, and have no life.

That baby needs her more than he needs a nanny, and preferably, he needs her milk, designed for his special needs. It can honestly help his development and IQ. I'll be surprised if the stress doesn't do in her milk supply. I guess his needs are a lower prioroty for her.

I'm a liberal SAHM of a special needs child in school.

I have 3 kids and raised them as a single working mother, sometimes working 2 jobs to get by. I say this to show that I have nothing against having a career and children. BUT, to return 3 days after giving birth to a special needs child shows she cares nothing about bonding or caring for her son. My kids were not special needs, but I still wouldn't want to do anything but love and get to know them at 3 days old.

What the hell is wrong with this woman? OTher women need to know this.

On April 18, 2008, Palin gave birth to her second son, Trig Paxson Van Palin, who has Down syndrome.<63> She returned to the office three days after giving birth

to be able to work and have adequate leave from work to care for a newborn. "Sara Palin left her 3 day old special needs child to return to work. Why do working mother's think they should get leave to care for a newborn?" I can just hear it. I don't think this is a precedent that values working mothers at all.

She worked for the govt - she probably could have taken up to 6 weeks off! I know being governor is a non-standard gig, but jeez - even a few weeks would have been better. That's what Blackberrys are for. To me, this sends a message of 'either you have to be completely in or out' of the work force if you're a working mother -- I'd call it 'you're on your own' parenting.

It's the type of set-up Rethugs like. "Well I did x so why can't you? Blah, blah, blah."

"I went to work after 3 days why can't you?"

"I pulled myself up by my bootstraps, why can't you?"

"I never got sick and needed health care when I didn't have insurance. I was responsible! Why aren't you?"

Not being a parent I have to ask, how long exactly do women stay in the hospital after giving birth? What do they throw you out after a day or something? It sounds almost as if she went right back to work after going home long enough to cut off the hospital tags.

REgards

Granted, I went home the afternoon after my son was born and felt great, but I sure as heck wouldn't have been leaving him at that age to go anywhere like work.

If the rumors about the baby actually being her 16 y.o. daughter's are true, then that timing makes sense.

I don't know what to make of it though.

That and an extended school absence by her daughter.

She goes to Texas for a conference when she's near term? Then her labor "subsides" long enough for her to fly back to Alaska?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Doesn't sound to me like she was pregnant. Her staff said the baby was a month early. But the baby weighed in at 6lbs.2 oz., and Downs babies are typically 10% below normal birthweight.

STEVEN HOCKSTEIN, MD: When the bag of water breaks, and that's the membrane surrounding the baby, which holds in the amniotic fluid, there's a release of prostaglandins. And whether it happens naturally, or whether the patient's physician breaks the bag of water, these chemicals are released, and contractions become more regular and become more intense.

MICHELLE LAMOTHE, MD: So they help things get going and move along.

Once a 5th time Mom's water breaks, she needs to be in the hospital ASAP, particularly with an at risk baby.

Most moms who've had that many kids have much faster labors. To not get to the hospital until, what, almost 12 hours later . . .? My labors were never that long, and at her age, she would've been in the hospital immediately because of concerns it was going to get bad fast.

increases considerably after the age of 40. And Palin is nursing the baby which makes it more likely that she gave birth to him.

A lot of adoptive moms do it. If the baby is being nursed exclusively, than it is hers, because usually induced lactation cannot fully sustain a baby and supplemental formula is necessary. Usually, not always.

If she's supplmenting, well... And, the plane trip gives me great pause. Fifth kid? Get on a plane for a 10 ride home? Does not compute.

As a long time member of La Leche League, I am familiar with induced lactation. It takes a lot of dedication, particularly with a baby who has special needs and is born prematurely, and for a woman who goes back to work full time when the baby is only 3 days old.

The plane trip story definately does not make sense. Supposedly her water broke then she gave a speech and THEN got on a plane for 10 hours?? A 44 year old mother with a premature special needs baby would really do this?? How reckless to say the least.

It's Roveworthy rumor mongering. If they have facts, I'll listen. If they're just whistle-assing, they should grow up.

That baby is still nursing. She made the choice to have those children. It's not like she is applying for 9-5 job here.

There is also paternal leave. Maybe if Palin's husband says he will stay at home with the baby, I would feel better. The fact is the question of who is going to care for the baby has not been answered.

be with his boys who needed him. He almost quit the senate seat before even being sworn in because he wanted to be there for his two little boys.

if one of his boys had a developmental disability.

Now we see what Republicans do,

Palin is wrong on the issues and bad for the country. That is what we need to say to win. Not this Roveworthy personal attack.

the family values conservatives are going to have a problem with it also.

as they prefer the do as we say, not as we do approach. Sure she is not living up to the standards that they preach and try to force on others, but that doesn't mean anything to them.

Believe me -- I am friends with a lot of them.

I just remember how they same people that constantly attacked President Clinton for not going to Vietnam had no problem with George Bush dodging the draft

although I am not a stay at home mom. I work, a combination at home and away from home, and have a young child (not an infant). Her baby is so young. It is really bad timing for her. Nothing is sexist about thinking it is okay for mothers to want to be with their infants. Gosh, when my child was this young, I was still getting used to the adjustment of becoming a parent. I don't know what child care arrangement she has. I am sure her child is well taken care, but she probably doesn't have that much time to spend with him.

She's married, and running as VP with a child that young at home is NONE of our business. Would you bring this up if she were a man instead? Hell no, admit it, you are applying a double standard here, its not like she is completely abandoning her baby, if she can't be around as often, her husband, hopefully, is picking up the slack.

I'm not saying that parents shouldn't be around their kids, but if they want a job, well, they can work around their kids, parents do it all the time, both mothers and fathers. This attitude of yours is a big reason why there's a glass ceiling in this country in the first place.

Democratic women and especially a good percentage of women on DU have not a CLUE what sexism is, nor do they care.

Look, the decision to work or not work after the birth of a child is highly personal. Every situation is unique. The OP made that clear in her post.

HOWEVER, in some extreme cases, such as this one, questioning the judgment of a woman who could become our vice-president is perfectly legitimate. This is especially a concern given McCain's age.

The first 3 years of a child's life is CRITICAL to her development; it's when brain growth is most active, it's when the child forms fundamental human bonds that will last a lifetime and influence how that child relates to other people. An infant needs high levels of physical and emotional interactions to properly stimulate brain neuron formations. Nannies and siblings can only do so much. The infant also needs a constant day-to-day presence that she can identify as a parent.

Infants in daycare do just fine because they spend a lot of quality time EVERY DAY with either mom or dad, or both, during mornings and evenings. The problem arises when a parent is/parents are away for days at a time. It will become very difficult for the baby to form strong emotional bonds with a parent who pops in and out every few days.

As the OP stated, running for Vice-president is extremely demanding. Perhaps her husband will stay home with the infant, but it's also very likely that his wife will need him during the campaign. This infant deserves a full-time parent, especially given her disability.

As an teacher of early childhood special needs, I can tell you that one of them will need to be a full time parent to their baby who was born with Down Syndrome. Trig will need a lot of intervention and therapies to reach his full potential. Her husband is a North Slope oil worker. I hope that he is prepared to quit and take care of this infant full time. And unfortunately he can't nurse the baby as she is currently doing.

Palin is a union member belonging to the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (United Steelworkers).<4> For 18 years, he worked for BP in the North Slope oil fields of Alaska. In 2007, in order to avoid a conflict of interest, he quit his job as production supervisor when his employer became involved in natural gas pipeline negotiations with his wife's administration.<1> In addition to his duties as First Gentleman, he is a commercial salmon fisherman at Bristol Bay on the Nushugak River.<5>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Palin

This attitude of yours is a big reason why there's a glass ceiling in this country in the first place.

:applause:

Beside being bad manners and bad form, it's also bad politics to attack how a busy career woman mothers her child.

It's not worthy of DU. It's Roveworthy.

if it was a dad. It's not right for any parent to go awol months on end for the sake of any kind of ambition.

Joe took the train home every night from DC from when he was first sworn into office up until today. Joe was both mother AND father for his 2 boys after he lost his lil girl & wife in a horrible car accident. Sure, Joe had some help to juggle both of these things but even after he got married he still went home each night from work.

Down Syndrome children often need many surgeries, depending on the severity of any issues. She won't be able to take time off for that. She's just plain not going to be there for the baby, let alone her other homeschooled kids. I have no idea why she thought this was a good idea.

She's very Republican, but she said the same thing... it's not something I had really thought about. I mean, my mom gave up her job when she had me, and didn't start working again until my youngest sister was in high school. She actually said that she thought that this might cost McCain votes, especially since the child is special-needs... and this is the first time I've heard the woman say anything anti-McCain.

Honestly, Democrats always do better when we stick by our values and stand on the issues. This line of attack stands on a personal attack and betrays our values.

McCain selected Palin hoping she would appeal to women. As women get to know her, her family and approach to motherhood is absolutely fair-game in assessing her as a person.

we're questioning her judgment, after all, this woman could become our vice president, and if something happens to McCain, our president.

it's how this is perceived by those whose votes she/they are seeking, combined with how this issue is reflected in her platform.

I don't see the right-wing, fundamentalist "values" voter admiring her decision to accept this role given the age of her children. Whether we agree or disagree with how THEY perceive this doesn't matter. How will it affect their vote?

I don't know if this was a weird, ill-conceived Hail Mary move; a Rovian plot; or a flat-out concession that they aren't even trying to win, but I don't see how her family life, which includes such young children, will make her a good pick for their base.

It just seems to me that especially with a special needs child, you'd have to take more than 3 days before going back to work.

Hopefully The Enquirer can fish this shit out.

But got soundly attacked for "attacking motherhood" so I deleted them.

So yeah, I know what's out there and it's just freaking bizarre.

I would certainly hope that whether she were the mother or the grandmother of this child, that she would have taken more than three days off.

And flying while pregnant with a special needs child? Well, that's so irresponsible that I'm actually hoping that she's lying about the pregnancy itself.

Because I did read her daughter was "currently" pregnant. Now I'm not so sure where it's going. I didn't even know doctors cleared women to travel with any type of child at three days old. They normally keep them for a week. I know my cousin gave birth within hours of labor (2 to be exact) and she still stayed for a week even though she could have been released within the same day because everyone was very healthy.

... but part of the whole sexism thing is deciding that a woman should not take on a demanding job because she has kids. And yes, she probably will have a good nanny.

I'm not saying your point about how sexist conservatives will take this is a bad one. You do make a good point about how many will see it.

But I personally feel that reaction is yet another demonstration of sexism in this country. It's views like that which make bosses fire women who are pregnant, or ask about how many kids they have on a job interview, etc.

It's not the way I would choose to raise my kids, but that's quite a bit of the reason I don't have any. And I'm not going to judge a parent when I'm not a parent yet.

--------

Let's focus on the things that we can legitimately complain about.

Like how this pick is such obvious pandering it's ridiculous.

...motherhood is nothing to be ashamed of and families are respected enough that we don't demand that mothers or fathers return to work within days, particularly when there is a special needs child at risk.

And what does her returning to work so quickly now say about women who choose to take more time with their babies (like, a whole week :eyes:)? Are we now to be considered soft?

In short, I guess her story cuts both ways. Good for her, I guess, but bad for the rest of us who might be expected to follow suit.

is that she belongs to the enemy camp and as such it is our obligation to constantly second-guess any decision she has made and paint her out to be a real shit-head. CARRY ON!

"No sooner did my best friend hear about the Sarah Palin pick did I receive an e-mail from her.
It said simply: "Sarah Palin is a Bad Mother!"

I was at work but could not resist giving her a call to follow up. She told me that she was watching
CNN and heard that Ms. Palin had 5 children and that one was only 4 months old and born with
Down Syndrome. "How in the name of GOD, can she even think about leaving her child or taking
her child on the campaign trail for 70 days?" She was indignant.

Let me tell you why My best friend Liz matters. She is 37 years old and Catholic."

More at: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/08/misreading-amer.html#more

If it were her husband running for VP, would people be claiming he is a bad father? Somehow I doubt it.

I can tell you: What Palin is supposedly proposing to do is damned weird.

This is another reason that I think the GOP knows it's going to lose in a landslide.

Hey, she is still young enough for that to happen, at least in theory. Would people be demanding Obama quit running for president? I don't want to even go there.

And no, I don't want to go there either.

to stop working because my husbands job didn't allow him to help out (he's a doctor in a small town). I think we are being a little sexist here because I see nothing wrong with a woman taking on the full time job if a husband is willing to stay at home (I know many who are doing this and they are great) or the ideal situation would be both working part time (maybe with a little daycare). But if your religion calls for no birth control and you keep having kids then someone needs to raise them because there's a lot more to parenting than just making sure they have food and clothes!