Children are very important to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand being a mother of two young boys. According to the Washington Post, Senator Gillibrand took a break from being a lawmaker to spend some time with three year old children on the Capitol Hill lawn last Wednesday. This was for a group Moms Rising which is a group pushing to make early childhood education more accessible to everyone regardless of social class. Senator Gillibrand played chutes and ladders with the children and spoke to them about what they like to eat, read and the colors they liked. Senator Gillibrand even used her experience as a mother to break up what could have led to a temper tantrum when two kids Mercedes and Michayla were fighting because they both wanted the red ladder. Senator Gillibrand could have been doing several other things, such as debating about Syria, solving the debt ceiling issue or fighting about repealing Obama care like many other members of Congress were doing on this Wednesday, but instead she got on the floor and played with children. The Washington Post article mentions how Senator Gillibrand, not only supports this issue of more access to early childhood education, but this issue is one that hits close to home for her because she herself sent both of her sons to a daycare center right by the Capitol and is fully aware about how difficult it is to get children into these programs and how expensive they can be. Senator Gillibrand is trying to get the message out that the culture of the United States is changing, it’s no longer the days where the men went out and made the money and the women stayed home. Senator Gillibrand mentions in a quote “The laws and the rules and norms of workplaces have not kept up with the nature of our workforce.” She also mentions that the laws for women and childcare have not changed since the 1950’s and 1960’s even through the culture changed.
The article mentions that after playing with the children Senator Gillibrand “put her shoes back on, straightened her dress, made sure Mercedes had the red ladder she’d given her, kissed Michayla goodbye and waved to another little girl ‘See you later alligator.” It seems Senator Gillibrand is an example that the institution of Congress has changed or is changing. The framers vision of Congress was not one with mothers of young children, like Senator Gillibrand, taking the time to sit and play chutes and ladders with a bunch of three year olds to lobby for the importance of early childhood education. This is not how the framers viewed Congress or most people today view Congress. Senator Gillibrand doing this proves she is just a regular person with the same struggles and hopes for her family that most American people have. This also proves that if a 46 year old mother with two young boys can be a New York State Senator so can anyone and the days of Congress just being a man’s job are over. The 113th Congress, according to a New York Times article, has 101 women serving between both chambers, 20 in the Senate and 81 in the House, which makes up roughly 18 percent of Congress which is higher than it ever was. Does this prove the Congress as an institution is changing or is it just that Senator Gillibrand is a unique member of Congress? This is a question that we need to ask ourselves. Also, will women like Senator Gillibrand doing things like this inspire more women and mothers of young children to run for Congress and will the percentages of women serving increase in the near future and maybe one day lead to a female president? (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2013/09/19/sen-kirsten-gillibrand-plays-chutes-and-ladders-for-early-education/)
(http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/04/us/first-day-of-113th-congress-brings-more-women-to-capitol.html)
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