Posted on 03/17/2006 6:46:24 AM PST by knowseverything
I have recently been informed, by watching the Oscars, that the business of sex trafficking must be very stressful. I suppose this is understandable as I can't imagine it is easy to keep numerous sex slaves in line, all while forcing them to abuse themselves for your own personal profit. Not to take away from the obvious hardships pimps must carry, but I would like to make a similar case for the burdens our society currently places on parents.
Fortunately for most parents, we live in a society that will gladly raise our children for us. It is very easy to raise children the way that is quickly becoming the “norm” in American culture today. From birth to about five years old, the answer is simple, full time day care. You spend one maybe two hours a day with the little buggers, and take them to Chucky Cheese's on the weekend. A monkey could do it, and it only gets easier. Ages, 5-18, public schools take the wheel. Fill in the blanks with video games, and cable TV, and you really don't even have to spend weekends with them anymore. Congratulations, you're a parent, check that one off your list. Keep in mind, along the way, both you and your spouse (or ex-spouse or spouses) have both been building your careers and have accumulated enormous wealth. Your kids, while probably not going to win Nobel prizes, or move out of the house before the age of 30, have turned out, well.... good enough. I mean, so what if your children are pop culture reincarnated into human form? At least they probably won't kill anybody.
Now what about life for the handful of parents who take their responsibilities to their offspring seriously? These parents are different because they will sacrifice money, time, prestige, power, fame, and whatever else it takes to ensure their children grow up with integrity and faith.
The hardest of these to sacrifice in our society today is money. An argument can be made that along with spotted owls and bald eagles, the stay-at-home mom, is fast becoming one of the most endangered species in our country. With the earning power of women leveling off to that of men in the work force today, it takes a very dedicated family to cut their income by upwards of 50%, for the sake of their kids. Many common justifications float around for many to convince themselves they are not simply being greedy. “Daycare, gives them a chance to socialize with other kids........”, “We can't afford for us both not to work.....”, and my personal favorite, is parents substituting the term “daycare”, with “school”, making it seem like they simply care about their one year old's “education”, as they pawn off their child for 10 hours a day.
Combine all of this with the massive feminist assault on stay-at-home moms, and it is not hard to see why they are fast becoming extinct. Feminists have successfully placed a stigma on mothers who choose to be actual mothers to their children. I can't even count how many times I have heard patronizing phrases from working women to full time moms such as, “I don't know how you do it?”, or “I just can't be home all day, I'd go crazy!”. As if being a mother is not intellectually stimulating enough for them, or they are simply too hard working to take on such a mundane task.
On top of it all, parents who have dodged these bullets and decided to actually raise their children themselves, will have to deal with much more than a simple 50% decrease in annual household income. With the exponential decay of the public school system, it is likely most Christian parents will eye private education for their children. For many however, this is no longer a financial option. Especially considering the fact that they are already paying thousands a year to the local school district whether they use it or not. Money that could be used for a proper Christian education, is essentially being stolen from them, to pay for the public corruption of other people's children. It's enough to make a patriotic American want to toss public textbooks into a harbor somewhere.
The true irony of it all is that being a parent in modern day America can either be as easy as it has ever been for anyone in history, or a 20 year course in self sacrifice and hard work. If freedom is defined by choice, we certainly have it as parents in America today. From the choice of whether or not we even want to be parents in the first place, (and we have plenty of time to ponder this decision, up to seconds before the little guy is born), to the choice of whether or not we want to be directly involved in their upbringing. Keep in mind however, that the next generation will certainly reflect the results of the decision we all make today.
-knowseverything
It is tough out there for a good parent. You have this exactly right. The good news is that at the end of the process the good parent will have a child that is a decent, responsible citizen and someone who will not just stuff their parents in a nursing home and send a card once in a while.
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