This article from today’s New York Times is actually one of the better-researched and written articles concerning the combination of Sarah Palin’s motherhood and political career. One piece of it that I find especially intriguing and relevant is the different approach she takes to combining her family and her career, taking both her children and her husband into the workplace with her. Perhaps one of the issues with American society and the reason we’re questioning her ability to be both a mom and vice president is our black-and-white view of parenthood and work. If we go by the 50’s model of the workplace (which, let’s not kid ourselves, is still alive and functioning), you go to work, there is someone at home to take care of the kids, and you work until the job is done, even putting in extra hours if need be, with no repercussions on your family or personal well-being. For today’s workforce, however, family, whether that be children, partners, or parents, and personal time are more often taking precedence over work.
Maybe we should take a page out of Sarah Palin’s book and start finding ways to combine the two. What do you think?