Thank You Moms!

Mothers are special. They carry us in their wombs for nine months before we emerge into the world. This builds a close bond between mother and child that doesn't occur between any other two persons. Moms caring for children serve as cooks, chefs, chauffeurs, doctors, nurses, and seamstresses. Moms also do many other things for their kids as babysitter, playmate, and loving caregiver.

When children wake up during the night seeking comfort, it is typically moms they go to. Moms are basically on 24-hour-call, 7 days a week.

I'm grateful to my mom for all she has done for me. From washing my dirty laundry to playing games with me to removing splinters, she's been there as a caregiver. Photos of My Mom The first photo below of my mother is from the mid1960s; it depicts mom with her daughter (my sister) Barbara. Following is a photo of mom's 41st birthday celebration in January 1975 with her younger daughter (my other sister) Deborah. Working jigsaw puzzles is one of mom's favorite leisure activities; she is working one in a January 1978 photo. Mom and her mom are pictured together in a December 1983 or January 1984 photo. Among mom's many talents, she makes the best corn I've ever tasted; a photo shows her holding some of it. Below that is a November 15, 2017 photo of her sitting in her living room in Jenkins, Kentucky. The final photo shows mom in July 2019 on a trip we took.

Stay-at-Home Mom Job Description

An article on Chron.com[1] updated in 2018 provides a job description for a stay-at-home-mom job and an estimated salary that would be paid to someone hired for the position. Their data indicates stay-at-home moms would be paid substantially more than the typical employee if they earned what they deserve for all they do. 

History of Mother’s Day

It’s great that moms get at least one day a year for Mother’s Day. Cards, letters, phone calls, visits, flowers, candy, and other gifts are some of the ways we can show appreciation to our moms. Mother's Day in the United States is celebrated on the second Sunday in May. This date is May 8 in 2022.

The origin of the United States celebration of Mother’s Day is generally dated to 1908 and credited to Anna Jarvis, a woman who never married and had no children. Jarvis later criticized the holiday’s commercialism. An interesting and informative article on History.com[2] provides a detailed history of Mother’s Day and its celebration in various countries over the years.

More About Mothers

Mothers provide the first and most important role model for children. They definitely deserve our love, more than we give them. Perhaps the closest thing to perfect human love is a mother’s love for her child.

By getting quality prenatal care and choosing to carry an unborn baby for nine months, a mother demonstrates love for another human being in a way that no one else can. The bond that can develop between a mother and her unborn child is special.

Mothers also are typically the primary caregivers for young children. Often mothers seem to experience ESP regarding the needs and thoughts of their kids.

Fathers, siblings, teachers, religious leaders, and numerous others deserve credit for their roles in the upbringing of children. But a mother’s role, especially a stay-at-home mom’s role, is typically much larger as I see it.

One unique aspect of many mothers’ love is breastfeeding. Breastfeeding of infants is recommended by several authorities and only mothers can do it. Breastfeeding helps continue and strengthen the bond between mother and child that develops while the baby is in the womb.

As a baby crawls, walks, talks, laughs, cries, smiles, and engages in playful actions, mother and child share many memorable moments. 

Just as moms love their young children daily, children can love moms daily. Infants and babies may do it naturally in God-given ways, but toddlers and older children can do it deliberately through many loving actions from hugs, to picking up one’s toys, to doing household chores.

For adult children hundreds or thousands of miles away, regular prayers, emails, text messages, phone calls, and old-fashioned handwritten letters are thoughtful gestures that let mom know she is remembered.

Taking even a few minutes can mean a lot. And not just on Mother’s Day. Those who bore us and cared for us through childhood deserve regular love.  

Mothers Giving Children Away and Completing the Cycle

For some moms, the toughest part of motherhood may be letting go. It is common for teenagers going through puberty to express more interest in their peers and the opposite sex than in their moms.

Just as a bird puts its babies out of the nest, human mothers must help prepare their children for adulthood. Mothers can take pride as children increasingly develop the ability to do things for themselves, become more independent, and more able to be on their own.

The letting-go process continues as children leave for college, careers in a distant town, marriage, or a long term missions trip. In adulthood daughters probably remain closer to moms than sons do. But we all need to express our love and appreciation to our moms throughout our lives.

For children to mature, they need to develop numerous relationships and learn many things. Successful mothers often perform the leading role in facilitating such development of their children while helping protect them from the wrong influences--without being overprotective or domineering. 

Closing Thoughts If every mother were perfect, perhaps in one generation we would see the end of many (most?) of our world’s problems. But while no mother can be perfect, as mothers genuinely seek to learn from one another and others and to do their best, progress toward such perfection occurs. 

If mothers raise their children well, both benefit. When mothers (grandmothers, great grandmothers, and great-great grandmothers) reach senior citizen status, their children who have been taught well can use their skills to help care for their mothers if necessary. Caring for one’s elderly mother in one’s own home or helping find her an appropriate care facility elsewhere, in a sense completes the cycle of caregiving that began with a child in the womb.

Perhaps the greatest blessing is when mothers (grandmothers, great grandmothers, and great-great grandmothers) retain the ability to live long fruitful lives in their own homes in good health until the time they are called home from life in this world. Such mothers can remain active in their community through volunteer work, cooperating with neighbors to help one another, etc.

Genuine love between a mother and her child (or children) enables each to develop and become better through a close relationship that allows the freedom to develop numerous other beneficial close relationships and live successful independent lives.

Those whose mothers have passed on can cherish their wonderful memories from the past while living in the present and looking forward to the future.

Every day is a great day to honor moms. Happy Mother’s Day everyone!

ENDNOTES: 

1 Leslie Bloom; “Stay-at-Home Mom Job Description”; Chron.com; updated June 29, 2018; webpage accessed May 9, 2020; https://work.chron.com/stayathome-mom-job-description-13499.html

2 “Mother’s Day 2020“; History.com; April 29, 2011, updated March 12, 2020; webpage accessed May 9, 2020; https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/mothers-day

NOTE:

This article was submitted to Google Blogger May 9, 2020 and is very similar to one the author provided to Craft News Report, a website operated by his friend Paul Craft, earlier the same day. This Blogger article was last revised on June 1, 2021.

Part of this article (and that one) is reprinted/adapted from an article the author wrote on May 5, 2010 titled “Mother's Day, a Mother's Role, and Loving Our Moms.”