A Good Rising

Last night we had a party, Maya's Mom and I. Here we are, raising the roof for Maya's Mom, MomsRising, and most importantly, for progress toward a more family friendly, and thus more economically and emotionally powerful, United States of America.

We had some good wine, ate some amazing desserts made by Grandmahildi, and took home cupcakes to our kids. We met friends in person we had previously only known through tappings on our keyboards, and we were pleasantly reassured that they truly exist. But even in the presence of all the icing on the M&M topped cupcakes, the strawberry meringue, the alcoholic residual sugars, and the new friends, the sweetest part of the evening by far for me was seeing so many intelligent and powerful people in one room who get it. Some of you are even writing about it already (kudos!).

What do these people get you ask?

I believe that after watching The Motherhood Manifesto most folks understand some pretty powerful things. They understand that the MomsRising.org agenda for a more family friendly America is not what they might have expected.

Let's start at the top. It's not about whether you are a mom or even a parent. It's not about whether you work or stay home. It's not about whether you have health care or not, or whether you are wealthy or poor. It's not, at all, a women's agenda. And it's definitely not about whining. No. We are not whining. We're proving that this country is going down in flames and it better damn well start taking care of its kids and families if it wants to survive in the industrialized world. Forget about the emotional heartbreak of all the families declaring bankruptcy, uninsured children dying, and struggling families working so hard they can't spend a minute with their children. (Okay don't forget about them, but look past the emotions after you stop weeping). And look, really look, at the ECONOMIC sense of making this agenda a reality. Economics is something near and dear to every heart, male or female, rich or poor. It's a hard data thing. A family friendly America just simply makes financial sense. We need to make change if we want to survive.

I wish I had time to lay out the whole agenda, but I don't. I gotta go watch my kids :). But I encourage you to visit MomsRising.org NOW and simply sign up. There you can read chapters of the book, The Motherhood Manifesto, which has more data and info than even the film has. You can order the DVD for next to nothing, and you can DO SOMETHING.

How long will you wait to make a difference? Go!