Editorials / Opinions

The introduction: So what do you do? Answer: I'm a stay-at-home mom. Followed by a condescending, Oh. Better change the conversation to something she can handle. Perhaps the weather.

Face it. Being a check-out girl at a supermarket ranks higher than being a full-time mom. At least she's bringing home a second paycheck and contributing something to the family.

Some women climb a few rungs up the ladder of social approval by combining a job, err, career, while discharging the duty of having a baby. Ivanka is leading a crusade for paid maternity, make that PC correct, "parental" leave of six weeks after which the mother can get back to her real job at the office.

At least the new mom is supported by feminists. The sisterhood recognizes a mother's contribution to society: her vital role as mother, homemaker, educator, nurse, and dispenser of love, care, attention, band-aids, and kisses to her baby. Oops! Sorry got that wrong.

Feminists disdain full-time mothers. What's essential is equal numbers in the workforce. Equal pay. Equal representation in supervisory positions. Equal help with child care, cooking, housework, etc., etc. And Ivanka's paid maternity leave.

But there comes a time when society has become so wayward, so detached from natural order that to state the obvious is to be radical. That time has come for at least one man.

Motherhood is of inestimable value to the home and nation. It is a 9-to-9-to-9 job, no weekends off, and the ten federally mandated holidays are just workdays for mom, except that additional demands on her time will be made on holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.

There is no sick leave, vacation, or time off for any reason, except for illness or impairment. Mom's time, if not her life, will be lavished on the constant attention and care for her infant. A baby who is deprived of his mother's love for just two minutes is anxious about being ignored. His blood levels, of the stress hormone cortisol spike. Repeated episodes of stress could have a significant effect on a youngster's health and development, say experts in child development.

No other newborn in nature requires as much devotion as does the human baby, and it can extend into his second decade. Neither is there an instinctive end of the mother-child relationship as in the animal kingdom. It endures even after the death of the mother and continues in the loving memories of her children until they, too, join her.

A child's emotional, mental, and neurological development depend on his mother's feel, smell, and sound to give him a secure base---a bond that forms months before birth---from which to cautiously reach out into the strange new world around him.

Mother's milk is another miracle of nature. The first milk, called colostrum is loaded with immunological compounds. After a few days, it changes to a less viscous liquid that continues to evolve in composition to meet the nutritional needs of her growing infant. No factory-made formula approaches its perfection.

And her breasts, which in other creatures are flat or in ruminates bag-like, in a woman they are objects of adornment to which her child clings.

The absence of a mother's love can have generational consequences.

Research has found that maternal separation affects the brain's biochemistry with lifelong consequences for growth and mental ability. Mary Carlson of the Harvard Medical School said, "Our findings support clinical research showing the infants cared for in institutions grow slowly and have behavioral retardation."

Children deprived of maternal care in early childhood are likely to be withdrawn, disruptive, insecure, or even intellectually stunted. A recent, 10-year study involving 1,300 children found that "the more hours that toddlers spend in child care, the more likely they are to turn out aggressive, disobedient and defiant."

A connection between extended periods of maternal absence, and stays in a day-care facility for as little as 10 hours a week can cause developmental problems for infants.

Education psychologist Burton White, Director of the Harvard Preschool Project, said: "After more than 20 years research on how children develop well, I would not think of putting a child of my own into substitute care program."

The responsibility of motherhood can be terrifying as well as heart-wrenching. For some mothers, financial pressure makes it impossible for her to devote as much time as she might yearn to give to her baby. Like many of life's dilemmas, there is no satisfactory answer, only a best possible adjustment. But it's said that love conquerors all, perhaps even this.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins, New Milford, PA

Recent news coverage of a Wall Street Journal poll regarding Roe v. Wade fails to consider some key points. To begin with, national polls have consistently shown that a majority of Americans oppose most abortions. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade goes well beyond what most Americans favor, since it led to abortion on demand for any reason during all nine months of pregnancy. Roe also gave rise to the outrageous practice of partial-birth abortion, which a majority of Americans soundly oppose. Look beyond recent headlines and you will find the truth, that Roe represents a judicial power grab which should be overturned.

Sincerely,

Maria Gallagher, Legislative Director, PA Pro-Life Federation, Harrisburg, PA