Joyful, Fulfilling, and Important

 

Pete Buttigieg has been in the news quite a bit recently. It is bound to happen when you are the country’s Secretary of Transportation and there is a major crisis in the transportation area. Of course, I really doubt he would have been able to fix the problem in the past two months anyway. But, he has been busy. He is on paternity leave after the birth of his twins, even though neither he nor his husband are the ones who gave birth and need time to recover. That’s okay, though, because they have been bonding with their children. And, according to him, it has been “joyful, fulfilling, and important.”

Wait just a minute here. Didn’t the feminists push moms into the workplace not that long ago because they needed fulfillment? Weren’t there more important things for those women to be doing than changing diapers and wiping snotty noses? Wasn’t working outside the home going to make us happier and, therefore, better wives and mothers? Could it be that those feminist leaders lied to us? Have too many moms missed out on the most joyful, fulfilling, and important work they will ever do? Have too many children missed out on the stability, protection, and support that comes from having mom at home?

Recent studies show that women today are actually not happier than those of previous generations who stayed at home. Headlines are telling us that women can’t go back to work after the pandemic shutdown because they can’t find quality, affordable childcare. Parents are fighting local school boards because their children are being taught racism. Children are bullied, raped, and shot in our schools every year. Maybe the solution to these problems is the same. Maybe it is time for us to return to a society that values our mothers and the important work that they do. “For the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” I think William Ross Wallace was on to something there.

Now that our supply chain has been so severely interrupted and the store shelves are bare of things to buy, it might be a good time to dump that second income. Now is the time to make the choice to scale back our lifestyle and choose the important work. It won’t be easy, but the worthwhile seldom is. What it will be is joyful, fulfilling, and important.