My mother was a single working mother until I was 17 years old. She made barely enough for us to survive, though I never wanted for anything, No matter what I wanted I always seemed to have it, whether it be clothes, food, or a new tennis racket. My father left us when I was 14 and for three yards until she met my Step-father she worked and took care of me. We lived in a small two-bedroom apartment, we had to do laundry at my uncles place, I mowed his yard for extra cash, and I remember not having much of anything at the time, but I also remember us being very happy. Back then it was a lot cheaper to live, gas was under $1 per gallon, I had a bike and rode everywhere, and my mom drove a bright yellow Volkswagen Rabbit that was held together in the engine compartment by golf tees inserted into exposed hoses and tubes to keep it running. She worked across the street from where we lived and walked there to work every day so there wasn’t much need for gas in the car unless we were going to my uncles house or to the store for groceries. We were poor, but we had each other and to this day I respect her more for that time in our lives than I do any other time in my life. Over the years her and my step-father settled down, my mother found work with a better employer, making much better money and now she is semi-retired working for that same company, but she still has to work. Now her struggles include paying the bills and raising my 7-year old niece for my sister who is stationed with the navy. times aren’t as tough for her as they were, but they are still tough, and the lean times we had when I was a kid has taught her how to survive.
Fast forward to 2012 and while watching the morning news Thursday morning I see this :
At first I was like whoa, easy there girlie, you don’t know what it is like to be stay at home mom and you need to put yourself in her place and aren’t you being a bit harsh? Then I got to thinking about the environment Ann Romney has been in since she has been Mrs. Mitt Romney and I realized hat Hilary is right. Ann Romney has not worked a day in her life and to equate raising 5 boys with the plight or your typical stay at home mom or a single working mother is like comparing apples to oranges. Ann hasn’t had to worry about finding ways to budget the household, worry about where their next meal is coming from, worried about making the rent payment, worry about educating her kids, worry about Electric bills, cable bills, and any other item you or I can think of that our moms went through. Mrs. Romney has had all the help she could buy all her life and there is nothing she can say or do that can convince me she even remotely understands what it is like to be a working mom or a stay-at-home mom and the stress and intestinal fortitude it takes to handle all that life has to offer or throw at.
This is just another example of the disconnect the Republican nominee has to overcome. he needs to get out of his silver spoon world and see how the regular voter lives. We live paycheck to paycheck – most of us – and we are not impressed with how rich someone is. Although I may not have put it the way Rosen did she has a point. How can Mrs. Romney understand the struggles of working moms or stay at home moms when she never had to go through them?
Why do I care what this woman is saying? Well to be honest I have no idea, but all I can remember is watching the struggles my mother went thorough with me, and to see this rich woman that hasn’t known what it is to struggle say that she “understands” how women feel that have had to raise their kids as a stay at home mom well that just burns my ass. Walk a mile in my mother’ shoes and see how it really is. Both sides criticized Hilary Rosen for her comments, but instead should have stood up for her. I don’t believe that Mrs. Romney was a bad mother, but I do not believe she gets it.