Moms Rising

Before I had Jack, many people said that everything will change once he arrives. As with every other comment people made regarding parenthood, I had no idea what this meant. Now I know that the statement is not exactly true but the priorities of my daily life have changed, and so has my general consciousness about children. Now that I am a parent, every child is my child. I just read that 22 students were killed at Virginia Tech and all I can think about are their parents, and how their lives are destroyed. When really sick babies come into the hospital, it makes me very sad in a way that it didn't before.

One of the most difficult realizations is that as a society, we do not value children or parenthood. Only since 1992 have you had the right to take 3 months off (unpaid of course) after the birth of your child. Before that, your job was not secure and in small companies, it still isn't. Many people do not have paid sick leave and if you have good daycare, it's usually because you have money and you got lucky. I could go on and on. Luckily, now I have a place to channel my anger and disgust. A group called moms rising (www.momsrising.org) was co-founded by one of the women who started moveon.org. They have a great manifesto that calls for paid family leave, good affordable daycare, paid sick leave, health insurance for all children and a lot more. Family leave legislation has made it to the Washington state house and with enough pressure from voters, it will pass (although possibly not this session).

All developed nations have these rights.. and even some poorer ones as well. We have made so much social progress in the last 30 years so it's exciting to think this may be the next big movement. I hope so.

ps. i know lots of people who don't have kids who are very into them.. they did not have to have a kid to have this awakening.. but i did.