Some of the brightest, hardest working women I know (within their families and outside their families) DON’T EARN A PAYCHECK.  Some of the brightest, hardest working women I know (within their families and outside their families) DO EARN A PAYCHECK.  I haven’t said two incompatible truths in the statements above – they’re both true. I also know some in both categories that I can’t say the same about. I’ve known some wonderful women of more financial means than I have and some wonderful women of less financial means. It’s not the situations that define the women, it’s the quality and integrity of the persons.  I’m going to add a comment I made to a woman in another article:  Being a good parent and working is really tough and then there is the additional burden of feeling like you’re failing you children when you work and failing your work when you’re needed by your family. Don’t feel so guilty; be fair to yourself; your children need to have you be fair with yourself. If you lovingly do everything you can, it’s enough and even children can appreciate that – if not near-term, at least in the long run. What they’ll most remember later are the special relationships and events you’ve shared together as a family and not so much the “things” we sometimes feel we have to give them – especially when we work. Give your children the best you have to give them and rest in the knowledge that you’ve done your best.  Women don’t need to be pitted against each other. Most of us are striving in our own ways to raise good families utilizing whatever talents and resources we have that fit our family’s situation. One of the problems we face, particularly as women, is that work left the family – first with men and then with women taking jobs away from the home or home industry. Women have always worked – a lot of production used to be done within a family unit by all family members and children were essential to the survival of the family. With the escalating cost of everything regarding children, the time constraints, and the dangers to be defended against, the burden of raising children is immense and yet still rewarding. Be resilient, be flexible, be kind. Whether you’re a working mom, a part-time working mom, or a stay at home mom, if you’re putting your best energy and love into raising responsible, respectful, productive people you’re doing a wonderful thing for them and for your country – we need more like you.  Having said that, don’t be manipulated by either political party, the game for both sides is to get votes and they maneuver everyone’s woes to that end. They can’t do much about most of our burdens – any group’s burdens – but they certainly push all of our emotional buttons. Do you really have the extra energy to devote to all the political drama? What can they really do to make your life better? What can be changed and what has to be endured? What are the long-term effects of any policy on your children’s future? We’re caught in a battle between extremes – it’s time to refuse to play the role of pawns in their absurd game.  The War on Women – no one is seriously trying to eliminate birth control but it makes good fear-mongering and builds resentment.  The War on Moms – What’s the end-game here? I don’t even know other than to stir up women’s emotions and create a sense of needing protectors. You’ve always been stronger than they think ladies.  What drama, what nonsense. Remember every other “War on ____” that politicians have waged and are still waging without end – decades and decades of debacles and failure and black holes for our country’s fortune and our children’s futures.
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney holds his wife Ann Romney&#039;s hand as they walk on the stage during his caucus night rally following republican caucuses in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 3, 2012. The first vote of the 2012 battle for the White House headed late Tuesday for a nail-biter [...]