In 2004 or 2005 I was sitting in my optometrist’s waiting room with my, now 5-year-old, daughter. I want to say it was 2005 because I was trying to use a Newsweek to distract her. I picked up the issue and pointed to the man on the cover, “He’s going to be our next President.” She smiled and went on flipping through the magazine. Yes, that man was Barack Obama. Last night she stayed up until just past 10 pm Chicago time to witness history. She went with one of my best friends, her aunt by love, not blood, to vote after school. She was so happy!

I’m still on a high from this and I think all Obama supporters will be for quite some time. Yet what Obama is doing and what we need to be doing is planning for the future. But first, let’s see how the rest of the ballot shook out:

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Last night I attended a lecture put on by the Jewish United Fund of Chicago that focused primarily on next week’s important presidential election. After giving a brief overview of both McCain and Obama’s political stances, the speaker turned her attention to Hillary Clinton, who she said, paved the way for one of the most exciting election seasons in recent memory.

I second that motion.

The speaker, Julia Strauss of Northwestern, pointed out two key components of Hillary’s run for president that changed the campaign, and perhaps politics for years to come.

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No matter how I try, I can’t seem to come up with a good reason why Lynne Spears would write a tell-all memoir about her children. I know she aimed to write an innocent momoir about tips on motherhood, but what probably started out as a decent idea has evolved into a bloated “inspirational” recount of how her daughters went from innocent school girls to tabloid darlings.

In some ways I feel badly for Ms. Spears. When she saw talent in her older daughter Britney, she probably was like any other aggressive mom on the block - she wanted her daughter to succeed. Even she admits that things got out of control, and I bet it was difficult to not get sucked into all the hype and wonder of fame.

But now that one of her daughters has had a mental breakdown and the other had a child out of wedlock at a young age, why did Lynne Spears feel the need to relive and retell it all again? Was it just for the money? How responsible is it of her as a mother to overshare on her childrens’ lives?

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A lot has been said in recent years of the green movement and of moms helping their families to leave a smaller carbon footprint. But what are we doing to plan for the inevitable?

Yes, I’m talking about the day we or someone in our family dies.

I’ve often pondered about how I would want my life celebrated when I die and considering that my mom died at the age of 47, I know that I’m not guaranteed that it will be 50 years from now.

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There are, for sure, many unanswered questions about Sarah Palin for Vice President. I have a list of about 50 that I’m not sure tonight’s speech will answer. There is, however, one thing about her that remains clear: Sarah Palin is a working mom.

But, because she happens to be a working mom with young kids, a lot of young kids, and because she’s vying for the second-highest office in the nation, the mommy war flames have been ignited all over again. Everyone seems to be questioning whether or not she could possibly be vice president AND be a mother to her children at the same time. And everyone has an opinion.

The New York Times found a way to create a front page story on the matter with subjective quotes from “working moms” all over the country, who want to give their two cents on if she can handle the campaign and her family.

In the article, one mom, Christina Henry de Tesan, a mother of two in Portland, Ore. said,

You can juggle a BlackBerry and a breast pump in a lot of jobs, but not in the vice presidency.

Ok, she might be right, but she might be wrong. When moms are asked to opine on the way other moms work, our conversation becomes a subjective one, not a productive one.

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While a certain pair of men running on non-major party tickets keep getting press, the only ticket with two women of color isn’t getting much love. As a women/mother-centric site, I thought I’d give it to them today. In my last post, I wrongly said that the GOP would meet in a few weeks..oops! It’s next week. So on the last night of the DNC and days before the RNC, I give you the Green Party ticket and what they say they want to do for women:

It says something about a ticket that doesn’t even list either candidate’s names in their URL: http://votetruth08.com/. You could say that they know they don’t stand a chance, that they really do want to fight for the truth, it makes you wonder what is the truth?

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I love sports. I love the thrill of last-minute interception, a diving catch in the outfield, an overtime goal to win the game. And I especially love the Olympic Games, which are starting up in Beijing next month. This year, I’m really looking forward to watching the Games, and I’ve got my eye on two elite female athletes who are competing to qualify - Dara Torres and Lindsey Davenport - mom athletes opting back into their careers after having children.

Ms. Torres, a 41-year-old mom and swimmer is racing this week to qualify for her fifth Olympic Games - a record for any athlete. At her age it’s almost unheard of to be swimming for an Olympic berth, not to mention handily beating her competition who’s some 15 years younger. I had heard a bit anecdotally about how unique her efforts to make the Games are. However, after reading this article about her, I was floored. Her method for preparing for racing is nothing short of intense:

… her two stretchers work in tandem to contort and flex her body, in a 20-minute preswim version of the two-hour sequence they do three times a week at her home.

In addition to that, she gets stretched five times a day and receives professional massages. This is all at a high cost:

Torres’s routine includes a head coach, a sprint coach, a strength coach, two stretchers, two masseuses, a chiropractor and a nanny, at the cost of at least $100,000 per year.

At first, when I read through these facts, I thought, is opting back in worth all that pain and money? I can’t imagine spending the time and effort to go back to a career in which I already achieved the ultimate success. But in thinking about it further, I think Torres is a role model for any of us who want to get back into our game - swimming or otherwise.

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I’m half of a very traditional, mother-does-most-everything-around the home marriage. I recently tabled my career because I wanted to stay at home and do the mommy-freelancing-volunteer thing. My husband, meanwhile toils away at the office working hard to support us. I do the lion’s share of cooking, cleaning, taking care of our son. I’m lucky that we were able to make such a decision, and now I see being a mom as my main job, with everything else that I’m supposed to get done as second fiddle. And that’s ok. I expected nothing less when I left the working world.

That’s why I was intrigued by the recent New York Times article about the “equally shared parenting” movement. For me, this concept is totally out of whack. The notion that my husband and I would make lists, and charts and color code our life seems absurd. It would never work for us. And it isn’t the arrangement of 99% of the people I know. While I’m not convinced that social norms have dictated the fact that I do more laundry and dishes, I can say that leaving my job was a lot easier since the majority of my friends don’t work. We’re all living the SAHM life together.

But what about those who sign up for the equal parenting thing? Admittedly, even though I know it wouldn’t work in my household, when I read about those families for whom this concept works I got a little twinge of jealousy. I can’t imagine having my husband always being on the hook for doing the “whites” or making playdates.

Although the mantra of equal parenting is out of whack for me, I like that those involved in the concept realize this and admit that it’s not for everyone. I admire that one of the movements’ founders tries to find ways to redesign our inflexible and antiquated workplaces. However, I see the coverage and resulting discussion about it as just another way to stir up the mommy wars pot and make mothers (and fathers) continually question and fear the decisions they make about the difficult choice between balancing career and family.

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I’m coming to terms with the fact that Hillary Clinton will not be our nation’s Democratic candidate for president. It’s as clear as day - Obama’s it. But I can see why Hillary has not fully conceded yet. For any working mom, especially those who are of a different generation, one that had to overcome gender barriers and issues that my generation will never know, it must be difficult to throw in the towel.

As much as I wanted it and needed it, it was difficult for me to give up the corporate world for a freer, more flexible lifestyle. And I’d only been working for 10 years. I can’t imagine what it’d be like to have been the first student to have given the commencement address for her class at Wellesley, or been the first female partner at a big law firm. I’m sure Ms. Clinton gave up a lot in her life to get where she’s at today, and so why should she be asked to give up more now, on somone else’s terms, after fighting so hard?

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Yes, I know we have a few more primaries to run through, but even if Hillary pulls out some miracle, I’m still wondering how did this all happen? One year ago she was the nominee. The one with the money, the connections, and the momentum. She had the super early endorsements of NOW, EMILY’s List and the National Women’s Political Caucus. Why are we in mid-May still trying to pick a nominee? Why didn’t women in every state overwhelmingly vote for Hillary? A woman who has spent her entire adulthood working for women and children’s rights?

At Lifetime (television for women), their political coverage is framed as “Every Woman Counts.” Women are posting their responses to “If I were President…” Just looking at the things posted on the front page, they are things that Hillary talks about.

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