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03/31/2009
Nanny? Babysitter? Care Worker? or Mommy?
Hi I'm Dr. Laura Schlessinger and I'm here to talk about my newest book In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms. Now the first question I'm normally asked in any kind of interview is, &'Why did you write this book?& . And that's the problem right there. I think I started thinking about this book about 25 years ago when I was on the old, old, old Donahue show. Remember that? It was one of the first talk shows?had an audience. I was there with my first book Ten Stupid Things Women Do To Mess Up Their Lives.
The book had nothing in there about being a mother, nothing in there about being an at-home mom, but clearly, because I was showing some respect for women, I got jumped on all over the place by the audience about being a stay-at-home mom. It was so weird.
So &'poof& I had this great moment when I said, &'Okay, okay, I have a question for the audience.& Well, Donahue looked shocked because I sort of took over the show for a second from the podium, and I said, &'All right, all of you are going to die right now and you're going to be recycled right now, and you can choose whether or not you want to come home or back to life with a babysitter, a nanny, or a day care center, or a loving mother. Stand up if you would choose one of the first three.& And I'm looking around the audience and nobody gets up. So somehow inherently, in some part of every woman's psyche, there is that built-in connection to be a mommy that has been &'dissed& and minimized, and attacked in our society. As if somehow women lose something by giving up motherhood.
Well, here I am, 25 years later, going through the feminist nonsense myself and finally becoming a mother and I know from what I speak. If I come back, I want to be with a mommy, not a nanny, not a day care center, and not a babysitter. How about you? This book helps reinforce what is truly unique and remarkable about every woman: the possibility of motherhood. "In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms;" you deserve it. I'm Dr. Laura Schlessinger. Be back next time.
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