2471 Glenn Beck doesn't get it

Glenn Beck doesn't seem to realize this battle's been lost. Today, as I listened in the car, he's taking calls about a survey that reports 48% of Americans think it is OK for mothers to leave their children in day care and go to work. (That's a paraphrase.) He's the father of new-born girl, of a one-year old adopted son, and two teen-age daughters from his first marriage. As he says, it is the pot calling the kettle black, but he thinks it is best for young children to be raised by a parent, not a care provider.

A child comes into the world already formed. Intelligence, personality, physical appearance, and predisposition to many health problems are already in place.--practically carved in stone. You get to contribute 1%--the values they'll carry to adulthood. Why would anyone want to turn that over to a stranger, if this is your only chance to make a difference post-conception?

On Mother's Day I wrote here about attempting to return to work part time when my children were small and deciding to wait until they were in school when I got a close look at the options. That said, I believe there are some home situations where it's probably better for a child to be gone 10 hours a day (or even it's entire life) rather than live in chaos; unfortunately, those moms are probably not finding quality substitutes. They are such poor mothers, they probably wouldn’t even know good day care if they found it.

Today at the coffee shop a single mom who lives with her boyfriend and 3 sons told me about babysitting for a friend. The other woman, also a single mom of two, has an abusive boyfriend and needed to get away. While he's spreading his sperm around central Ohio, she lives with her father, his girlfriend and her son, and a recently returned sister and her family, all under one roof. Can you imagine the chaos for all those children? Not a married father in the entire household!

The poverty rate for single women who had their first child before 21, didn't finish their schooling or marry their child’s father is extremely high. If she has married the father of her children and completed high school her children will probably not grow up poor. A step-father later doesn't really change the statistical mix that much, for the children's future.

Women--you have the power to change the world. Use it.