Sarah Palin: Mother and First Female Vice President (Pictures, Children, Parenting)
(Scroll down for 40+ pictures of Sarah and Family)
My grandmother was conceived in 1920, the same year that national women’s suffrage finally came to America. My grandmother, living in New York, is now 87 years old, and at last, after all these years, a woman will be elected Vice President of the United States. Governor Sarah Palin is not just any woman. Governor Palin is a woman with Christian, conservative family values and principles. She brings hope and enthusiasm to this election with her strength, character, and courage.
Sarah Palin is obviously one very intelligent lady. She became mayor and then governor and cleaned up her state and even her own party while maintaining a very high approval rate.
She has respect for all life - born and unborn.
I love that Sarah embraces her role as a mother and does not hide her children or view them as inconveniences. I am very impressed with her belief in mother/child togetherness. She takes her children to work, breastfeeds, and wears her baby in a sling. It seems that Sarah’s husband plans to homeschool with distance education.
Strong, healthy women CAN have it all, but keep in mind, they are not necessarily DOING it all. Most women ARE working women whether in or outside the home. Some delegate the cooking, dishes, laundry, and cleaning to hired staff, and replace it with talking with people, paperwork, and giving speeches. Either way, a woman can still be a devoted wife and mother - as long as she stays connected to her children. It seems that Sarah Palin has the energy, strength, and courage to be a wonderful vice-president, while at the same time, she will continue to be a great mother to her children.
“Palin has carefully portrayed herself throughout her career as someone committed to both family and profession — and tough enough to handle both. She made a show of dismissing the chef at the governor’s mansion saying she wanted to do her own cooking, and that the kids were old enough to make their own sandwiches. And no one can recall her ever having a full-time babysitter.
(I understand that before this time, she did have a nanny when her oldest children were little.)
“‘You walk into her office and Piper is sitting there, the baby is in the crib — that’s just the way it is. This is how she lives her life. Someone who was in a meeting with her recently said she was discreetly nursing Trig,’ said Palin’s biographer Kaylene Johnson.”
Sarah and Piper in the Office
Baby Trig with Mommy and Daddy
“From interviews with those closest to Palin emerges a description of a hectic lifestyle, but one in which the hominess and rural community of Alaska have enabled her to have her kids around her while she works and have offered a deep bench of family and friends for child-care support. She has shown up to meetings and news conferences carrying Trig in a baby pouch.“
Sarah Working with Baby in Sling
Happy Baby / Happy Mother
On the Job with Trig in a Baby Carrier
Sarah Babywearing
“She and her husband kept their family house in the small town of Wasilla, where her parents, three siblings and closest friends live. Most of the year, she is able to commute back and forth from Anchorage daily, except when the legislature is in session in Juneau. Todd Palin is currently on leave from his job as an oil field worker, making it possible for him to be a full-time dad, said two friends. Sarah Palin’s mother said in an interview Sunday that Palin’s two youngest girls, Willow and Piper, attended school in Juneau for the second semester last year when the legislature was in session to be near their mother. The baby was also with Palin.“
Sarah Holding Trig At Work
Sarah Palin Working with Baby Trig
“Even in the story of Trig’s birth, Palin paints herself as feisty and fearless. She told the local media that she noticed her amniotic fluid was leaking right before she gave a speech in Texas last April. After her keynote address to the National Governors Association, and obtaining the consent of her doctor, Palin boarded an eight-hour flight to Anchorage. She never told the airline she was in labor. She and her husband drove 45 minutes to her hometown medical center; the baby was born seven hours later.”
I like the fact that she didn’t treat pregnancy as an illness. I think it was awesome that she gave a speech after her water broke. I thought I was pretty smart in shaving my legs, labouring at home for the first 24 hours of a 26-hour labour, and going for a walk around the hospital just before giving birth. But, obviously, I am no Sarah Palin. 
Sarah Palin Giving a Speech During Her Pregnancy
Sarah Palin Expecting
Sarah, Pregnant with Trig
I also think it is awesome that Sarah Palin had another baby at 44 years of age.
Sarah Palin chose life for her son even though 90% of prenatally diagnosed babies with Down Syndrome are killed before birth in the United States.
“The McCain campaign said it could not confirm that Palin was still breastfeeding Trig, but the governor said as much in a interview with People magazine on Friday. “What I’ve had to do . . . is, in the middle of the night, put down the BlackBerrys and pick up the breast pump,” she worked into an answer to a question about whether she was a morning person.”
“Palin kept her pregnancy secret for seven months, stunning even her staff with the announcement. She pointedly said at the time she would not miss work. ‘I had Piper on a Monday, and I was back to work on a Tuesday. I even brought her to work with me,’ she said, referring to the birth of her daughter.”
Again, this demonstrates great strength. Sarah has wisely chosen the kind of work that enables her to have her children with her. There are so many photos of Sarah and her daughter on the job.
Working with Mom
Daughter Piper with her Mom (on the job)
Staying Close to Mom
Working with Mom Can Be a Lot of FUN!
Working with Middle Daughter Willow
Piper Having More Fun Working with Mother
Piper working with Mom
Sarah and Piper Palin
On the Job with Mom
Piper Helping Mom at Work
Piper Working with Mom Sarah
Piper and Sarah Palin
Sarah and Daughter Piper
In Mother’s Arms When Sarah is Speaking
Working Mom
Working without Neglecting Her Child
Sarah and Daughter Piper at Work
More Fun at Work
Family Working Together
Sarah Palin Taking Care of her Child
John McCain & Sarah Palin on Shattering the Glass Ceiling
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20222685,00.html
“Sarah Palin, in ruby red peep-toe platform heels that showed off a pink French-style pedicure, first ducked into a holding room to change the diaper of her just-up-from-a-nap 4 1/2-month-old son, Trig.”
Sarah Palin with Baby and Future President and First Lady
SARAH PALIN: “Morning person. Yup. We don’t sleep much. Too much to do. What I’ve had to do, though, is in the middle of the night, put down the BlackBerries and pick up the breast pump. Do a couple of things different and still get it all done.”
Sarah Palin with Baby and Blackberry
“As a new mom, how are you going to juggle all this?”
SARAH PALIN: “I am thankful to be married to a man who loves being a dad as much as I love being a mom, so he is my strength. And practically speaking, we have a great network of help with lots of grandparents and aunties and uncles all around us. We have a lot of help.”
“So will your husband be on leave now indefinitely to be Mr. Mom?”
SARAH PALIN: “I would say so, yes.”
Her husband is a capable full-time dad. As vice-president, she will also have a huge staff. And she will be able to continue having her children with her.
Todd Palin and Baby Son
Sarah Palin with husband Todd holding Baby Trig
On the Job with Sarah
Todd Palin holding Daughter Piper
On the Job with Sarah
Todd Palin holding Daughter Piper
Older Photo of Palin Family
Todd Palin Holding Piper
“Mr. Palin, you have this tiny baby with special needs. Do you worry that people may wonder if she’ll be giving short shrift to her family?”
TODD PALIN: “She’s heard that her whole life – the challenges of being a female and mother in the work force. I remember the first time she ran for mayor one of her fellow council members told her you can’t run because you’ve got three negatives: Track, Bristol and Willow. Those are the three kids we had at the time. So when you tell her that kind of stuff, she just gets fired up. We’re an Alaska family that adapts.”
Supportive Family
Sarah’s Oldest Daughter Bristol Holding Baby Brother Trig
The daughter who is pregnant is seventeen years old. My grandmother married at seventeen, and my mother married at sixteen, and I had my first date with my husband at fourteen. I think Sarah’s oldest daughter will love being married and having a baby. I think she will also love being the daughter of the first female vice-president. The young man Bristol plans to marry was homeschooled. Sarah said, “We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. . . . Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family.”
Sarah’s Middle Daughter Willow Holding Baby Brother Trig
Sarah’s Youngest Daughter Piper Holding Baby Brother Trig
CINDY MCCAIN: “I disagree with anyone who would say she can’t do both. Any woman who’s been in a situation where they are working and have children know that you give 300 percent; no one will be slighted in any of this, least of all her baby. She has a lot of energy, she’s a woman with great drive and great vision.”
“Mrs. McCain, do you even remember the last time he changed a diaper?”
CINDY MCCAIN: “No. And I’m not sure he does.”
JOHN MCCAIN: “Heh-heh. I remember. There’s some experiences you never forget.”
Todd and Sarah Palin
(Note Baby in Sarah’s Arms)
John and Cindy McCain
MCCAIN/PALIN 2008
For many more Sarah Palin Family Pictures, click here and scroll down.
http://parentingfreedom.com/category/politics-sarah-palin/
Pictures courtesy of Yahoo and Google.
2 Trackback(s)
- Sep 6, 2008: Sarah Palin « I am a Work in Progress….
- Sep 9, 2008: Sarah Palin « To Live and to Love
28 Responses to “Sarah Palin: Mother and First Female Vice President (Pictures, Children, Parenting)”
By TulipGirl on Sep 3, 2008 | Reply
I love all the pics of Gov. Palin with her children nearby. . . naturally. . .
By matt-cara on Sep 3, 2008 | Reply
Great post!! I have to say I am extremely pleased with McCain’s pick and that I find it strangely moving (in a good way). The media backlash simply reinforces how powerful a pick she really is. I can’t wait to see her as VP. Go Sarah go!!! (Oh, and John too!)
By Edith on Sep 3, 2008 | Reply
I agree 100%…I believe she will be a wonderful VP for the US.
By Cynthia on Sep 3, 2008 | Reply
The more I read about her, the more I like her.
By Leann on Sep 3, 2008 | Reply
I SO love this post!!! I shared it with my readers, too… I linked you!
This is exactly what Dr. Sears talks about when he talks about attachment parenting! What an example to moms everywhere!!!
By Twila on Sep 3, 2008 | Reply
Fantastic post! I am now so excited about this election and really looking forward to Sarah Palin’s speech tonight. She and John McCain make an awesome team!
Regarding Bristol, she is a grown up young lady who is obviously all prepared to make her own home and family. Our present crazy society seems determined to keep its young people dependent and immature. I do not believe it was always that way!
By Molly on Sep 3, 2008 | Reply
Wow. That was GREAT!
By Heather Kozak-Lundquist on Sep 4, 2008 | Reply
Great post, may I post a link in my blog to this post?
/Heather
By Theresa T. on Sep 4, 2008 | Reply
Awesome post! Thank you!
By Jen L. on Sep 4, 2008 | Reply
I love that she seems so much more accessible than most women in politics. She’s just like me - large family by this country’s standards, working while balancing family responsibilities, and belief in sanctity of life no matter the costs.
By Nan M. on Sep 4, 2008 | Reply
A conservative feminist — so cool!
By carol on Sep 4, 2008 | Reply
Welcome to my site and thanks for commenting.
Go Sarah!!
By carol on Sep 4, 2008 | Reply
I understand Sarah is also a member of Feminists for Life.
http://www.feministsforlife.org/
By Christina on Sep 4, 2008 | Reply
When my kids were still at home, I took them to work with me as often as I could. I worked for a while as a typesetter, and brought the kids in on Saturdays — as did the paste-up woman. Her kids would nap in a quiet corner on their sleeping bags, then amuse themselves quietly with books, games, and homework.
I set my kids down at the computers and taught them to use Quark XPress and Photoshop, to use the Image Setter and the process camera and the developer. I taught them to do opaquing. They learned every aspect of prepress.
When I worked at Life Dynamics the kids came to the office after school and did their homework in the lunch room. When they were done they could watch videos or keep me company in my office. This was work they couldn’t participate in — it required knowledge that they as children hadn’t accumulated yet — but they could sit by me, watch me, and ask what I was doing and why. In this way, they saw “Lime 5″ take shape.
When I worked MH/MR, I’d bring the residents home for family dinners or picnics, or bring the kids to picnics I’d arrange for the residents at the group home. My kids came to see people with mental health or developmental disabilities as just part of their world, not as “other”.
A Palin vice-presidency may open up the workplace to make it more family friendly. If the kids aren’t keeping the work from getting done, have them there. Let them see for themselves what work is.
This was once the norm — for parents and kids to be together while the parents worked. The Industrial Revolution changed that. But the Palin Revolution can change it back, at least in jobs where it’s practical.
By Christy on Sep 4, 2008 | Reply
Thank you, thank you for all the wonderful information and the pictures. It’s inspiring and exciting to see a woman so focused, loving and grounded who CAN do it all.
By Holly on Sep 4, 2008 | Reply
Thank you, Carol. These pictures have been hard to find online. They are not what the media wants us to see.
By Patricia (Pollywog Creek) on Sep 5, 2008 | Reply
Wonderful photos. Thank you so much for posting them.
By Marie on Sep 5, 2008 | Reply
I agree with Holly above. These pictures are beautiful, and a stiking difference from Hillary’s pictures. They represent every woman in America. The women with children wish they had Sarah’s job, and the moxy to bring their children to work. The women without children are wondering if they can do this someday, now that Sarah has led the way. The media does NOT want us to see these pictures.
By Adekunle Francis Adesan on Sep 5, 2008 | Reply
Well, well, its ok if she goes about with her baby because she is the CEO. But imagine for once, if every woman brought just one of their children to their offices … what will the situation be like?
I do most sincerely salute her courage for venturing this far but, this seem to me like more of a showmanship or even perhaps, a vogue, a statement, a movement she is trying to build.
Now, the question is, how did she bring up her first three children? Same way as the last two?
Mmmmnh…!
By carol on Sep 5, 2008 | Reply
Sounds like an AWESOME movement!! That’s the hope I have been reading about on blogs. Other mothers wish they could do that.
By Kathleen on Sep 5, 2008 | Reply
Thank you for posting the pictures!
You don’t have to be rich or a CEO to be able to take your children to work, you just need the right job. I used to take my three daughters with me when I cleaned in a small motel (in a small town in Alaska, not Wasilla!) or clerked in the grocery store owned by the same person. I took the youngest with me when I cleaned a small foster-home for disabled adults, and sometimes when I cleaned at a private boarding school in NH. I’ve seen small shops where the owner had a playpen set up behind the counter for a baby or toddler. I’ve worked at home doing sewing (piecework) so I could keep my mentally handicapped youngest daughter with me.
Now I’m the secretary at my church, and while my elderly grandmother usually watches my daughter, I often take her to work with me. There ARE jobs that a woman can do and keep her children with her; many of them are menial and low-paying, but not all are. The key, not only to being able to take your own children to work, but to making a ‘Movement’ out of it, is to raise your children to be well-behaved. No employer is going to tolerate loud, rowdy, disobedient children in the workplace; even if you own your own business, customers will be put off by such children.
The other key would be having more at-home businesses. It used to be that most people lived over their little shop, and the children naturally grew up helping, and learning skills.
I think Sarah Palin’s children are learning a lot from going to work with their mother.
Kathleen
By Nancy Coleman on Sep 6, 2008 | Reply
I work hard not to judge another mother for her parenting choices. It is an individual choice for each one of us. Sarah Palin seems to be happy and satisfied with her life. More power to her. She and her husband obviously love their children. I support her and I am grateful that her example is helping to bring us closer to equality for women in America.
By Carroll on Sep 6, 2008 | Reply
Sarah, will November ever get here?!!!
By Long-Skirts on Sep 6, 2008 | Reply
WHY
GOD MADE
LIPSTICK
or
Palin “Pit-Bull” Red
If I cry
The whole day long,
They say that I
Must be more strong.
If I’m hard
And I am strong,
They say that
That, is very wrong.
And if I birth
Till I am poor,
I must be stu —
pid, that’s for sure.
And making money,
Saving cash?
They say that I
Am much too brash.
Then if I laugh,
When I am witty,
I am crude,
It is a pity.
And if I pout
And look quite sour,
I’m a stubborn,
Sullen, dour.
When confessing,
Stutter, halt…
Yes, you guessed,
It’s all my fault.
If life throws me
An awful curve,
It is a pain
That I deserve.
So makeup on,
Yes, it goes.
Perfumed head
To perfumed toes.
‘Cause lipstick’s red,
And red, rouge paint,
Will make ya what…
Ya think you ain’t!
(possibly a Vice-President!)
By Jane on Sep 6, 2008 | Reply
And this is the way it should always be….kids should always have access to their parents and be included in everything as much as possible. Obviously Sarah Palin puts her family first, and Kudos to Alaska for allowing her to bring her children into the workplace and adapt, as Todd says.
By nenana on Sep 11, 2008 | Reply
we love our working mom governor in alaska and can’t wait to see her as our vp! our loss, of course, but america’s gain.