Fathers & Mothers

     “Why are you going to college if you want to be a stay at home mom?” or there is “What’s the point in getting a degree if you're not going to use it?”. Wow. I hate these questions. However, they are valid. What the heck am I doing? If I’m going to stay at home all day (changing diapers, making food, cleaning, and playing taxi driver) why waste the money on a degree I will never use? It’s so easy to look at homemakers and think their job is blah. On the flip side, Men – who for most of society have been the primary presiders – are getting the idea that they aren’t important. They would be holding their sweetheart back from her dreams if they didn’t make it possible for her to have a career. All of it is a load of crap. Women and Men have specific roles and each is so important. I’m so excited to explain why!
     Let’s tackle Women first. Dennis Prager wrote an excellent article called “Does a Full-Time Homemaker Swap Her Head For a Mop?”. In it, he talks about the worlds view on motherhood today and how most people view motherhood as a mindless, pointless, and unfulfilling way of life. It’s so easy to think having a career is what life is all about. Folding laundry can only get so good right? Wrong. Not only is child caring very full-filling, but it’s the biggest way you could positively affect the world for better.
     Think about it. You are training, loving, and taking care of someone who will go out into the world and will affect so many people. On top of child baring, you can continue education by listening, reading, and watching! The possibilities are getting more and more endless to how a homemaker can further education and knowledge of the world. Now don’t get me wrong, being a homemaker isn’t flattering work by any means. There will be some happy and perfect moments, but everyday homemaking isn’t rainbows and butterfly’s as my friend Emily would put it. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not important or unfulfilling. I am going to college because I want to learn! I’m taking classes that will help me be a better future mother and that’s worth it to me.
     Now let’s talk about Fathers. What does it mean to preside? Webster’s Dictionary explains it as “the exercise of authority”. That sounds like a beating to me. So many men are taught that presiding means making all the decisions and having the final say. That doesn’t sound like a healthy marriage or a happy family. Presiding has nothing to do with being superior above others and bending them to your will and has everything to do with directing and inviting others to council together. How beautiful would it be if all men could understand how important their role is as a presider over their family. Too often men are treated solely as a paycheck that comes every month. I hate that. This attitude needs to stop.
     Along with presiding, having a father in the home has so many positive effects on children. Boys are less likely to act out aggressively and girls are less likely to be sexually active early on. In fact, in the article “A Key Commonality In School Shooters The Left Refuses To Address” they talk about how there is an obvious correlation between youth violence/suicide and fatherless homes. Isn’t that crazy?
     Fathers, you are so important. You are not a paycheck, you are a provider and presider over your family! You can direct in love family councils and with your wife decide together on small and big decisions. You alone being at home with your family helps your children! Mothers, you are so important. You are not a mop or mat to be stepped on. The work you do isn’t flattering but is fulfilling and will be more powerful than any career out there! Knowledge and education don’t stop when babies come. If everyone could understand that roles better, this world would be a better place.