You Gotta Fight for Your Rights (With a Paaaaaarty)

Last night, I took a tiny, little baby step toward building a family-friendly America. My husband and I hosted a MomsRising house party. I’ve written about MomsRising before, but just to refresh: MomsRising is a grassroots, online non-partisan effort to build a more family-friendly America for 2008 and beyond.

Seven moms, two dads, and four kids gathered in our finished basement to watch The Motherhood Manifesto DVD and talk about our experiences as parents in America. While we scarfed down pizza and tried to keep the little ones happy, we spent a little time discussing how motherhood affects our lives–particularly the “work” part.

We talked about how hard it is to find and keep good daycare. How shocked we were upon discovering our employers’ lack of parental benefits (as well as how loyal we are to employers who do offer such benefits). How many children aren’t covered by health insurance. How difficult it can be to convince employers that flexibility is good for business.

I think we all agreed America has a long way to go toward becoming family-friendly. But as depressing as things are right now, we can do something about it. We can join MomsRising, spread the word, and fight for the rights every parent deserves. Who’s with me?