How do you think your life would be different if your mother chose her career over family?
In college, I used to truly believe that I could do it all. People saw me, a young woman who was involved in volunteering, Supervisor of a campus job, NABA Vice President, and Student Council Representative...and assumed that I'd aspire to become a C-level executive of some Corporation. And I blieved that too.
Until I got into the working world.
I was exposed to the type of women that were top executives of the Company that I worked for. They did not resonate with the woman that I aspired to truly be. Who is this woman?
My MOTHER.
My mother is Ivy League decorated. Her peers are amongst the best & brightest at NY Times and NBC. But you know what? They don't have children. They opted to pursue their career over a family life. To each his/her own; but observing that left a strong impression on me.
My mother was the REAL soccer/basketball/piano/gymnastics/PTA mother. When I cried, she was there. When I got caught up in bad things, she was there. When I laughed, she was there. When she took me to the gynecologist who asked if I was sexually active, she left the room to put my health and safety above Jesus Christ (yes, I said it). I then immediately told her the truth that yes, I was 17 and sexually active and she immediately put me on the pill. But she was THERE.
You know where she was not?
In some board room parenting a business or the government.
I have no clue where I'd be without my mother. And I really ponder in light of Palin. What mother with 5 children, one having a disability opt to parent the government over her own children? That is the antithesis of family values.
Women, if you had 5 children, including a new born with downs syndrom...would you accept the position as CEO of your Company...or the top role that you could possibly achieve in your desired field? Is there a proper time in life to do such things?
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I think that if I were an executive with the opportunity to be promoted to HWIC, well I wouldn't have gotten around to having 5 children, most likely.
If I already had those children, I probably wouldn't have had the chance to work that hard to become CEO or whatever.
A person who could, by chance, have both of those things (family and CEO position) is just a flat out anomaly and miracle worker. However, I'm sure she'd be doing both jobs with less vigor and attention.
To simply answer your last question, no I don't think I'd take the CEO job. It'd be terribly difficult if I had younger children.
To answer the title of the post, my mother was neither dedicated to work nor family, so I would have been happy had she put her energy into ANYthing!
Honestly, I think it's just great to have the option, like your mom did. She got the great education and is probably hella smart and capable. She knows she could raise a family OR she could have followed the path of her peers. Options, yo.
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