A Day for Moms

While there are certainly many mothers and fathers who share responsibilities of child-rearing, today is the day to celebrate motherhood, so I will laud moms in my comments while noting there are many variables in the roles which not so many years ago were divided much more strictly along the lines of “women's and men's work.” In fact, shortly after my daughter gave birth to her son one year ago last Friday, I gave her a “raising baby” book from the 1940s. The duties assigned to dad as described just 70 years ago mostly fell along the lines of staying out of mother's way while she took care of everything. Some families still operate this way, but in many cases that advice is quaint by today's standards.

Raising children is a tough job and an often messy business. Infants are literal mess-makers producing surprising and unpleasant natural by-products on a regular basis and delivering those things out of both ends of their tiny bodies. I know many moms who have to work past gag reflexes to get through this stage. Toddlers still offer plenty of body function unpleasantries while adding the element of being able to pull everything out of a drawer and throw the contents onto the kitchen floor with lightening fast speed. Picking up the debris left behind by tiny human tornadoes is an exasperating job often relegated to mom.

On a more serious note, the messes children create can often escalate as they approach their teenage years and into adulthood, but mothers tend to stand by their kids, no matter what. On the way to work on Friday, I saw a mother cat carrying a kitten across the road by the scruff of its neck. The kitten was well past the age of needing to be carried. But the mother dragged it along, stumbling because the kitten was so big. It reminded me of some human moms.

Moms who are present in the lives of their children are privileged to share a special bond with them through every stage of life and difficult situation. I believe one of the most important legacies a mother can give her children is spiritual guidance, helping to instill a sense of purpose and direction. A great gift for every child is to have someone to encourage them by example to show love and respect for others, to follow the Golden Rule and to not live in fear.