Mother

“God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.” Jewish proverb

This morning, my two daughters and I got up early to make breakfast in bed for my wife.  My youngest daughter Ellie, who we call LaLa, refused to get out of bed.  When asked why, her response…”Why does it have to be Mother’s Day?  Why can’t it be LaLa Day and someone can make me breakfast in bed.’ 

She’s only 4.  I remember asking my Dad a similar question when I was a kid.  His response…”Everyday is kid’s day.”  I thought that was the dumbest thing I’d ever heard.  Until I had kids.  I told Ellie the exact same thing.  And that maybe in a few days we would make her some breakfast in bed.  But today was Mommy’s special day.  I spent the rest of the day thinking about this whole Mother’s Day thing.  I did a little research on the history, of the holiday, which statistics say is the busiest restaurant day of the year.  We love you Mom.  We are going out to eat.  Anyway…

I appreciate the idea of a Mother’s Day.  There are very few people who get their own day.  Fathers get one.  Veterans, George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr, St. Patrick and St. Valentine, Secretaries, I mean Administrative Professionals, I think bosses get one too, Jesus gets two days, which is probably appropriate. 

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that just a day, and a trip out to eat?  Let’s think about this.  The title of Mother is one of the greatest, most significant titles that a human could hold.  A Mother should be able to sign her name with some type of title abbreviation before or after, for example my wife should sign Elizabeth Shanklin Mthr. or Mthr. Elizabeth Shanklin.  It is way more prestigious than Dr., Phd. or whatever else you could have by your name.  I’m serious.  First of all, only half of the population is even eligible to carry the title.  And then in order to receive the title, you must allow your body to completely transform itself for nine months, and then experience intense excrutiating pain as a rite of passage.  That’s just the beginning.  You are then responsible for the care of the world’s most valuable resource, a child.  The title of Mother means that you must assume the role of shaping a life, or several lives.  Dr Phil said that the position of full time mother is the equivalent of two full time jobs.  All with no pay and little or no training.  Are you kidding me?  Imagine Mr. White Collar showing up for his first day at his corporate job.  He walks into his bosses office and is told he will just have to go figure his job out, to trust his instincts, and will be required to work 80 hours a week.  And for this he will recieve no financial compensation.  No way that would fly.  So why is the sinlge most important job any one human could possibly have, taken for granted so much?

To my wife, my mom, my sisters, you are doing the most important thing you could do with your life.  I know our culture communicates otherwise.  There is no price tag that you can place on what you are doing.  Although I am sure you would gladly accept six figures and two weeks paid vacation for your efforts.  Thank you for what you do, for what you have done.  You are the greatest hope for making the world a better place.

Choose to believe something different.