Sarah Palin, my hat goes off to you.

I admit, before last week, I didn’t know who you were. I sit here in suburbia, consumed with my own little life. You know, the husband, the kids, the doctor’s appointments, the activities. And yes, I am a hockey mom, too!

But that is where our similarities end. You see, you have five children. You are brave. I, on the other hand, wouldn’t even go for three. Although my biological clock has contemplated this addition many a time, my husband and I have already agreed we’d loose the man-for-man coverage we value so much. Even with it, we are sometimes still lost.

You are one of those moms we talk about on carpool line who actually has to have a Suburban. You need to have a babysitter. You require two shopping carts in the grocery store. Your hair is done, you are dressed and let’s not even talk about the fact that you are going to work.

And it’s no ordinary job. You’re a governor, for goodness sakes. Now, you want to be the vice president. How will you do it?

With my relatively low stress, stay-at-home mom life, I keep busy. There are days that my husband asks me what I have done all day and I don’t even remember. I know I didn’t watch one talk show or soap opera; get a manicure; or eat bon-bons. Yet that sounds like small potatoes when you are talking about being second in command for the free world.

I had a full time job “outside the home” at one point. I couldn’t imagine, even with the best day care or nanny in the universe, coming home and doing all my mom stuff. I would be torn in all directions. Nevertheless, some moms can do it all. Day to day, I see these women who can go to the office, do their jobs well and then come home and manage their families.

And then you add the pieces that make you real. The little bit of drama that you have in your life. A special needs child. A grandchild on the way. A firing that is being investigated.

Whether I agree or disagree with your politics is a moot point. For we all have our baggage. Skeletons in our closet. It would be unfair for me to judge you. I have not walked in your shoes. While some could argue that the burdens you have, combined with your “newness” to the political scene may not make you qualified to do this new job, others will argue that they are irrelevant.

There are two sides to every story. I am not taking either.

For I sadly admit, I am politically ignorant. I don’t know enough. It’s a shame, for here we sit in a country where we are allowed to be free, have an opinion and take a stand for what we believe.

In the case, I choose to continue to my ignorance for a bit longer and think of you simply as a mom. A mom who has agreed to take on this tremendous, daunting task, who is willing to expose herself to the public, who is driven enough to think that she can make a difference.

No matter how our country votes in November, it will have been a history making election. And, Sarah Palin, whether you are our VP or not, you will serve as yet another reminder to women that once you birth your children, your brain doesn’t completely turn to mush. That, as women, we are capable of anything. We have plenty of potential.

It’s up to each of us to figure out how to use it.

Illyse usually appears every Thursday on TriangleMom2Mom.

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