Family Values

I'm listening to Air America Radio's Mike Malloy. He's talking about how fascism is taking hold in America. He's saying how liberals are really the ones who care about family values. I certainly do, as does my husband. We are expecting a child now for the first time in our lives and want the best for him or her. We've taken parenting classes and will take more. We value family, and our child, so much that I will stay home with our baby for the first year. I may or may not return to work the second year--that will depend on our child's sense of independence.

Not to give the right fodder, but we don't expect this to be a popular decision among my colleagues (an art crowd with corporate values) and possibly our liberal friends and family. Like our decision to rent our home and save rather than buy, this kind of mommy lifestyle goes against the grain of how a lot of urban dwellers live. Even though my husband's corporation has lots of stay-at-home wives--I wonder if this falls under the banner of being machismo and rich enough to support a stay-at-home wife rather than a deep understanding of nurturing (I hope that I'm wrong). And yes, for some time there has been a growing movement for women to step out of the workplace for a period of time in order to raise their children. We are having children later in life and fully realize the importance of giving children the attention of a reliable, full-time caregiver. Even better that that caregiver is mom and/or dad, we think.

While I deeply believe that the following 7 months and 2 years will be some of the most wonderful years of my life, well-meaning others wonder if I'll suffer stress and boredom. While I expect an expanding network of mothers becoming my friends, people worry that I'll become isolated and depressed. From now on, I have to let this stuff bounce off of me. I've been an optimist my whole life (except for one moment during a time when I was suffering from a shocking experience involving severe grief and a broken heart), and I will continue to be.

Unfortunately, this is one area where I have more understanding of the ways of the Red States than the Blue States. C'mon Blue States, I know you really mean to value nurturing children over personal ambition and work.