Michelle Obama On Working Motherhood

Wife Of Presumptive Democratic Nominee Says Kids Just Want Her To Be Back By Bedtime

(AP)  Michelle Obama on Friday drew from her experience as a working mother to emphasize the importance of fairness in the workplace and her support for family friendly policies.

"It's time for the leaders of this country not only to champion these causes, but to fight for the issues every single day," Obama told about 1,000 people at the National Partnership for Women and Families' annual luncheon.

The nonprofit group advocates for equality in the workplace, access to health care and policies that help Americans balance work and family.

Obama, wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, said the group's work "is a cause that I carry deep in my heart. It's a cause that I have championed and will continue to champion no matter what the outcome of this election."

She spoke for about seven minutes, reading from notes. The crowd applauded and gave her three standing ovations - when she entered the banquet room, when she approached the microphone to speak and when she concluded her remarks.

Obama relayed struggles she has heard on the campaign trail from working mothers who were nervous about taking time off, and from women whose male counterparts at the office earn more.

"And believe me, when we're paid less, we know," she said, drawing laughter from the crowd.

Obama, 44, has worked as a lawyer and a hospital executive in Chicago. She left her job to help on her husband's campaign. They have two daughters, Malia, 9, and Sasha, 7.

She said she would always be a working mother.

"I used to get up in the morning and go to an office. Now I get up and go to a plane. ... My kids still don't care where I am," she said. "They've always known two parents to work in the household and as long as we're back in time for bedtime, they could care less where we are."

[credibility2]

I''m all for fair workplace policies but I don''t feel special ones should be created to accommodate working mothers or fathers. I''ve worked in enough businesses to see how mothers and fathers taking off time to cater to family needs being taken advantage of and forcing those either without children or adult children to pick up their slack and do not only their own jobs, but often cover for the absent mother or father. That isn''t fair to the single or childless worker.

[grammawhamma]

My kids still don''t care where I am," she said. "They''ve always known two parents to work in the household and as long as we''re back in time for bedtime, they could care less where we are."

That sounds pretty sad to me. Nothing I would brag about if I was her.

[sistatee-2009]

I agree with Michelle''s kids. I don''t care where she is either.

[barbaraf4]

"I''m all for fair workplace policies but I don''t feel special ones should be created to accommodate working mothers or fathers. I''ve worked in enough businesses to see how mothers and fathers taking off time to cater to family needs being taken advantage of and forcing those either without children or adult children to pick up their slack and do not only their own jobs, but often cover for the absent mother or father. That isn''''t fair to the single or childless worker." Posted by Credibility2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well said. One of my employees had a baby and came back to work with a breast pump. She would go into the lounge, several times a day, to pump her milk, THEN she would go take her break.

HR, cowards that they are, would not let me do anything about it. I simply wanted her to use her breaks for the pumping. HR said we really shouldn''t stress her because it might affect her ability to produce milk for her baby.

[notopennshut]

Agree with all those who claim bias because they do not have kids! I am a woman, and why should my husband not be allowed to take time off to care for kids? Why should this apply to only women? So what if I decide to return to work early and allow my husband to be the caregiver for some months? Everytime I see studies on how women are worth hundreds of thousands because they are mothers, I think of how my husband has provided for us in different ways. Is he not to be compensated for this? Why only me? We are equal partners and work things out in a fair way. If I want to stay home for a few years to be a mother, I should not expect to come back to a job and leapfrog over my single or male colleague who have put in those extra years. Advancing women just because of their gender is just as unfair to the rest of the world.

[bobgee_1999]

Couldn''t. Couldn''t care less. I am so tired of pinheads who not only can''t write the language but evidently can''t speak it, either. If you "could care less" about something, that means you care. If you "couldn''t care less" it means you don''t care. OK? Figure it out. Think of this way: I care so little that I COULDN''T CARE ANY LESS THAN I DO. Get it now? Couldn''t care less.

If what comes out of your mouth doesn''t make any sense, there''s no reason to assume what''s in your head does, either. And if what you say makes no sense, then I couldn''t care less.

[joan1v]

She and her husband are such frauds. They are from
Chicago politics. That should be enough information for anyone. We have already had three governors go to jail. He is from the same crowd.

[one-american]

"I used to get up in the morning and go to an office. Now I get up and go to a plane. ... My kids still don''t care where I am," she said. "They''ve always known two parents to work in the household and as long as we''re back in time for bedtime, they could care less where we are."

Sound like a couple of spoiled hellians in the making.

Can you imagine the trouble they will make if they are raised in the White House?

[rufisgufis]

I see that all the uneducated, redneck, racist hillbillies have crawled out of their holes.

[oneworldusa]

Posted by Credibility2 at 04:59 PM : Jun 20, 2008

-I was there. I wanted to go back to college and a company I worked for told me I couldn''t go to night classes because I might be ''needed'' after hours, while all the others in my position who had kids weren''t asked to do the same.

My position was, going back to college was just as important to me as someone else''s kids were to them.
I lost that battle, and it was unfair, but now I have a kid, the tables have turned. However, I can take off as much time as I want with my kid and work from home several days a week if I wish, so I paid the price and now its paying off for me.

[grammawhamma]

It''s not normal for two little kids this age to not care where their parents are. Most little kids want moomy and daddy home as much as possible.

To One-American: It sounds like a case of spoiled parents to me...not spoiled kids.

[karutam]

How come Michelle always causes controversy when she opens her mouth? She needed Laura Bush to rescue her from the "proud" saga. Now, I am sure she does not mean "couldn''t care less", she probably meant that it does not matter to them whether she''s at her office or traveling, or even cleaning up city streets, as long as she''s back and ready to get them ready for the end of the day''s events. How come she''s always *** up with her words and causing more pandemonium? Better to have her shut up totally and go back to her job at the hospital or someplace else and leave the campaigning trail. It is certainly NOT for her.

[rudy654-2009]

Posted by karutam at 08:25 PM

For one, the racists are bound and determined to attack a black woman because they are cowards lower than the slime from a slug.

[rudy654-2009]

Posted by TruUSA at 07:42 PM

So you are not voting for McCain? Riiiiiiiggggghhhhht! LOL! How is everything in Limbaugh Cult world?

[grammawhamma]

Rudy...your racism blame game is getting old. I agree that racists exist...but geeez, you can''t go calling everyone a racist for no reason.

Do you not agree that it isn''t normal for little kids to not care where mommy and daddy are as long as they come home in time to kiss them goodnight? If you think this is normal behaviour for little kids...I hope you are not a parent.

[king_quest]

Do you not agree that it isn''''t normal for little kids to not care where mommy and daddy are as long as they come home in time to kiss them goodnight? If you think this is normal behaviour for little kids...I hope you are not a parent.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by GrammaWhamma at 03:55 AM : Jun 21, 2008


That it crossed you mind that the kids are smart enough to know that there parents are working?


Actually it very common in America, when parents are working 2-3 jobs, Sad but true. I wish everyone was blessed to be stay at home parents, but you know bills must be paid, food bought, and futures established. Your grasping at straws!!!!

[king_quest]

The Repubs have taken a surplus and turned it into a deficit.
We are borrowing $$$$$$ from China to fund are addiction to war, in pursuit of oil.

Keep your temp down, McBush disciples & ex-clintoniates. (read up on McBush 1998 dinner joke %u201CWhy is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno.%u201D %u2013 Sen. John McCain, speaking to a Republican dinner, June 1998.%u201D)
Also
It was, after all, McCain who referred to Leisure World as %u201CSeizure World.%u201D He once joked: %u201CThe nice thing about getting Alzheimer%u2019s is you get to hide your own Easter eggs.%u201D

But on the bright side: McCain Concedes He Lobbied FDA For Early Approval of Viagra ans states %u201CMY FRIENDS, THAT%u2019S WHY I CAN CLAIM THAT I%u2019M A %u2018PERFORMER WITH RESULTS%u2019.%u201D

"The thought of [McCain] being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me." -- Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi, who has known McCain for 35 years.

[greatdrivew]

I wish Michelle was running for President. She''s the one who, as she puts it, "get''s it." And she understands why people like me have spent the better part of a year campaigning for Barack: because we "get it."

Barack''s support for this FISA bill shows he doesn''t "get it."

So, Michelle gets it and Barack doesn''t. Is it too late for her to become the President? I''m serious.

[sjbj2322]

How arrogantly naive she truly is. As a working mother of four I can tell you there have been countless times during the day that my children darned sure cared where their parents were. There is so much that could and should be said here but I digress...it would be little more than spitting in the wind to try to convince anyone that this woman hasn''t a clue what it is to be a ''typical working class mom''. Moreover, I was the daughter of such a mom and I can tell you that there were many times I resented her not being there. Just because kids don''t say it, doesn''t make it so. Stupid, stupid, woman.....all education without an ounce of commen sense.

[aj4321-2009]

It''s good to see a woman of substance as a public persona.

The republicans are so afraid of strong women, they are scared of anyone who works for a living. They would rather have barbie-wannabe trust-fund beer-baron Cindy McCain who does not know how working women survive in America.

[sjbj2322]

Oh this is funny. I can''t believe that I am going to defend Cindy McCain. NO - I am not voting for John McCain; however, who has a right to stand in judgment of Cindy McCain for having been born to wealth. That sounds a bit petty and paltry to me. On the other hand, let''s by all means praise a woman who worked on the board of a hospital that gouged the uninsured on medical expenses to the tune of three times what insured patients were billed. How many of those uninsured patients were working class mothers barely getting by while Mrs. Obama sat pretty making a small fortune off them and all the while claiming to champion their cause. What a farse....what an absolute joke. She is a champion of only one opportunistic cause....her own!

[vetsforobama]

The "GET OVER IT" comment that you are referring to has once again been taken out of context, read the entire transcript, stop reporting half truths. Obama 08!

[grammawhamma]

Actually it very common in America, when parents are working 2-3 jobs, Sad but true. I wish everyone was blessed to be stay at home parents, but you know bills must be paid, food bought, and futures established. Your grasping at straws!!!!


Posted by King_quest at 09:32 AM

And you are telling me that Michelle Obama cannot "afford" to be a stay at home mom, huh? Who are you kidding?

[terrorislami]

THE REAL HUSSEIN, HIS REAL HATE OF WHITEY, HIS REAL RACISM

FROM HIS OWN MOUTH

Wright / Obama: "White Folk''s Greed Runs A World In Need"
MALCOLM-O-BAMA LAUDS MALCOLM-X
HUSSEIN THE MARXISTS
HUSSEIN THE RACIST
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfC4OOm1aoM
There''s only two kinds of white folks, there''s only two kinds, bad white folks and worse white folks. That''s the only two kinds of white folks there are. Malcolm X, used to say, from the teachings of the nation of terrorislam founder Elijah Muhammad, that all white folks are bad. He said if you find one good, kill him first before he turns bad. Because he''s only faking.
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?sid=169

SHOCKING Obama words: what he really thinks of white folks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI77cU3jsFs&feature=related

The shocking video Barack Obama does not want you to see!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prhnc2fxAzg&feature=related

[grammawhamma]

Posted by IrishWench at 07:42 PM : Jun 21, 2008

That was an excellent post. I feel sorry for the Obama kids and I feel sorry for Michelle because she is missing the best part of being a mother. She isn''t there to kiss that scraped knee and make it magically all better etc...but the worst part is that she doesn''t even get it that she''s missing anything. How sad.

[kailumego1]

Michelle Obama''s no different than Hillary Clinton, Barbara Bush, Jackie Kennedy, etc. or any other first lady placed into the spotlight.

I''ve yet to understand what makes her life so different than those other first ladies that she would be labeled an inconsiderate mother.

Sounds hypocritical to me, she''s a working career mother like a lot of working career mothers, no different.

[seah5]

he said she would always be a working mother.

"I used to get up in the morning and go to an office. Now I get up and go to a plane. ... My kids still don''t care where I am," she said. "They''ve always known two parents to work in the household and as long as we''re back in time for bedtime, they could care less where we are."

That is so very very sad.


I stayed at home to raise my kids until they were 13.
It was rough making ends meet and we did with out all the comforts and entertainment items in life.

It was the most valuable and rewarding, best moments of my life. My Children were The most precious part of life to me. How they turned out in life, was my responsibility.

My Kids always cared where I was and always had a phone number to call me anytime. Of course I would always check on them. Today they are grown, Fine young men. They still care where I am as I do them.

I do believe it will take more than a public relationship team to help Michelle obama.

I am seriously believing they need a mental health team to help them.

[seah5]

sorry about the double post

[kmccliment]

Who Cares. I dont. She chooses not to be home out of greed. Other single mothers dont have a choice. She is very hypocritical. She needs to shut her big mouth and go see her kids. She has nothing of interest to say except, hypocracy and racism.

[grammawhamma]

Posted by kmccliment at 03:28 AM

Oh NO NO NO. You got it all wrong. Those who don''t agree with the Obamas are the racists! And by the way...Obama said we are to lay off of his wife. So please don''t say anything negative about her.

Geeez...I can''t wait till this election is over!

[terrorislami]

THE REAL HUSSEIN, HIS REAL HATE OF WHITEY, HIS REAL RACISM

FROM HIS OWN MOUTH

Wright / Obama: "White Folk''s Greed Runs A World In Need"

MALCOLM-O-BAMA LAUDS MALCOLM-X

HUSSEIN THE MARXISTS

HUSSEIN THE RACIST
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfC4OOm1aoM
There''s only two kinds of white folks, there''s only two kinds, bad white folks and worse white folks. That''s the only two kinds of white folks there are. Malcolm X, used to say, from the teachings of the nation of terrorislam founder Elijah Muhammad, that all white folks are bad. He said if you find one good, kill him first before he turns bad. Because he''s only faking.
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?sid=169

SHOCKING Obama words: what he really thinks of white folks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI77cU3jsFs&feature=related

[rowdywicca]

Obama pissed off the Arabs and Jews in one speech
Obama gave three different stances on Venezuela in two days
Obama pissed off a whole nation by calling them typical white people
Obama pissed off rural people by basically calling them ignorant
Obama pissed off half the country by insinuating everybody the criticizes him are racists
Obama lied about his ancestors, his stances on half the issues, his associates and mentors, his legislative prowess which is NIL
Obama promoted public financing, then killed his own stance by being greedy
Obama pissed off half the voters by buying the nomination and threatening his opponent into backing him or else
Obama''s grumpass wife hasn''t done anything for anybody but herself, says she''s never been proud of her country, and calls America mean...what the hell?

I mean how many passes are Obama supporters going to give this idiot before they wake up!!!???

[zerato-2009]

Better a obama idiot than a mcbush idiot.

[zerato-2009]

You have a smart intelligent woman married to a successful politician. She happens to like to work outside the home and be a mother. NOthing wrong with that. Millions of women do the same.

She should not be an issue. Barack Obama is who is running for president.

[obama8years]

If she is such a great mother, why does she let her kids join her every Sunday, to her hateful, anti-american , racist Sermons. Michelle is a bad mother in that sense. I am glad they quit that church, however 20 years of that brainwashing could take some time to wear off.

- not proud of her country
- americans are mean
- Black Miltant Essay at Princeton
- shady dealings in hospitals
- prevented black girls from getting shots to save them from std''s, because she freaked out about the tuskeny experiment.

[terrorislami]

HUSSEIN AND THE NEW BLACK PANTHER PARTY

The racist NBPP is led by notorious extremist, Malik Zulu Shabazz, and is a registered team member and blogger on Obama%u2019s campaign website.

Barack Obama and The New Black Panther Party
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DQAOZlNrO8

Snarling at the White Man
Leaders of the New Black Panther Party, unlike those of its namesake of the 1960s and 1970s, speak of ''white devils'' and ''bloodsucking Jews''

Khalid Muhammad.
Muhammad, who first appeared publicly as the new Panthers'' leader at the Jasper demonstration in 1998, had long been known as the leading spokesman for the black separatist Nation of Islam. He lost that post after Nation leader Louis Farrakhan was widely criticized for Muhammad''s violently hateful speeches.

He has blamed slavery and even the Holocaust on the "hooked-nose, bagel-eating, lox-eating, perpetrating-a-fraud, so-called Jew."

He has launched repeated diatribes against his enemies: "white devil crackers," "bloodsucking Jews" and "*******."

Muhammad had clear ideas for dealing with whites who did not leave immediately: "We kill the women. We kill the babies. We kill the blind. We kill the cripples. We kill them all. We kill the *******. We kill the lesbians. ,,, When you get through killing them all, go to the ******* graveyard and dig up the grave and kill them a-*******-gain, because they didn''t die hard enough" the first time.
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?pid=394

[alicerea1]

Michelle is just as radical and risky as her husband
They both attended a radical, racist, antiAmerican Black Theology Church together for twenty years.

Isn''t that enough to tell Americans who she is.
Both her and Obama are untrustworth. I am embarrassed for our country.

[kmccliment]

SHE IS A RICH BLACK WOMAN WITH RICH BLACK FRIENDS. SHE HAS NO CLUES ABOUT BEING A SINGLE MOM. SHE AND HER HUBBY ARE RACIALLY BIGOTED LIARS.