Since joining the ranks of motherhood, I find myself eagerly awaiting that Sunday morning in May when I will feel justified in sleeping in later than usual and be bestowed with heartwarming Crayola-crafted wishes from my bright-eyed daughter. But during this season when my fellow moms and dads will get their special days of thanks, I find myself also reflecting on what the other 364 days of the year hold for parents.

While tragic stories of parents abandoning, neglecting or even killing their children headline the front pages and evening news, the daily struggles facing the majority of moms and dads and their valiant efforts to overcome them against tremendous odds have received little public attention. In a new collection of essays, Taking Parenting Public: The Case for a New Social Movement (Rowman & Littlefield, 2002), a diverse group of respected scholars and policy activists shed light on the forces undermining parenting in America and call for a renewed commitment and investment into the work of raising children.

They highlight the enormous stress today's moms and dads are under to fulfill their dual responsibilities as breadwinners and caregivers in a society that, despite its family values rhetoric, still offers very little in terms of resources and support for parenting. Many parents find themselves having to make impossible choices between earning a living and being actively involved in their children's lives, a dilemma exacerbated by workplaces and schools that haven't kept pace with the needs of 21st century families. Finding ways to ease this "time crunch" through innovative public policies and workplace practices is just one of many strategies proposed for helping parents.

For too long we have relegated the work of parents to the private sphere, leaving moms and dads largely alone in their quest to successfully raise our future generations--an enterprise in which we are all stakeholders. We as a society owe it to our children to build the public will and political power necessary to make parenting the highest priority.

Rhonda Present, Founder
ParentsWork, Evanston

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