Ann Romney does NOT work. There. I said it.

My social networking sites have been overloaded with the typical miasma of political postings and political correctness as of late. This is hardly surprising just 4 1/2 months before a Presidential campaign. While we're all throwing our topical hats in the ring, I'd like to respond, at length, to something that keeps lurking on my Facebook wall. The conversation beginning with a Democratic spokesman (not affiliated with the President or his campaign) saying that Ann Romney has never held a job and therefore does not work. If you don't remember, this caused a big shit storm across the country ending in puffed up Republicans reminding women of their sacred duty to be breeders and soccer moms all across the country asking their friends to hold their earrings while they collectively went after this poor woman who, perhaps, worded her sentiment differently than she meant. I'd like to weigh in on that for just a moment.

Ann. Romney. Does. Not. Work. (and she never has).

There. I said it. Before the soccer mom hordes descend on me, let's play a little game. It is now a Sunday. I want all you Mothers out there (working outside the home and stay at home moms alike) to take a moment (or, more likely, an hour) to make a list of everything you have to do this week. Make a second list of all the things that are stressing you out, especially those concerning your children. Go ahead. Take your time. I have a cup of coffee and a load of wash to fold.

All done? OK. Let's look at your list and compare it to the Ann workload.

• Chores: Do you have to cook dinner every night? Scratch that one off Ann's list. She has a staff. Ditto cleaning the house, mowing the lawn, washing the car, washing the dishes or doing the laundry. Imagine all of that was carried out by someone else. How does your week look now?
•  Errands: I'm assuming most of you have to go to the grocery store and the dry cleaners and the bank and about a hundred other places. Scratch all those off the list too. Romneys don't do these things. They MIGHT, but they don't HAVE to if it isn't convenient. In the Romney household, I bet the mail carrier takes the mail, and the stamps magically appear. Even if old Ann IS responsible for planning the menus, there is no WAY she's heading down to the Harris Teeter and slapping the stuff in the cart. If she is even responsible for the procurement of the groceries, I would bet a lot of money that at the very least, she's using PeaPod or HomeRuns. So scratch all those.
• Organizing: You know that closet you just haven't been able to get to? Yeah, well, the Romney's have 5 houses. There's a place for everything. I bet their attics aren't even filled up.
• Money Matters: Do you think for a minute Ann Romney knows what day of the month the electric bill is due? There's a guy for that. There's a ton of guys for all of that.
• Job job: some of you have to do all this AND work for someone else 40 hours or more a week. Dear Ann? Not so much.

Now, let's look at your stress list. The number one reason people might dismiss my opinion is that I don't have children. Two overly dependent dogs is not the same as children. I get that. I also concede that no amount of money allows you to sleep really deeply when your kid is out past 10 on a school night driving the car. Fair enough. But let's look at some other common stresses and how money DOES make them completely disappear:

• School: Say your child has problems in school. Can you afford a tutor? Do you have time in between all the chores Ann Romney does NOT have to help them yourself? Maybe you would still worry, but if your kid is having a hard time getting ready for the science fair, being able to hire Steven Hawking to help out probably eases the mind.
• College: Ann Romney does NOT have to worry about whether or not the little Romney bots are going to have to forego private college, if this is their dream, because they didn't get a full ride.
• Ten billion sporting events: Money doesn't take away scheduling conflicts for games, but having someone on staff to squire the little folks around sure does make getting to 5 different sporting events at once easier.

This is a short list created by someone who doesn't have children. I bet most parents could add to it lengthily. Why now? I spent last week on a cruise ship in the Bahamas. This was my first experience on a big boat. Cruise ships are made for anticipating your needs and your wants. You wake up, and breakfast is there. You head out to the pool, and when you come back to your room, and it has been cleaned and all your stuff is hung up. The whole goal of your cruise staff is to give you what you want the moment you want it.

Next door to the Crimefighter and I were our in-laws, a happy family of two working parents and their children. During the cruise, their experience was different than ours. We were completely care free and self motivated. They had to think about their kids all the time. Even with all the help, they had to factor in activities that were appropriate for their kids. When bedtime came, one had to go back to the room and give up their adult fun to be with the kids. The experience, as I said, had a different flavor than ours.

In essence, their cruise was Ann Romney's life, but they still referred to it as vacation, not work.