I Blame Gloria Steinam

This past week in Houston, two mothers locked their infants in their car. Both children died as a result of being in excessive August temperatures. Both of these mothers apparently "forgot" their children were still in the car.

My friends and I have discussed these shocking events, could you imagine the horror?! I forget a lot of things but I never forgot when my son was in the car seat. It seemed to be an overwhelming item in my life. But as I sit here and think about it I wonder what is going on. This apparently is a much more common event than we think it is. Someone told me that last summer in Houston we had 8 children die because they were forgotten and locked in a hot car.

I blame all this on Gloria Steinem. In fact, I blame a lot of things on ol' Gloria. I blame her for the fact that I have to work. I blame our high unemployment rate on her. I blame her for the fact that there so many men don't understand their role as men anymore. Our society changed after the Women's Lib movement. For many it was great. And intrinsically I believe I agree with the fact that women should be able to do whatever they want to. And for whatever they do they should be paid and appreciated for it. I believe there should be no glass ceilings. But sometimes I can't help but wonder if we women did ourselves a favor by burning our bras.

Motherhood has always been, albeit an honorable and life fulfilling job, a somewhat stressful job. When you add the stress of holding down a job on top of it it can be too much for one human brain to manage. Especially single mothers. They have so much on their plate. They can be responsible for all the bills, all the care and maintenance of the family, the health care, the entertainment, the living conditions. All the while spending 8 - 10 hours a way from the family while they hold down a job to pay for it all. Even for mothers that do have husbands I am not sure that always reduces their responsibilities or if in many cases it adds to them.

Don't get me wrong, I know there are a great many wonderful mothers, husbands and families. But a great many of mothers are on a hard road. I think I can see how someone could forget their child in a car seat. It makes me sad and I hope those mothers can find peace.

But I blame Gloria Steinem.