Moms Matter

Lori Ziganto & Daughter GracieOn my Sweet Sixteen birthday, my daddy bought me the super fancy hard-cover of George Will's book The Morning After. My mother, endearingly dubbed Daft Scottish Mom, listened to Rush Limbaugh daily and often proclaimed, "Och, my wee Rush! He's nae daft, that one." Suffice it to say, I've been a Conservative for quite a spell. But it wasn't until I became a mama that I fully grasped the importance of Conservatism and what it truly means, in practice not just in theory.

I realized that not only are Conservative ideals best for the country, but they are particularly good for women and their children. We need less Nanny State and more Mommy State (without the incessant laundry. Someone needs to hurry up and invent laundry that folds and puts itself away. Kindly arrange.). Mamas nurture not with the intention of taking care of you forever, but in a way that teaches you and enables you to succeed, or fail, on your own.

A Nanny is paid for by someone else to make you feel protected and policed, often protecting you from yourself. A mommy fights for you and protects you, but she does it by teaching you how to protect and take care of yourself. You need a mommy, not a nanny, to teach you personal responsibility and how to solve problems on your own for a lifetime.

This is why we are seeing more Conservative women moving to the forefront. Not as perpetual victims railing against The Patriarchy (tm), but as fighters and leaders who embody my personal motto -- walk softly, but carry a big lipstick. See, we dames have learned by living, often in our awesome small towns, none of which are bitter in my experience. We manage budgets that are often super tight. We make it work by cutting out things that aren't cost-efficient, sacrificing non-necessities, and by using the free market to shop at Costco or Walmart and not fancy pants Whole Foods. We do not do it by whining about needing more nor by coveting the earnings of others.

Conservatism also enables women to embrace motherhood, not regard it as a punishment. Conservatives know that motherhood does not diminish a woman and it is not detrimental to her career or aspirations. Rather, it strengthens her and is an attribute in and of itself. After becoming a mother, my pro-life convictions were further strengthened and it is Conservatives who value life. Because of this, they value women. The real 'War on Women' is perpetrated by the pro-abortion Left. See, if you devalue and diminish the life of unborn children, then you also devalue the life bearers.

I do not want my daughter to grow up sneered at as a gender traitor for not toeing the faux feminist line because she dares to be pro-life. I don't want my own President to teach my daughter that her value and her rights are predicated on her legal ability to kill her own unborn children. And I don't want her growing up to be taught that women are perpetual victims in need of a Nanny State Government to save them.

I want to teach her to love freedom and how to hold onto it tightly. There! Mommy made it all better.