GO Moms!
Whenever I use the word GO with both letters capitalized, it usually stands for my acronym Get Organized. This time it just means GO Mom as in, you rock! Of course it helps your job if you’re organized to some degree.
I’m a mom and there’s something that’s always bugged me about Mother’s Day. I think every day should be Mother’s Day. After all, we moms work 365 days a year for no pay. I guess what really bugs me is I think Mother’s day is just a way for card, candy and flower companies to make money. I’ve also he
ard Mother’s Day is the biggest money-maker for the restaurant business. I’m all for private enterprise, I just want family and friends to appreciate moms every day. Don’t just think about her on May 11. Maybe you could buy 12 Mother’s Day cards and give your mom a card once a month! Or take her out to eat at least once a month in celebration of her sacrifice.
I happened to have been born the day before Mother’s Day, and the next day my mom got her breakfast delivered in the hospital with a little card that said, “Happy Mother’s Day.” Since I was her first child, it was the first time she’d been addressed as Mother. It’s a big deal!
Should we moms be grateful to have one day a year set aside for us? Of course we should, but really moms, the world will never be able to thank us for what we do. In Sidetracked Home Executives: from Pigpen to Paradise I wrote a poem for moms. I imagined what a column in the classified ads for “Help Wanted” would read.
We are hiring mothers and we need them right away
You must be filled with love and vow that you will stay and stay and stay
You must appreciate a flower when it’s given without a stem
And marvel at an ugly rock as if it were a gem
You must possess a wealth of joy, be wise, controlled, alert
Have management ability and make a good dessert
Have expertise in finance and a flair for decorating
Knowledge of psychiatry and Band-Aid applicating
Willing to accommodate pet relationships
Detective skills in cases like the missing chocolate chips
Qualified and competent in diplomatic circles
Adolescent counseling, in short, performing miracles
Adept at kissing boo boos and using rocking chairs
Capable of handling community affairs
A magician in the kitchen with a pound of hamburger
An ability to touch a cheek and know its temperature
If you think that you can qualify and you’ve had experience
And understand completely that you make the difference
Between a world that’s filled with fear and a world that’s full of joy
Call us now, we want you to be in our employ
It’s funny, when I wrote that poem, I didn’t consider including no wages for the job in the story. I guess I hadn’t thought of mothering being free labor that doesn’t rack up social security dollars. It makes our job even more selfless.
On another note, I have a special place in my heart for single moms, probably because I was one and I know how hard that was. If you know a single mom, praise her, pamper her, help in any way you can.
I remember being on The 700 Club and telling Jackie Mitchem, the talent coordinator, about how hard it was being a single mom and she said, “I’m a single mom too and one day I prayed, ‘Lord I can’t be father and mother to Jeff’ [her son] and the sweetest thought came to me. ‘I didn’t call you to be father and mother to Jeff, I called you to be the mother and I’ll be the father.’” We’ve all been called to be mothers and when we’re blessed to have mates that are good fathers, we need to celebrate their selfless contributions as well.
Thank you to all the moms of the world for what you do. I hope you wear the name well.
Question: Have you called your mom lately? It would be such a gift to her if you did and told her about what a good mom she was. Share with me!
