Sarah Palin
Governor of Alaska
Wife of 20 years
Mother 0f 5 (the youngest being 5 months old)
Republican Vice-Presidential nominee of the United States
WOW!
My first reaction- "What in the world is he doing picking a woman .....with 5 kids... no "real" experience... the youngest is a newborn??.... what kind of mom would......well, McCain can kiss being President good-bye.... "
I have been intrigued though. Because we choose to keep our cable disconnected I didn't see McCain's "Live"announcement, so I decided to watch it online. Quite frankly, I wanted to watch Mrs. Palin, listen also, but watch her actions, interactions, her husband, her kids, their eyes. As I listened to McCain I found myself wondering "What is Mrs. Palin doing behind the scenes?" Is she in one room practicing while her family anxiously waits in another? Is she watching McCain backstage, holding/feeding her baby? Is the baby fussy, she stressed and screaming "Someone else deal with this?" Those are just a few of the possible scenarios. I think I would have been in the restroom dealing with nerves! Then McCain finally announces her and she comes out.
Mrs. Palin leads the way with her family slowly coming behind her. I can only imagine what her teen-age girls were thinking. Then I notice the oldest holding the baby- what a pro! Her youngest daughter, Piper, was so sweet. She stayed on her mommy's heels. She smiled so sweetly at the crowd. You could tell that she was so proud that they were clapping for her mommy. What an awesome experience for all of them. Then I started to feel sorry for this little girl. I started to watch Mrs. Palin differently. I thought she's not even acknowlodging her daughter. Piper is following her and she isn't even making contact with her youngest daughter. Not a physical touch, nothing. Minutes (maybe seconds) go by. Where are the motherly instincts????
As Mrs. Palin approached the podium, she felt little Piper at her side. She turned away from the crowd, bent down and gave Piper a little hug and a kiss on the cheek. Aha, her motherly instincts. Joy filled her daughters face. Immediately after that, Mrs. Palin turns and does it. She already knew where Piper was and that she was okay. But she would not be able to start her speech until she completed it. I am talking about the mommy mental checklist. We all do it- in the store, at church, or at the playground. We locate our children and make sure they are all okay. Mrs. Palin did that. She turned and finished the mommy head-count. She saw that her other 3 children were close-by and happy. I am sure that in that second she was so proud and confident of her oldest daughter's ability to help out. Peace of mind. A family unit working together. Supportive.
Some will argue that as a mother, of a newborn especially, she shouldn't be accepting this position. I totally get that arguement- I already felt it, trust me. But she gets the choice, just like every mommy does. And even though I choose not to work right now, I KNOW that "Working" mommies are very good mommies too. I saw one of the things that I wanted from Mrs. Palin. I saw that her motherly instincts existed, and I saw that she was just like me when it came to the peace of mind one gets from knowing where her "babies" are and how they are doing.
