On the Importance of Moms Discussing Politics

Discussing politics socially should not be taboo.

When I found out I was pregnant back in 2002, I embraced my geekiness and immediately hit the internet for information and advice. I found myself a part of a bulletin board of mothers who were due in July. Nearly six years later, we still have this incredible bond. The women on our bulletin board have supported each other through divorces, miscarriages, pregnancies, career changes, and the other varied stresses of life. Two years ago today, we lost one of our members to cancer. In short this group of women who initially bonded because of the shared timing of their first child have discussed and dealt with it all.

Politics has remained, still after all these years, a subject that many believe should not be discussed. The historic nomination of Barack Obama and the historic choice of Sarah Palin on the Republican ticket engendered commentary in our little corner of the internet. There was a bit of tension. Some suggested not discussing politics.

This is ridiculous. Moms must be involved in political discussion! We need true political discourse in this country. How can a country conceived in liberty somehow create a citizenry that believes that politics is an inappropriate topic for discussion? I think of Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and other significant voices of the Revolution and the New Republic. What would they think of a politics being pushed aside in conversation? Great American orators and writers dominate the pages of history. Let’s not allow 24-hour news networks with its sound bites destroy the art of political conversation. Instead let’s allow the internet with its democratizing powers include more people in the conversation. Let’s hold ourselves up to high standards of logic and reasoning. And let’s truly hear one another.

We are the mothers. As mothers we are our children’s first social studies instructor. We must model thoughtful political discourse in front of our children. We must have dinner parties with Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. We must encourage our children to form their own opinions after careful consideration of and conversation on the issues. For the sake of the Founding Fathers, we mothers must remember that part of our job is not only raising children but also raising civically minded citizens.

I can’t help but think of 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., and those clergymen who acknowledged the social injustices of that time yet disagreed with King’s tactics and demonstrations in the name of Civil Rights. Those eight clergymen believed that King and his followers should use the courts instead of taking the battle to the streets. Their letter motivated King to write a masterpiece both of the English language and of the human spirit. His “Letter from Birmingham Jail” outlined the justification for his actions. The clergymen wanted him to wait. King explains that he couldn’t and shouldn’t wait when he and others have witnessed and experiences a lengthy list full of atrocities ranging from lynching to suffering in poverty to having to explain to a child why she can’t go to the amusement park.

Perhaps those eight clergymen felt that waiting would have been quieter. Quiet doesn’t get things done. Quiet doesn’t cause change. Quiet doesn’t inspire.

Be loud.

Engage in conversations about politics, so that when our children ask about a perceived injustice in our world, we can show them the way to change.

On What is Obvious Tonight

Watching the Olympics is quite time consuming, and if I were completely honest, a wee bit emotional.

The last time that I watched the Olympics like this was 1996. With high school completed and college looming on the horizon, I had naught else to do but watch the Olympics. On August 1, 1996, I wrote the following in my journal:

"I should have been a rhythmic gymnast. That much is obvious tonight."

Clearly, I was reflective and pensive in the way that only an bored eighteen year old can be in the summer before college.

Tonight I sit here with my son pressed up against me in bed watching the Olympics. He is fighting sleep and would rather watch SpongeBob SquarePants. Michael Phelps is about to swim the 100M Butterfly--everyone expects him to earn his seventh gold of these games--tying Spitz's record from 1972. He just won by 1/100th of a second.

Twelve years ago watching the Olympics revealed the "obvious" notion that I should have been a rhythmic gymnast. I clearly didn't understand what the word obvious meant. I was also a girl completely self-absorbed with myself. I saw rhythmic gymnastics and only saw the rhythmic gymnastics.

Tonight I see beyond the pool, the uneven bars, and the track. With this little boy sleeping next to me, sharing my blanket, I finally do see the obvious. The emotional reactions of the athletes and their parents tell the story. It is about the athlete's courage to chase the impossible and the family's courage to believe that their loved one can catch the impossible.

And I can have the courage to believe in my son. That much is obvious tonight.