Q You praise your mother for not complaining about the work of raising kids. First, are you sure she didn't complain about it? And would that have been a problem? Are today's parents too whiny?
A It was a different generation, they didn't complain. They knew it was part of the job — just like a doctor doesn't go to work and complain that they have to take care of patients. Mothers were active in the community, they were raising kids. These were fulfilling tasks. When the latest women's rights movement came on, [they] made a lot of homebound moms feel guilty or feel inferior, which I think was a big mistake by the Gloria Steinem types. They lost a large constituency that way. What they should have done was enlarge the function of staying home to include the neighborhood and the community and civic engagement. Where the people who have to go to work don't have time for that . . . What's the most important work? It's civic engagement by far — state, local, national, international level.