"The good mother, the wise mother . . . is more important to the community than even the ablest man; her career is more worthy of honor and is more useful to the community than the career of any man, no matter how successful."

--Theodore Roosevelt

This quote is the first impression to Ann Crittenden's book "The Price of Motherhood".  I chose this quote because the second I started reading the book, I knew righ away that Ann Crittenden was going to enlighten me with insightful information.  Ann Crittenden explores how important mothers are but everyday, even now in the 21st century, we are under appreciated, under valued and even considered to be worthless economically and useless in the eyes of society.  Women pay a costly price for motherhood, also known as the "mommy tax", which in turn is the lost of career advancement and higher earnings.  Women sacrifice careers, money and independence for motherhood.  A women's work at home is no longer considered "work" because income is not earned.  Crittenden explains women's family labor lost status as "work," becoming known as "labor of love".  Viewing the raising of children as "doing nothing" ignores the economic fact that mothers are providing and nurturing the human capital that drives the economy.  Motherhood requires a lot of hard work and dedication and at times it is taken for granted.  I hope that some day our society will learn to cherish and appreciate mothers. If it wasn't for motherhood we wouldn't have the citizens we have today that have made history and differences in our society.  

As a mother myself, a mother's journey is never ending and difficult.  With the right partner motherhood can be achieved effortlessly and easy.  The picture above is my family and I.  My husband and I are a team, we compliment each others strengths and weaknesses.  We raise our son TOGETHER.